Page 185 - Aamir Rehman - Dubai & Co Global Strategies for Doing Business in the Gulf States-McGraw-Hill (2007)

Making Your Pitch: Marketing to GCC Buyers 169

TABLE 6.1
Global and GCC Taglines

Company Global Tagline Arabic Tagline Literal Meaning 5
HSBC “The world’s local “Bank al-’alam al- “Local bank of the
bank” muhalli” world”
McDonald’s “I’m lovin’ it” “Ana uhibbuhu” “I love it”
Ford “Drive” “Taw alla al- “Take the lead”
qiyadah”
Snickers “Hungry? Grab a “Iqhar ju`ak” “Conquer your
Snickers.” hunger”
Gillette “The best a man “Ma yastahiqquhu “What men deserve”
can get” al-rijal”

Coca-Cola and Pepsi, in their regional marketing, have both
engaged Lebanese pop stars (Nancy Arjam and Elissa Khoury,
respectively) to endorse their products. Pepsi’s Elissa ads have been
likened at times to its global ones with Christina Aguilera, although
the Middle East ads are somewhat less provocative. Frito-Lay, in its
Doritos ads, uses the signature crunch and upbeat, young actors.
The Coke, Pepsi, and Doritos ads all seek to convey the universal
brand messages of youth and enjoyment—wrapped in the local lan-
guage and with local music. For their target demographic, these
companies have apparently found that the universal conceptual
messages convey the spirit of the brand most effectively. Local
actors and the local language, however, are believed to connect bet-
ter with the GCC country’s youth segment being targeted. Taking
global advertising scripts, translating the ad into Arabic, and hiring
Arab actors for the shoots can be an appropriate strategy but does
have its risks. The norms of GCC advertising, which in turn are
linked to the culture of the various GCC countries, often call for
adaptation of the motifs and messages beyond a switch to the
Arabic language.

Gulf Advertising Norms Call for Deeper Adaptation
Advertising norms in the Gulf, and in the broader Middle East, are
significantly different from norms in the United States and Europe.