About Garnier

Garnier is a mass market cosmetics brand of L’Oréal, a French cosmetics and beauty company. Garnier was established in 1904 by Alfred Amour Garnier in Blois, France. In 1965 it was acquired by L’Oréal. Its main products are hair care and skin care, but it also develops and sells other beauty products. Garnier is sold on 6 continents and in over forty countries. Because Garnier sells its products worldwide they create specific product lines targeted for different skin types and cultures.  This will become apparent when looking at the two product campaigns.

Indonesia

Indonesia is a country in Southeast Asia. It is an island group consisting of thousands of islands in the Pacific Ocean. As it lies close to the equator, it has a tropic climate with a wet and a dry season. The average temperature ranges from 28°C (82.4°F) in the coastal areas to 23°C (73.4°F) in higher mountain regions.

Indonesia is considered a high context culture. According to Edward T. Hall that means that in this culture information is embedded in context and feelings, thoughts, and information are not explicitly expressed. The message is more implicit. This can also be seen in advertising campaigns in Indonesia. Those are usually very colorful and appeal to and play with their emotions.

GeertHofstede’s “Dimensions of Culture” also give a helpful insight to Indonesian culture and help analyze advertising strategies used in this country. Indonesia has a low Individualism score which means that it is a collective society. The society has a strong defined social frame and individuals are expected to conform to the ideals of the society/in-group they belong to. Masculinity in another interesting dimension to look at, when you want to understand a culture. Indonesia has a rather low Masculinity score (46) compared to other Asian countries, but is still considered a masculine country. Status and visible success are important in Indonesia, this status and success does not always have to be material. An important concept in Indonesia is “Gengsi” which loosely translates to “outwards appearance”. This outwards appearance must always be maintained. Another interesting dimension to look at in the light of advertising is Uncertainty Avoidance. A score of 48 means that people in Indonesia like to avoid uncertainty, but are also more emotional. This means that consumers are more receptive to advertisement using  the soft sell approach, because this plays with their emotions. But Indonesia, with a Long-Term-Orientation score of 62, is also a pragmatic culture. Indonesia is also a culture of restraint, this can be seen by their low Indulgence score (38). In theory this means that for the people in Indonesia indulgence is wrong and they don’t value leisure time as high as other countries might. Cultures of restraint can be difficult to make advertisement for because people are not inclined to spend money freely.

Austria

Austria is a landlocked country in central Europe. It is a mountainous country in the Alps. Austria has a strongly varying average temperature. In flat regions like Vienna the average temperature 11°C (51.8°F) but in the mountainous regions the average temperature is a lot colder, for example on the Großglockner, Austria’s highest mountain, the average temperature is -9°C (15.8°F).

Austria is considered a low context culture. According to Edward T. Hall that means that in this culture information is explicitly communicated, often verbally. This can also be seen in advertising campaigns in Austria. Those are usually based on facts and full of details about the product that is advertised. 

GeertHofstede’s “Dimensions of Culture” also give a helpful insight to Austrian culture and help analyze advertising strategies used in this country. Austria has a Individualism score of 55 which means that it is an individualist society. Austrian society has a loosely knit social frame and people care mostly about themselves and their immediate families. This can also be seen in their advertisements, usually the individual is the focus of the ad. It is a masculine society (Masculinity score: 79) which means that Austrian society is highly success oriented and driven. An interesting dimension to look at concerning advertisement is Uncertainty Avoidance. Austria has a very high score of 70 and therefore is a culture that very much likes to avoid uncertainty. In this country important decisions are taken only after careful analysis of all available information. This means that consumers are most receptive to advertisement using the hard sell approach because they are given all the information they need to decide whether or not to buy the product. Austria is also a pragmatic culture (Long Term-Orientation score: 60). Austria is a culture of indulgence, this can be seen by their high Indulgence score (63). This means that the people in Austria show a willingness to realize impulses. They enjoy life and like having fun. Leisure time is very important to them and they like to act as they please and spend money on things they like. Cultures of indulgence are easy to make advertisements for because they are easily persuaded to buy products because they don’t restrain themselves.

Product Campaign Indonesia: Garnier Light Complete Serum (Whitening Cream)

 

The product in Indonesia is a whitening cream, it lightens the skin in one week to up to three shades whiter.

The commercial starts with a young woman working in a flower shop. She looks at her phone and sees that an Event is coming up in just one week. The young woman looks shocked. Just one week and her skin is tanned. She wonders what she can do, all the other whitening products are very slow. This is symbolized by a turtle slowly walking past other products in white containers in front of a grey background. The solution for her problem: The new Garnier Light Complete Serum. It appears in the commercial, yellow/colorful container and the background lights up. A voice-over explains the product while the girl tests the products. Video cuts to a new scene. The girl is walking to the event. Her skin is white and she is wearing a yellow dress. She looks happy and all the other guests also look happy and are admiring her. The advertisement ends with her hugging and laughing with her friends.  

The target audience for this campaign are young Indonesian women. The campaign uses a mixture of a hard and soft sell approach but the focus is on the emotions.