This document surveys cultural aspects of advertising / selling, media characteristics, regulations and other errata in a wide survey of SE Asian marketing.
SE Asia on the Ground
What is / is not
Without arguing as to what empirically constitutes SE Asia, we will employ a broad inclusiveness. The difference of one perspective’s one country versus another’s another will not better inform an already explosion of virtually every consideration. The subcontinent of India and China each represent huge worlds in their own right. East Timor, Singapore and Myanmar are also wildly different. Eastern Russia is worth mentioning, but only as a remove, influencing countries that influence SE Asia (Mongolia, northern China, Japan, etc.). One may also note that while the document refers to SE Asia, considerations of Asia proper and Austral/Oceania leak in already. That is because from a historical narrative perspective it is necessary to reference them. The focus remains on SE Asia, (about a quarter of the countries in fig. 1 are far flung island nations of the Pacific, whose influence is nonetheless present, and will likely go unacknowledged otherwise).
Quickly, the political spectrum ranges from totalitarian despots to well developed democracies. The cultures range from primitive to cosmopolitan (with stereotypical expressions, tribes, cooperatives, etc., showing up across such spectrums; not always pegged in one presumed area). Languages, legal constructs, geography, media and shopping outlets, infrastructure, literacy, life expectancy, races, religions … there are no hard and fast absolutes.
There are, however, some few broad brushstrokes. To varying degrees and expressions, all of these cultures embrace a concept of “face”. To varying degrees (regardless of Communism), all of these cultures have a greater base in a village concept than most of the West. In addition, the overwhelming majority has experienced socio-economic challenges across most of the last century. From a moral perspective, SE Asia may seem (and in many ways is) more relaxed than the US or West, but make no mistake, they are also more parochial.
Southeast Asia, for the record, is generally comprised of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar (formerly Burma), Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, East Timor, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Singapore.
Regional Advertising Centers
Such as it is, each country was given a quick internet search to determine which city, if any, held predominance for Advertising and Marketing. If they (the cells) are blank, there was no quick indication that seemed even close to establishing a city center analogous to what New York (and its Madison Avenue) is for the Ad world in the US. To varying degrees these countries Ad Centers are confirmed (some are better confirmed than others are); again, this was quick, likely a decent representation and not definitive.
One may notice that in most instances, the center of Marketing and Advertising is the capital city . This makes some sense, as capitals tend to be or become major urban hubs. In the case of China, we see an exodus from Hong Kong (formerly the platform of entrée for western business) into the mainland; particularly the cultural center Shanghai (AINSWORTH & VLAS, 2000). This may become a template for others as Globalization reaches a new stage in its development. However, as with any other development, this is not always the case at this moment in time. In addition, in some instances the source revealed a list of all current agencies (whether by association or by telephone book style listings) in other instances the supposition base are other factors. The natural next step is to create a database of all the established agencies (and what their expertise is) for all of Asia. This is beyond the scope of this paper, and such an effort is already under way for Indonesia. Many of the sources, however, would make shorter work of this than one may first surmise.
Found
Adverts may have evolved more in keeping with a given culture before Globalization set in. Now we begin to see both a beginning of blending as well as certain considerations held on to, because that is what works. In the article Language and Visual Imagery: Issues of Corporate Identity in East Asia, Schmitt and Bernd do a very nice job of surveying the nuances; particularly as regards (though not exclusively) China.
For example, in an undated image (see Fig. 3; stylistically circa 1950’s) we see the near exclusive use of the three most acceptable and “lucky” colors: yellow, red and black. Images before Globalization lent themselves more to this consideration than does contemporary advertizing. Nonetheless, contemporary advertising does indeed continue to carry over anything it feels may work on its behalf, naturally.
With “Coca-Cola's Chinese name (as) a good example, (the) name sounds like Coca-Cola (Ke-kou-ke-le in Mandarin and ho-hau-ho-lohtt in Cantonese) and means "tasty and happy." the nuance of how something sounds, not just what it means becomes noteworthy (Schmitt & Bernd, 1995). Let us stay with Coca Cola for a moment. So engrained has been the superstitions of the Chinese culture that the Hang Seng (the Chinese market exchange) debuted on August 8th, 1988 (8.8.88), such is the emphasis placed on the luck of eight (Schmitt & Bernd, 1995). As with any new “scripting” opportunity, there was a conscious effort to factor into the characters spelling the product name to include eight prominent eye-catching strokes (witness the four “X’s” decoratively featured in the first character; Fig. 4). Naturally, Coke has no problem celebrating the color red.
