Saudi and UK Advertising - Book Report/Review Example

Attention will be given to commentaries gathered from related case studies from online sources which compares and critiques the creative output of advertising agencies the world over such as creative forums and blogs like the Ads of the World (adsoftheworld.com) which provides both comprehensive and mundane but easily accessible advertising work some of which come from Mid-east and Britain based advertising agencies. In analyzing the creative output from the marketing communications professionals in both regions, one can examine whether or not the existing theories on creativity in marketing communication is still relevant in Saudi Arabia.

From the author's initial experience, the creative output by most advertisers in Saudi Arabia largely reflects the existing marketing trends, where the "one-size-fits-all" or the international flavour is very dominant. One likely reason as to the prevalence of this trend is the stark difference in the advertising codes in both the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia. A thorough comparison will help to promote a conclusion about the research question. Using different marketing theories and models will help illustrate the points for improvement where both cultures can and may learn from each other in mutual respect, sensitivity and tolerance.

According to Wilbur Schramm's model of communication (1955) which is one of the better models of mass communication, there exists a common "field of experience," or "the psychological frame of reference that refers to the type of orientation or attitudes which interactants maintain toward each other in specific settings. Because of this a message may have different meanings associated with it depending upon the culture or society or the situation where the communication takes place. Communication systems, thus, operate within the confines of cultural rules and expectations to which we all have been educated.

" The thing about this model is that it shows all the steps that the marketing people and the advertising go through to deliver the right message to the audience. But perhaps even more important is also how the audience responds to the noise which can distract them from the message. Cultural realities and context can often constitute a barrier into correctly decoding the message and understand it. The model also emphasizes the role of the source (who is sending the message) and the method of encoding which how the message is "packaged" into a language, symbol or style that is easily transmittable.

Here we can see that the company or the person responsible for delivering this message have to be creative to make the audience interested in his or her product and not letting the noise disturb him or her from watching the advertising. In this sense, some creative professionals have observed that this is missing in Saudi Arabia because a lot or most of the advertising that you see is a non Saudi advertising or a copy of a European or American advertising which begs the question "why" Is it because the Saudi market doesn't need any new and creative idea or because the Saudi culture is the same as the American and European (Simply Marketing Communications, Chris Fill p30) Thus, in addition to the existence of differences in