French Advertising

Introduction

The types of advertising that is most striking to French consumers and ones that are promoted most heavily in France advertising. And also the styles in French advertising

An automotive brochure is a house. Plastic wrapping surrounding packaged salad is a windbreak. Compatibility between computers and software simulates sexual intercourse. An industrial machine can be your mistress. Such metaphorical thinking - in which one thing stands for another - sounds strange to American advertisers, but these examples represent the way French advertising professionals think about products and how they should be presented to French consumers. Each example was revealed by its creator in a study of French advertising professionals conducted in the cities of Paris and Montpellier in May 1994.

Hall and Hall (p. 128) noted in their study of French businessmen that the "most common complaint we have heard about American advertising is that the heads of French subsidiaries...have great difficulty persuading American headquarters to accept their advice about appropriate advertising in France." To succeed in France, American businesspeople must understand French consumers' expectations of advertising as well as the ways French advertising professionals plan and execute advertising. Our study provides an insider's perspective on French advertising.

Advertising in France is important to American industry and academicians because of the dollars spent on advertising in France, the investment of American agencies in French advertising, and the scope and the size of market opportunities in France. In 1990, France had the fourth highest total advertising spending level ($12.8 million USD) and the sixth highest per capita advertising spending level ($225 USD) in the world. Although 60% of total advertising revenue in France is generated by domestic firms, U.S.-owned agencies account for 30% of total advertising revenue. Ten U.S. agencies ranked in the top 20 in terms of total gross profits in 1992 (Jeanmaire 52).

In 1991 the United States held an estimated 12% share of manufactured imports in France and its share had a projected average growth rate of approximately 20% per year. Principal U.S. nonagricultural exports are engine parts, pumps and motors, ADP machines and parts, aircraft and associated equipment, electronic components and parts, and analytical instruments. The United States is the principal foreign investor in the French economy with 49.7% of the total foreign investment, followed by Germany and the United Kingdom. Among the most promising future business opportunities for U.S. firms are computers and peripherals; franchising, especially in real estate firms; household consumer goods, especially lawn and garden equipment and large-capacity refrigerators; entertainment films and videos, for which the United States already holds 50% of the total import market; information services, especially CD-ROM databases; and toys and games (Europe Business Outlook Conference Resource Book 14).

Importance of French Advertising

Given the increasing importance of international markets such as France to U.S. firms, academicians have conducted a variety of international advertising studies. For example, they have measured business students' attitudes toward advertising in the United States, New Zealand, Denmark, Greece, and India (Durvasula et al. 18) and reported Chinese managers' attitudes and ...