Advertising Producers' Localization of Global Brands: Glocalization, Storytelling, and Audience Construction

Abstract

The purpose of this dissertation is to 1) critically explore how contemporary advertisers are operating within a glocal framework to diffuse product information and branding to diverse, distant consumers; and 2) to assess the implications of these processes for consumer-audiences. This project explores what approaches global advertising producers utilize to distribute product information and branding to local audiences, how these processes then impact and shape the creation and diffusion advertising campaigns, and lastly, how do those processes impact the way advertisers imagine and target their audiences. The findings of this study shed light on how advertising producers imagine their work, their role within that work, and the audiences who consume their products. This project uncovers how the processes of global information diffusion impact partnerships between “headquarters” and local offices, the way in which messages are adapted and localized for various audiences, how these messages are extolled around the world, and conversely, what messages, stories, or cultural values might be minimized or lost as a result of this current environment. This project draws upon in-depth interviews with advertising professionals and other global stakeholders, as well as on industry trade reports, press articles, and academic research. Interviews were conducted with global stakeholders at Airbnb, Campbell Soup, and Under Armour. In addition to conducting in-depth interviews as a methodological approach, this dissertation engages with a case study logic as a way of understanding the context within which global advertisers localize global brands. Furthermore, employing a multiple-case study approach allowed me to compare and contrast processes and implications between and amongst this trio of brands and various global producers, balancing the intricacies of a single organization with larger themes and trends in industrial production. Themes related to the glocal framework emerged that spoke to the complex processes that global producers must navigate in order to do work on a global scale. These themes, the Global Mindset, which considers how producers conceptualize their role and their work; the Global Story, which explores how producers tell global stories to their consumers (and to themselves); and the Global Consumer, which illuminates the undercarriage of the delicate relationship between producers and consumers; have significant implications because understanding global production processes helps to explain under what context campaigns were conceptualized, how decisions were made, and why certain campaigns are more culturally relevant to local audiences. Beyond this, these findings shed light on the nuances of global brand diffusion pointing to larger trends in glocal advertising, and more broadly, the future of advertising on a global scale.