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Portfolio Section 1: Article Review

Due to expansion into global markets, businesses tend to focus more on understanding different cultures now than ever before. The Hofstede model, which focuses on the cultural dimensions for understanding cultures, can be used for strategizing the best advertising campaign for specific cultures (Hofstede, 2010). The article “The Hofstede model” seeks to analyze the Hofstede dimensional model of national culture and applies the concepts of image, identity, personality, and self to branding strategy across cultures. Furthermore, cultural dimensions related to advertising have also been used for understanding the manifestations of values across cultures (Hofstede, 2010). The literature on cultural models reveals that these models tend to have fundamental value differences with respect to countries, level of analysis, number of dimensions, and subjects. The Hofstede model, on the other hand, distinguishes the different cultures according to five specific dimensions that are consistent with all the cultures. These dimensions include power distance, masculinity/femininity individualism/ collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, and collectivism/ individualism. This model provides each dimension for 76 countries (Hofstede, 2010).

Hofstede states that when it comes to branding and advertising across cultures, the impact of culture should be used as the basis of analysis for measuring the stance of individual respondents (Hofstede, 2010). This means that applying the Hofstede model, which originally was constructed to answer the work-related value differences, to advertising and branding can be done by incorporating and contextually interpreting the manifestations of the cultural values in five dimensions (Hofstede, 2010). For example, according to Hofstede’s cultural dimensions’ theory, the cultural dimensions can be used to understand the power distance in the management in Saudi businesses. Saudi Arabia has a high score of 95 in the dimension of power distance, which is the extent to which the subordinates accept the hierarchy and power of their superiors, which might be distributed unequally.

The dimension of power distance that describes the relationship between subordinates and bosses can be interpreted in the context of advertising as well. The luxury brand, Anoosh, is a status symbol in Saudi Arabia, which is a high power distance culture (Hofstede, 2010). This creates a power dynamic in which those at the top of the hierarchy are targeted by the brand with the product offering of the custom made chocolate products having finest ingredients such as hazelnut, cashews, Almonds, Fruits, Dates, etc. which are imported from Belgium, Lebanon, and Switzerland. The points mentioned within this article happen to be useful for my portfolio analysis of Anoosh company because Hofstede Model is related to the dimensions that I will be incorporating while analyzing the advertising and business practices of the company. While analyzing the content of Anoosh’s advertising campaign, it can be noted that it is a reflection of collectivism. Thus the point mentioned within the article regarding contextually interpreting the manifestations of the values of the five dimensions will be used for the analysis of Anoosh’s advertising campaign for National Cookie Day in Saudi Arabia.

Portfolio Selection 2: Report on Anoosh

1.      Introduction

The company selected for this report is the luxury chocolate brand, Anoosh, which is a distributor of premium chocolates, famous for its finest ingredients such as hazelnut, cashews, Almonds, Fruits, Dates, etc. which are imported from Belgium, Lebanon and Switzerland. This chain of gourmet chocolate shops initiated its brand in Saudi Arabia in 2003. Currently, the company has over thirty-five shops in seven different cities in the country.

The particular features of the business which will be assessed in this report in terms of intercultural awareness include the company’s advertising strategy and management practices. The cross-cultural theories that will be used for these contexts include Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory and Hall’s theory of High/ Low Context. The cultural dimension framework provided by the celebrated cultural theorist, Hofstede, can be used for understanding the differences across countries in terms of culture. Halls’s theory of High/ Low context points out how individuals in different cultures communicate according to theory own cultural background.

2.    Observations

In their campaign on National Cookie Day, Anoosh used indirect communication to target their competitor, “Golden Brown,” a cookie and pastries bakery in Saudi Arabia. Anoosh targeted the weak point of the marketing strategies of its competitor in such a way that the meaning of the advertisement cannot be understood without knowledge of background or context and relies on implicit communication. This is because Saudi Arabia is a High Context Culture where the purpose of communication is to forge relationships.

In a high context culture, communication relies heavily on different communicative cues without using direct words (Halverson, 1993). According to Hall’s theory, communication in a high-context culture is done through nonverbal and indirect communication, which has a significant meaning. For example, Anoosh uses the verbal message in its campaigns in an indirect way, which talks around the point of targeting or focusing on the weakness of its competitor rather than focusing on it directly.

