How International Can

European Advertising Be?

ERIK ELINDER

Is it true that the various

markets m Europe are so
different that the same message -for the same product
cannot appeal as successfully to two or three or more
markets as a campaign tailormade for a single nation?
Here is how an internationally-recognized advertising man answers this question.

Journal of Marketing, Vol. 29 (April,

1965), pp. 7-11.

would happen if the advertising manager of, say. Coca

W HAT
Cola suggested that his company should run 50 different
advertising campaigns on the U. S. market, one for each state?
Would you find him on the company payroll next month?
If, on the other hand, he proposes 18 different campaigns and
18 different advertising agencies when marketing a product in
Western Europe today, he may be slated for promotion.
And he may have earned it. Up until now there have been a
number of obstacles to a uniform approach to European advertising.
While industry all over Europe is undergoing an acceleration
of mergers and while at the same time more and more refrigerators, bicycles, safety razors, cigarette lighters, and thousands
of other products are being mass produced, too many advertising
men in European industrywhether in London, Paris, or Dusseldorfare wrong about one basic fact.
Unfortunately, they believe that advertising for these goods
which are identical in the majority of markets must be formulated differently and "dressed up" in arguments which vary from
country to country. Can this be justified?
On the contrary, everything from American hair-spray, Greek
tourism, Danish foods, too many other commodities and services
can be sold with the same picture material, the same copy, the
same advertising approach. This can be done nownot just here
and there in specialized markets, but throughout Europe in the
general market. Moreover, the size and acceptance of this general,
overall market is growing daily.
The leveling off in standards of living and habits is accelerating.
The technical means for delivering an advertising message on
an international basis are steadily improving. There is continued
growth in the reading by Europeans of publications from countries
other than their own, and the day will come when Eurovision
a chain of European television and radio stationswill be a
reality.
Can We Gain in Efficiency?
Everyone knows how European statesmen have worked for
years to integrate Europe into two big markets. Powerful groups
wish to mold these two into one, but what has been achieved
so far is good enough.
International marketers today find an entirely new climate in
Europe, and many national companies decide to "go European."
This, of course, does not mean that all parts of their marketing
mix will overnight be squeezed into an all-European scheme.

The sales function, for example, will probably be

divided by national or at least language boundaries
for a number of years.
But even language boundaries will unquestionably be affected by two main factors: media and
mobility. The developments in mass media will
influence language to an extent which we have
yet to realize. In magazines and newspapers there
is a trend toward extended geographical coverage:
Life International, Paris Match, the Neiv York
Herald Tribune, and the New York Times international editions are examples of this. Some time ago
Punch had a cartoon of an Englishman looking up
from his paper and saying to his fellow clubmember: "By Jove, Le Monde has bought the Times!"
However, the advertising medium which is really
going to break language barriers on a large scale
will be television. Already people in southern
Sweden watch television programs from Denmark
and vice versa. In southern Denmark people watch
German TV, Austrians watch German TV, and a
large number of Frenchmen too. Germans watch
TV programs from Holland and Belgium. Italians
watch Swiss TV. And so on.
Recently the Swiss government decided to allow
domestic commercial television, because Swiss producers had begun to lose business in their own
market to foreign producers advertising on German and Italian commercial television. Several
European governments are already "worried" because the children especially seem to absorb foreign
language and culture by watching television programs from neighboring countries.
But above all else, when through technical development TV programs can be relayed over a
satellite without earth-bound intermediary stations,
the influence on children and adults of one-language
(English) TV programs and advertising, will be
enormous.
This is definitely the change to be foreseen in
Europe. In comparison with this barrier-breaking
influence, other factors are no more than "peep
holes" in the walls.
Nevertheless, mobilitytourism and migration
must be taken into account in today's European
marketing. Five million Germans went to Italy
as tourists in 1960. One million Italians are today
working in Germany.
All this means that advertising must be synchronized to fit the all-European media, and must
take advantage of border-crossing tourists, readers,
and viewers. Advertisers will gain by "going allEuropean" now.
An interesting example of how a strictly national approach produces a loss of efficiency is
seen when several national brand names are used
for the same product. Even Unilever with its sophisticated marketing organization can attest to
this by sad experience. One of its major detergents
is sold under the name of Radion in Germany; but

