It is clear that media advertising is one of the crucial marketing tools for companies in order to promote their products and services. As we are moving towards more and more economic integration, both on a regional and global scale, the question about standardisation of media advertising has become increasingly important and is nowadays subject to discussion in most international companies. This thesis deals with the issue of standardisation in a region where the process of political, legal and especially economic integration is taking its course, but where cultural and linguistic diversity is still a remaining fact: Europe.
The aim of this thesis was to investigate the potential gains from a standardised advertising approach but also to identify its limitations. Especially on a market place like Europe, with its diverse cultural and linguistic background, a fully standardised approach might be difficult to implement. Issues like potential benefits and obstacles of standardised strategies and other influencing factors like culture or the harmonisation efforts taken by the European Union are therefore discussed in more detail. Moreover, the theoretical part includes an overview of the European self-regulating advertising bodies and their contribution to the harmonisation goals of the EU. Furthermore, different elements of standardised campaigns and their influence on the standardisation potential of a commercial are considered. Finally, a closer look is taken at European advertising media. The theoretical part is followed by an empirical research, involving case studies of standardised TV- and print campaigns released by companies from three different industries (McDonald??s, Coca Cola and Audi) in ten sample countries on the European market. In order to identify the actual sample countries, several culture-based clustering options are discussed. Moreover, a mail questionnaire was developed and sent to international marketing managers of big companies operating in Europe. The thesis thereby tries to answer the following research question:
How do international companies deal with cultural differences and other potential barriers in Europe when implementing a standardised advertising approach? This question includes issues like media choice (TV vs. print commercials), the creational aspects and standardisation of different elements within a commercial as well as trying to identify suitable elements for international st...
