Page 179 - Aamir Rehman - Dubai & Co Global Strategies for Doing Business in the Gulf States-McGraw-Hill (2007)

Making Your Pitch: Marketing to GCC Buyers 163

the idiosyncratic differences between countries and cultures and
2
instead concentrate on satisfying universal drives.” Many of the
world’s leading consumer brands have pushed toward standardi-
zation and universal marketing as much as possible. Pepsi, for
example, used Michael Jackson for worldwide endorsement of its
wildly successful “Choice of a New Generation” campaigns in the
1980s. Nike previously used Michael Jordan as a world-renowned
symbol of achievement and athletic performance; later it engaged
Tiger Woods for the same purpose. The fragrance and cosmetic firm
Coty has featured Jennifer Lopez as its global representative, and
has used her image widely to promote its products. The underlying
belief behind all these endorsements is that a single archetype can
act as a universal representative of the brand concept: be it youth
and vitality, athletic performance, or beauty and grace.
Within the context of GCC markets, there are circumstances in
which complete noncustomization can make sense. High-end lux-
ury goods—especially perfumes and handbags—are often adver-
tised in women’s magazines using French or English. The perfume
ad in Figure 6.2 from the Saudi magazine Laha (“For Her”) is
entirely in French and uses European-looking (though dark-haired)
models.
The rationale for such marketing appears sound: the brand is
elite and global, and the experience offered is one of European
sophistication or beauty. Using the Arabic language in the ad could
dilute the “elite” status of the product and reduce its European look
and feel. Another example, from the realm of financial services,
would be in the context of high-end private banking and asset man-
agement. Firms that seek to emphasize their global presence,
world-class systems and services, and international standards
may prefer to use English in their advertisements to reinforce this
positioning.
It is also crucial to remember that some products may target
expatriate buyers, for whom the home language and brand posi-
tioning are in fact sources of comfort that reinforce the product’s
appeal. As discussed earlier in this book, half the GCC states—the
UAE, Qatar, and Kuwait—are majority-expatriate. While political
power, economic influence, and institutional decision-making
rights tend to be squarely the province of the GCC country’s national
community, expatriates represent a huge segment of the market.