Journal of Marketing, April, 1965

for special reasons a similar Unilever detergent in
Austriaaccording to a Unilever executivebears
a different brand name. The great majority of
Austrian housewives read German magazines, and
a substantial number are also exposed to detergent
advertising over German commercial TV. But this
considerable geographical "extra-spread" of German advertising is of no value if Austrian housewives cannot find the name Radion among the detergent boxes in their shops, although the product
is there but under another name.
Standardized brand names offer the most obvious
examples of the advantages of all-European uniformity. However, if we believe in a certain "repetition effect" when advertising certain consistent
copy themes in the United States, this ought to
apply also when marketing in Europe. The impact of an advertising theme for detergents, cigarettes, or foods must be greater if, for example,
a Swiss consumer meets practically the same advertising theme when reading Life International
magazine, watching Swiss TV commercials in the
French language, watching TV commercials from
Western Germany, going to England on business,
or when visiting Italy or Spain or Greece as a
tourist.
The Swiss "perceptional sphere" is by no means
only the Neue Zilrcher Zeitung and the nearest TV
and radio station, but something much wider, something almost all-European. There are such substantial arguments in favor of a common "copy platform" that advertisers ought to give serious
thought to the possibility of standardizing copy
themes used in Europe.
This goes for picture material as well. A picture,
of course, is the most international conveyor of
a message we have; and if we believe in a recogni-

ABOUT THE AUTHOR. Erik Ellnder

is Chairman of the Board of the Swedish
Sales Institute, Stockholm.
With a Master of Arts from Uppsala
University, Mr. Ellnder devoted his early
business years to building up the advertising sector of the Swedish savings
banks; and for ten years he was President of "Sparframjandot," the Swedish
savings banks' central organization for
promotion of savings. The savings banks
have 1200 offices throughout the country.
In 1950 he became President of the Wiih. Andersson Advertising Agency, which now is one of the six advertising agencies
in the Sales Institute group.
This Institute embraces advertising agencies, two public relations units, a marketing consultant organiiation, a direct-mail unit,
a media-servicQ bureau, a routine-service bureau, end a sales
organization.
Mr. Elinder is also publisher of the "Quarterly Report on
Sweden."
For many years he was a member of the Board of the Swedish
Advertisers Association, and Vice President of the Scandinavian
Advertisers Association. At present he is Regional First Vice
President for Europe of the International Advertising Association

How International Can European Advertising Be?

tion effect of pictures and symbols in U. S. campaigns, why not accept it on the European continent, too?
The European Consumer
When Europeans think of the United States of
America, the great differences that still exist between East and West, North and South, rich and
poor, are likely to be overlooked. We see the American people as "one big happy family," with gleaming teeth gathering around a corn-flake breakfast,
drinking Coca-Cola in the afternoon sunshine,
raiding a well-stocked refrigerator, cruising along
parkways in sleek automobiles, and gathering to
see spectacular TV shows, with a leading brand
of Scotch in their glasses.
This picture may not be correct, but what we
should not forget is that the lack of trade barriers within the United States is a force which
tends to "even out" differences between different
regions. In this process and in shaping the pattern of life, coast-to-coast advertising has played
a vital part. And this leads to the following point:
To the consumer indiLstries considering how best
to formulate their messages to European consumers,
it is more important to take into account trends in
European consumption habits than the "national
traits" and "traditional characteristics/'
Twenty years ago there were those who seriously claimed that the Swedish savings bank promotion program in northern Sweden should be
different from that in southern Sweden because
of differences in traditions. Today such a claim
would be laughed off in the same way that future
readers of this article may wonder how advertising
could ever be limited by national boundaries.
Is it not true that we in Europe already have
a gigantic all-European indoor market, where
everybody has the same needs and desires for practical labor-saving kitchens; restful, comfortable living space; beautiful bathrooms, etc.? And do we not
have a Euro-American outdoor market, which is
largely identical in climatic conditions? What
differences are there between the beach resorts
of Italy, Spain. Florida, and California? Are the
airplanes so different, or the automobiles we use
for commuting and leisure trips? Can anyone
honestly claim that all these internationally accepted goods and services must forever be marketed in one way in the U. S. A. and in a number
of different ways in Europe?
The European consumerdoes he really exist?
Yes! Right now there are millions and millions of
Europeans living under largely similar conditions,
although they read and speak different languages.
They have about the same incomes after taxes.
They may live in private houses or in modern
apartments, with bathroom, TV, radio, and refrigerator. By and large they tend to have the same
drinks, and their food becomes more and more

