Transnational Advertising Development and Management: An Account Planning Approach and a Process Framework

Abstract

Much prior published research and writing in the area of multinational advertising standardization has generally taken bipolar positions on the issue. This study goes beyond the polarities to argue that multinational advertising development is an evolutionary process which depends upon many factors and must be approached in a more inclusive manner, starting with consumers, their socio-cultural context, and their response to the advertising stimulus. Further, traditional cross-national consumer segmentation techniques may not be as appropriate as they once were, and a new approach is briefly discussed. Based on these arguments, and on current developments in the advertising industry, in multinational organizational theory and in the infrastructural implementation of information technology, this article makes a case for employing a more decentralized, collaborative and participatory (transnational) approach to the development and management of multicountry advertising strategies and campaigns, and offers an...