CASE 15-1 The Marlboro Man: Should We Modify His Image Overseas?

This teaching note was prepared by Professor Jeffrey A. Fadiman of San Jose State University. Consider the Marlboro advertisement and select a certain country as your target market. Write a formal business memo to a chief executive officer of a small international advertising agency in which you submit suggestions about: Note: Rough sketches would be nice but are not necessary. Word-pictures can be drawn with equal skill. Simply show each change that you are making. It is the originality, imagination, and effectiveness of each suggestion, not your artistic skill, that will count. 1. How would you modify the advertisement in order to make it more attractive to a selected target clientele (identify) within the country you have chosen? Hong Kong is used for illustrative purpose. The cowboy: --change his ethnic identity to Asian --change his clothes from "cowboy" to a tailored safari suit and tie, a symbol of career success with young Cantonese identity --change his hat to a pith helmet to suggest he is an outdoorsman --change his horse to a U.S. style Jeep, again to suggest the out-of-doors image --The hand that holds a lariat could hold a hunting rifle The backdrop: --the scenery should be tropical. If he holds a gun, it should be tropical jungle, to suggest a "luxury" hunting trip. (Alternately, he might hold an expensive movie camera.) The cigarette: --give the cigarette an active role. Make it the center of the action. Place it in the hand of a beautiful young Chinese woman, seated in the front seat at the Jeep and also dressed in pith helmet and safari suit --at the moment the picture is taken, she stands up, in the Jeep, one hand on the front window, the other holding a Marlboro. She then "stretches" her body forward over the hood, holding her hand at full length to offer the cigarette to her partner. The man stands just before the Jeep, one foot on the wheel, the other on the ground. His left hand holds the gun (or camera) at the ready. His eyes, however, peer intently into the jungle. Only as an afterthought does his left hand reach back towards the cigarette. Note: the hands do not quite touch, thus making them the focus for the reader's attention.

Caption: "Too busy for Marlboro?" "Never!" Warning: must conform to health standards established in the host country. For example, in Scandinavia and Kuwait, the regulations are far stricter. 2. Why would each change you suggest help the product image to conform more closely to their expectations? Hong Kong citizens are largely Cantonese. They would identify more closely with Asian than Caucasian models. Having never seen a horse or lariat (not even smokers can afford the price of Western movies), they are more likely to identify with activities accessible to wealthy locals ... such as a luxury hunting safari, with an exquisitely dressed, beautiful young woman (or from the feminine viewpoint: handsome young man). The woman's act of handing the man a cigarette conforms to traditional Cantonese expectations that place women in service roles, with regard to their male partners.