all-European every year. They see the same films

and plays. They read the same magazines or syndicated articles. Their vacations are spent on the
same European roads or at the same European
summer resorts. Wherever they work, their factories have much the same kinds of machinery;
and office equipment is so standardized that you
can almost find your way through a modem office
in the dark, no matter in what country.
Industry and trade in Europe are at the forefront of internationalism in their consumption.
Most of their technical inventories and raw materials are bought without the least regard to national barriers.
Go into the nearest record shop, the nearest
self-service store, household appliance store, beauty
shop. Make a list of the products made locally by
local companies. Make a similar list of all the
products that have foreign names, manufactured
under license or imported. It may surprise you
how all-European, how international, European
consumption is as of today. Soon it may be only
advertising which stubbornly "refuses" to adjust
itself to the new situation. Europe right now is a
melting pot of goods without the label "made
in . . ." National origin is usually of little or
no importance. The possession and availability of
certain goods is changing people's lives into a
more uniform patternjust as tools, materials and
techniques have had a great influence on living
habits and spiritual outlook in all historical cultures.
In Europe people read about largely the same
products. But the picture material is not the same,
nor the copy, nor the persuasive appealseven in
the thousands of cases where there is no necessity whatever for them to differ.
It would be unjust to blame advertising managers
for not having used an all-European approach in
the past, but today differences in living habits are
rapidly diminishing. The time is ripe for advertising practitioners to take this into account.
Legal and Administrative Obstacles
When the plans for integrated tariff unions were
drawn up in Europe, the politicians were quite
aware of the fact that some governments might
tend to misuse various legal and administrative
rules to protect domestic industries from foreign
competition. There have been some tendencies in
that direction, but on a much smaller scale than
originally feared.
Advertising has not been particularly protected
by any such means. However, the rules governing
the remuneration to an advertising agency using
material from an agency in another country have
hampered this particular form of unification.
As production costs for advertising are of relatively minor importance to the advertisercompared with the negative effects of non-uniform copy.

10
layout, pictures, etc, produced by national agencies
this is not too serious a matter, although negative attitudes may have been created among advertising agencies toward the broader concept of
an all-European approach.
Structural Obstacles
Have differences in distribution structure among
various countries prevented the use of unified
European advertising themes?
In some cases this has unquestionably been so,
as the total marketing strategy is generally dependent on the type of outlet used. On the other
hand, when it comes to fast-moving consumer items
such as typical food and drug articles, we are
rapidly moving toward an all-European distribution system. In 1961 the number of inhabitants
per self-service store was some 1,300 in Sweden,
1,900 in Western Germany, 2,200 in Norway, 2,700
in Switzerland, 2,900 in Denmark, 4,000 in Holland,
4,800 in Austria, and 5,900 in Englandall very
favorable figures compared with those only five
years earlier.
Retail development in Western Germany can best
be characterized as an "explosion"from 1,400
self-service stores in 1956 to 30,700 in 1961. In
Sweden the self-service share of total retail sales
is now 40%, and in England 16%, as compared
with 85% in the U. S. A. Only France has lagged
behind.
Foresight is, of course, a profit-producing factor
in marketing-. Those Swedish manufacturers who
foresaw the great switch to self-service and nonfood items in the domestic food trade after World
War II were able to increase their market shares
and to strengthen their positions, at the expense
of competitors who kept on fighting for shares in
the shrinking or "stagnant" retail branches. It
would be a good idea for U. S. corporations to
have their European headquarters not necessarily
in a large country, but in one of those which are
ahead of others in living standards, distribution,
structure, etc.
Another structural factor making European advertising heterogeneous is the way in which the
European advertising business is organized. Some
of the national agencies have established or taken
over agencies in other countries and built up bigger
or smaller "chains." The drawback is that these
so-called international agency chains have remained
local. Their ambition seems to be to create national campaigns for international products. Swedes,
Danes, and Norwegians, who speak practically the
same language, meet entirely different advertising
campaigns even for a product like razor blades
that is used in exactly the same way by consumers
enjoying the same standard of living!
Large American, British, German, French, and
Scandinavian advertising agencies have built up a
number of voluntary chains. It is surprising that

