A recent Millward Brown Point of View by Sana Carlton titled “Ads That Travel: Planning a Safe and Profitable Journey for Your Campaign” discusses the challenges in creating advertising that can cross borders effectively. But the BRIC countries are such complex and colorful avmalgams of languages, cultures, and ethnicities that they present challenges in creating advertising that travels even within their borders. And nowhere is this truer than in India.

India, with its sure and steady growth and its alluring size (in terms of purchasing power, it’s the fourth-largest economy in the world), has created a buzz within corporate circles. But those who want to understand what makes this large and diverse country tick may find themselves both fascinated and frustrated.

For Advertising, There Is No One India

It may seem a cliché, but considering India as one country is akin to encountering a family with brothers named Giancarlo, Goran, and Gordon. Though it’s certainly possible, we’d take the odds against it! By way of illustration, Table 1, which compares India to Europe, clearly highlights the linguistic and cultural differences that exist within India.
But do these differences affect the way consumers perceive and respond to advertising?Our data suggests that the answer is yes, they do. We have tested close to a thousand ads in multiple markets across India. Only one ad out of seven is a strong performer across markets. Among ads that do exceptionally well in one market, more than a third perform very poorly in others.  Thus there is truly no one India when it comes to advertising.

What Makes Ads Travel Well or Poorly?

Numerous factors play roles in determining whether ads travel well or poorly. The relevance of the brand promise and the marketing task in each geography (defined in part by brand status and category maturity) often limit the portability of an ad. However, these are usually “known” variables. A more uncertain variable has to do with cultural nuance.

To understand how the cultural context of a piece of creative may impact its ability to travel, we reexamined our database. Looking specifically at enjoyment (a good measure of the power of the creative idea), the numbers improve but still point to significant differences — only one in four enjoyable ads is seen as enjoyable in the other markets in which it was tested.

For marketers, the obvious implication is that they need to test in multiple markets to get a full understanding of an ad’s likely effectiveness. But it becomes equally imperative to understand what it takes to beat the odds and create truly pan-Indian advertising. Do celebrities work well across markets? Does humor become a barrier?