Good Pan-Asian examples abound, if one knows where (and how) to look. Not wanting to be Sino-centric
, in a campaign that seeks to be truly global, there was an AT&T ad campaign that had noticed the sensitivities across most all the continents (for our purposes we accentuate the various Asian cultures). The highly appreciated nature approach reflected by way of the Komodo dragon (Indonesia and environs), the aesthetic symbolism prized in Japan and, again, the red and yellow for China (there are many more, and worth a peak; all the artwork is paint on hands) (Chaukhat, 2010).Conclusion
The point of all this is that advertising and marketing, in general, is evolving in SE Asia, much as anything would and always has. How and why the evolution is taking place becomes the pursuit. As Globalization reaches new stages of expression, we find centers for this activity seek out cultural centers, eschewing tentative entrée locals. We find that which worked in the old still works in the new, albeit ethnocentrism takes a back seat. Paying attention to details requires more than combined translation (Usunier & Lee, 2005, p. 188), yet a study of what has gone before (and why), as well.
Among the most successful of the western agencies present throughout SE Asia is Ogilvy. This was accomplished through various methodologies (partnerships, buying out a local agency, strategic alliances and the like), and an overarching pattern is there is an on the ground presence established wherever there is a major market.
One presumes these are exciting times for advertising and marketing throughout SE Asia, as the industry finds an even playing field globally, while still honoring specific cultures. Equally, one expects that the continued unfolding as how advertising and marketing evolves in SE Asia will only continue to be a pleasure to watch.
References
AINSWORTH, G., & VLAS, A. (2000). INSIGHTS ON ASIA (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=7&hid=119&sid=f86b3af5-93a1-4152-b347-b89b0f1dbf97%40sessionmgr110&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=bsh&AN=3015203
Bang Nam, J., & Se Young, A. (2004). Multinational Corporations and Host Country Receptivity: Perceptions from Three Asian Countries (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/resultsadvanced?vid=3&hid=119&sid=f86b3af5-93a1-4152-b347-b89b0f1dbf97%40sessionmgr110&bquery=(Multinational+Corporations+AND+Host+Country+Receptivity%3a+Perceptions+from+Three+Asian+Countries)&bdata=JmRiPWJzaCZ0eXBlPTEmc2l0ZT1laG9zdC1saXZl
Chaukhat, B. (2010, Sunday, June 13, 2010). 23 Creative Ads by AT&T [Hand Modelling Advertisements] [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://blog.chaukhat.com/2010/06/23-creative-ads-by-at-hand-modelling.html
Davis, F. (2010). [personal journaling; video, audio, photo, written]. Unpublished manuscript.
Hubpages Inc.. (2010). http://hubpages.com/hub/Advertising-in-Chinese-Media
Legendre, F., Sherman, M., & Taylor, C. (2001). Performing in Asia (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=5&hid=119&sid=f86b3af5-93a1-4152-b347-b89b0f1dbf97%40sessionmgr110&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=bsh&AN=26260536
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Sasha Moxie Crimefighter. (2007, June 24 2007). Older Chinese advertisements (Found in Chinatown, Los Angeles, CA.) [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.flickr.com/photos/67313037@N00/3050974246/
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Song, M., Montoya-Weiss, M., & Schmidt, J. B. (1997). The Role of Marketing in Developing Successful New Products in South Korea and Taiwan (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/resultsadvanced?vid=4&hid=119&sid=f86b3af5-93a1-4152-b347-b89b0f1dbf97%40sessionmgr110&bquery=(Multinational+Corporations+AND+Host+Country+Receptivity%3a+Perceptions+from+Three+Asian+Countries)&bdata=JmRiPWJzaCZ0eXBlPTEmc2l0ZT1laG9zdC1saXZl
Usunier, J., & Lee, J. A. (2005). Marketing Across Cultures (4th ed.). Essex, England: Pearson Education Limited.
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