Journal of Marketing, April, 1965

they almost always present themselves as international chains of national agencies.

In the United States there are hundreds of executives of advei-tising agencies who consider the
whole of the United States as their sales territory,
and who plan and think on the basis of coast-tocoast advertising. But there is no single European
agency today that has systematically built up its
business for bigger markets, not to speak of allEuropean advertising.
People who try to promote a European "common
mai-ket" dwell almost exclusively on its advantages
to producers. Yet in the long run the advantage
will be far greater in the distribution sector. In
many cases industry is responsible for only 20
to 30% of the final consumer price. The most
important benefit of a European common market
would be to lower the costs of marketing, which
in numerous cases account for 60 to 80% of product
prices.
Current Obligations
I have never yet heard an American marketing
man speak of insurmountable difficulties in applying
brand advertising and centralized marketing strategy directed at the highly disparate mass of human
feelings and emotions called the American consumer. But I am every day "up against" real resistance to the thought of an all-European approach
in advertising.

11

How International Can European Advertising Be?

Some of the objections relate to subordinate
matters, such as differences in legislation as to the
advertising of liquor, pharmaceutical products, etc.
Others point to the differences in language, climate,
sales channels, and physical distribution, and draw
far-reaching conclusions based on insufficient
knowledge.
The business leaders of Europe ought to follow
the American example, and step by step build up
their advertising on a greater-market basis. Too
many businessmen emphasize only the differences
and constantly overlook the similarities in the
European market picture!
The swelling flood of practically identical products used in the same way all over Europe to cover
identical needs demands a unified strategy in advertising. So does the great increase in migration
across national and language border lines. So does

the great expansion of tourism. So does the development in retail and wholesale structure in
the various countries. So does the political determination to "even out" differences in legislation.
Consider the fact that all over the world the
slogan used in advertising Lux soap is "9 out
of 10 film stars use Lux"the self-same slogan
Tin different languages), the same beautiful girls,
the same name, and the same success. (See the
illustration.)
The point is that advertising must become international. Advertisers, advertising agencies, and
media need to play as active a part as possible in
speeding up this process of development.
The coordination possibilities are much greater
than ever have been imagined. The responsibility
of advertising men is to support the serious attempts to internationalize the European market.

-MARKETING

MEMO

Can the Marketing Concept Work? . . .

One of the more tangible facets of the marketing concept is the unified direction
of all marketing functions: traditional functions, such as sales, advertising and marketing research, and other functions for which responsibility may previously have been
placed elsewhere, such as product planning and order processing. It is perhaps on
this question of unified direction more often than any other that good intentions bog
do^vn in inaction. It may be too much of a change to be acceptable or, even if the
principle is accepted, the man chosen to exercise this broad control may be unable
to meet the challenge.
"Who's The Man To Manage Marketing?" Marketing For Profit, a report
from Stewart, Dougall & Associates,
Inc. (November-December, 1963).