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Belch: Advertising and
Promotion, Sixth Edition
VII. Special Topics and
Perspectives
20. International
Advertising and Promotion
Publicis worked closely with executives at Coke’s Atlanta headquarters to develop
communication strategies and handle contacts with the media. When the ban on Coca-
Cola products was lifted in Belgium, Coke and Publicis hired several hundred thousand
people to deliver vouchers and coupons for one free family-size bottle of Coke to
each of the country’s 4.4 million homes. The program was backed by newspaper
advertising. In France an existing commercial made by Coke’s U.S. agency and
adapted for France with the catchline “Today more than ever, we thank you for your
loyalty” was aired. In Poland newspaper ads were run guaranteeing the integrity of
locally produced Coke products.
Coca-Cola is the world’s most valuable brand, and its strong brand equity helped
carry the company through the crisis. However, in the process the Coca-Cola Company
learned that even the most powerful brand in the world is not immune from a crisis.
Global Perspective 20-5 discusses the public relations problems another major
American company, McDonald’s, has been facing in France in recent years.
The Internet
Worldwide Growth of the Internet The Internet is coming of age as a
global marketing medium and is becoming an important IMC tool for companies
around the world, both large and small. Marketers are using the Internet to promote
their companies, build their brands, and engage in e-commerce transactions in their
own countries as well as across borders. As more homes and offices become connected
to the Internet, its importance as an integrated marketing communications tool and
way of transacting business will increase tremendously for companies selling consumer
products and services as well as business-to-business marketers.
During its formative years the Internet was largely a North American phenomenon.
By the end of the 90s, nearly 54 percent of all online users were in North America
and English was the language used on three-fourths of all websites and nearly all
e-commerce sites, even though it is the primary language of only 8 percent of the
world’s population. However, this is changing rapidly. As of 2002, the largest number
of Internet users still reside in North America, but they account for only one-third of
the world’s online population. The number of Internet users in Europe and the Asia
Pacific region is nearly as large as, and is growing faster than, the number in North
America. The United States has the largest number of people online, with an estimated
150 million, followed by Japan with 34 million. However, China has been
experiencing very rapid growth of the Internet and now has an estimated 26 million
people online versus just over 1 million users only five years earlier. 108 Internet penetration
is very high in Scandinavian countries such as Finland and Sweden as well as
countries such as South Korea. Most multinational companies are developing websites
in a variety of languages as Internet penetration increases and more consumers
in various countries go online for information and entertainment.
While the use of the Internet around the globe continues to grow, there is still
tremendous variation in consumer usage as well as the level of marketing activity
occurring online. In the Asia Pacific region, Internet use is higher in the urban areas of
mainland China as well as in Hong Kong. Singapore and Thailand have considerable
numbers of upscale users and several domestic service providers. By contrast, in India
personal computer penetration is still less than 10 percent, and less than half of the
estimated 1 million households with PCs have Internet access. The number of people
online is increasing rapidly in Latin America; Internet penetration averages around 13
percent for the entire region but is nearly 20 percent in Peru and Chile. 109 The region is
becoming one of the fastest-growing e-commerce markets in the world. However, factors
such as unreliable delivery services, low usage of credit cards, security concerns,
and customs duties are likely to be daunting obstacles to the growth of e-commerce in
the region. 110
Use of the Internet in International Marketing The use of the Internet
as an IMC tool by companies in various countries is increasing as more marketers
learn how to develop and maintain websites and improvements in the systems and
technologies needed to support these sites occur. Many multinational companies are
developing websites in a number of different languages and making them an important
© The McGraw−Hill
Companies, 2003
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Chapter Twenty International Advertising and Promotion