Another One Bites the Grass: Making Sense of International Advertising

By Simon Anholt

Another One Bites the Grass "An inspiring, thought-provoking perspective on creating effective and sustainable international advertising." --Charles Lanphear, Global Media Director H.J. Heinz Company "At last, here's a really intelligent new approach to the age-old problem of making great international ads. A must-read for everyone in the business of global brands, global marketing, and global communications." --Robert Hancock, Director of Communications Pillsbury UK Ltd. "In an irreverent, finely argued, and entertaining assault on conventional wisdom, drawing on his considerable experience of working in the business, the author proposes thought-provoking new ways to survive and prosper in the international advertising jungle." --Adrian Vickers. Founder/Partner Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0471354880
• ISBN13: 9780471354888
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Inc
• Length: 325 Pages
• Weight: 1.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 1.3" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

What the advertising industry has been waiting for

At last someone has written something about the advertising industry that is centred around the whole concept of truly communicating internationally and is not bound by the political logistics that are inherent in so many of the large dinosaur agencies.This should be required reading for anybody who is responsible for managing an international communications campaign.

A panacea for those currently biting the carpet...

The whole issue of global promotional campaigns, whether in the form of high-profile advertising or the lower-profile but still significant form of marketing 'collateral', has recently gained an urgency that reflects the immediacy and pervasiveness of global, 'networked' business. In the fastest moving sectors, notably IT and telecoms, success in the marketplace is now measured in terms of global market share rather than local penetration. Of course 'globalization' was one of the buzzwords of the 'Seventies, but the characteristically arrogant approach often taken by large corporates was soon humbled by the offended and resentful response of local markets to these attempts to foist a global concept on widely disparate cultures and linguistic structures, so that the 'Eighties were characterized by an obsession with 'localization'. Came the 'Nineties, and globalization was back in favor, but this time tempered by attempts to cater to local sensibilities - what one might term a 'caring, sensitive globalization'. This approach has continued into the twenty-first century, further stimulated by the explosive success of the Internet.The true complexities masked by such facile trends are revealed in all their positively frightening variety by Simon Anholt - his anecdotes range from the merely funny to the genuinely macabre. More interesting still, though, is his clear demonstration that while many people active on the international scene claim to understand the issues involved in global campaigns, the bulk of them are paying lip service to an abstract concept rather than understanding and appreciating cultural differences in all their complex detail. Anholt's focus on the cultural rather than the purely linguistic aspects of a targeted marketing approach is laudable; his expositions are more detailed than any I have read to date, while remaining firmly and pragmatically focused on the original intention behind a campaign and the practical issues involved in fulfilling that intention. Anholt's focus on message and effective impact represents a refreshing approach to a topic that is all too often reduced to linguistic quibbling, and he amply demonstrates the dangers of such a purely linguistic approach.Anholt's rejection of translation is entirely appropriate, given the sophistication of his premises. Certainly the extraordinarily literal approach often adopted by conventional translation companies and individual translators is wholly incompatible with the objectives and intentions of effective communications, where a central message is reinforced by secondary branding and positioning that must be persuasive and pervasive in order to make the necessary impact. Anholt discusses the difficulties inherent in transplanting such requirements from one national market to another with a fast-moving, light touch, but he does not hesitate to plumb the issues involved in considerable detail.His conclusions are consonant with the

international enlightenment

Vincent Toolan misses the point. What is the alternative to being passionate about relevant cultural messages, and where exactly is Anholt going wrong in establishing top international teams to deliver them? The arrogance and lack of comprehension portrayed in many international campaigns is alarming, and Anholt's efforts to identify and illuminate cultural and linguistic differences makes great reading.

No grass to bite here

Simon Anholt has carved an impressive niche for himself in international marketing circles as a regular sage at conferences and seminars.Another One Bites The Grass is, however, even more pithy than usual. Both witty and penetrating it lays bare the successes and failures of some famous international campaigns. The essence, and the reason for these 5 stars, is not for his being an excellent raconteur. Instead his philosophy of dynamic, multi-lingual, multi-cultural teams must make sense to those marcomms exec's who try to scale the translation mountain.This is a book that is a MUST for those who have responsibility for putting out attractive messages internationally. Furthermore, it is an enlightening and instructive read for anyone in business, large or small, about the perils of communication on a global scale if one thinks only within one's home environment.Buy this book - you will be entertained and educated in the best possible way.Attend the next conference that Simon Anholt speaks at - you will be wiser for it.

Another One Bites the Grass: Making Sense of International A

A wake-up call to the global ad industry. This is a smart, funny, pomposity-lite examination of the ad industry's most serious problem. International advertising is where it's at, yet most of the world's big ad guys keep getting it wrong.Mr. Anholt has spoken the unspeakable truth about today's agency networks.