In the case of the campaign by Anoosh, the company targets the competitor’s marketing strategy of using social media influences for promoting their brand. For example, in the advertisement on National Cookie Day, a pink-haired influencer can be seen eating a cookie by Anoosh along with a statement, “There’s a cookie you promote, and a cookie you eat!” which is an indirect way of telling the masses that influences promote the brand of the competitors but are inclined to eat the delicious cookies by Anoosh.

Figure 1Anoosh’s Campaign on National Cookie Day

 

While analyzing the content of Anoosh’s advertising campaign, it can be noted that the campaign is a reflection of collectivism. The campaign video for Anoosh on the National Cookie Day depicts families enjoying cookies and rejoicing in the rich taste of the custom made cookies. According to Hofstede’s dimensions, Saudi Arabia’s score for individualism is only 25 which means that the society is collectivistic. This shows that members of the society manifest values relating to long-term commitments.

Hofstede’s cultural dimensions can be used to understand the power distance in the management in Saudi businesses. Saudi Arabia has a high score of 95 in the dimension of power distance, which is the extent to which the subordinates accept the hierarchy and power of their superiors which might be distributed unequally. The employees in Saudi Arabia are mostly migrant workers from countries such as India or Asia and tend to accept the inherent inequalities that come with working in a centralized environment where subordinates expect to be told what must be done by their superiors (Cassell, 2012).

3.    Intercultural Awareness.

3.1 Low-context and High-context

It can be observed that some individuals convey their messages through direct written or verbal communication while some cultures use indirect method of communication in which nonverbal means are used (Nam, 2015). Nam states that in countries like the Middle East, Asia, Latin America and Africa are high context cultures. High context culture uses nonverbal and indirect method is used for communication as the communication relies more on context. Thus in a high context culture, it is the responsibility of the listener to interpret the message hidden beneath the lines.

In case of Anoosh, the advertising campaign is the best example of indirect communication for a high context culture. Anoosh uses the verbal message in its campaigns in an indirect way which talks around the point of targeting or focusing on the weakness of its competitor rather than focusing on it directly. According to Hall, the low context cultures express their message through explicit and to the point method whether written or oral. Norway, Sweden, the United States, Canada and Germany are some of the countries that use business practices that follow the norms of low context culture in which communication is direct.

3.2 The Hofstede model

The Hofstede model, on the other hand, distinguishes the different cultures according to five specific dimensions that are consistent with all the cultures. These dimensions include power distance, masculinity/femininity individualism/ collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, and collectivism/ individualism (Hofstede, 2010). The luxury brand, Anoosh, is a status symbol in Saudi Arabia, a high power distance culture (Hofstede, 2010). This creates a power dynamic in which those at the top of the hierarchy are targeted by the brand.

My own cultural values have influenced my analysis in such a way that I easily understood the indirect message or nonverbal communication used within the advertising campaign. It would have been difficult to interpret by someone of different cultures. Furthermore, there is a lack of cultural awareness in Saudi Arabia regarding other cultures. For example, a special menu is introduced on Eid as well as in Ramadan, which is the Islamic events; however, no such items are added in non-Islamic holidays such as Easter or Christmas. Similarly, there are holidays observed at Anoosh for Eid; however, there are no holidays observed for Christmas or Easter.

4.    Conclusion and Recommendation

Anoosh is based in Saudi Arabia and has not expanded internationally, which explains why it lacks intercultural awareness. There are no holidays for non-Muslim minorities working at the company, and no new food items are introduced on these holidays as well. Anoosh can expand its cultural focus and target other nationalities by recognizing their religious events and celebrations, providing special food items, initiating social media campaigns, and targeting masses through social media influencers of different cultural backgrounds.

References

Cassell, M. A. (2012). Analysis Of Hofstede’s 5-D Model: The Implications Of Conducting Business In Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Management & Information Systems , 151-200.

Halverson, C. (1993). ‘Cultural-context Inventory: The Effects of Culture on Behavior and Work Style. In 1993 Annual: Developing Human Resources. Pfeiffer and Company.

Hofstede, G. (2010). The Hofstede model. International Journal of Advertising, 85-110.

Nam, K.-A. (2015). High-context and low-context communication. In The SAGE Encyclopedia of Intercultural Competence. Sage Publication.

 

 

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