Now, lets move to the next part which is Japanese advertising campaign.

The international division of Frontier’s headquarters in Tokyo asked its contracted agency, J&M advertising campaign, to prepare an advertising campaign that would elevate its brand image in both the United States and Germany. In its own orientation to the agency, Frontier made it clear that it had decided to manage its overall marketing strategy through three broad geographical areas: America, Europe and Asia. Its sales covered a broad range of products from laser disc software to car navigation systems, by way of computer CD Roms, CD players e.t.c.

Some of these ( laser disc players ) were better established in the United States than in Europe .Three problem areas had to be dealt with by the agency:

1) Brand image: Frontier was not seen to be as technologically advanced as Sony, in spite of the fact that it was the originator of laser technology

2) The market situation: Frontier’s targeted consumers were generally seen to be limited because there was an overall impression that they were older than Sony’s customers. However, the reunification of Germany and the forthcoming unification of Europe (EU) provided the company with an opportunity to rejuvenate its overall brand image in Europe at least, even though the amount of advertising hitherto done in Germany did not measure up to that put out by Sony.

3) Products: Most consumers saw no fundamental differences in the qualities of the products put out by Frontier and its competitors.

Following this orientation, the agency calculated that it was necessary to take account of a number of related points:

1. Corporate image: The client should emphasize its brand name

2. Brand prestige: It should emphasize its role as a technological innovator both in the past and in the future

3. Aspirational value: It should develop a broad corporate concept that pursued an emphasis on personal freedom and the idea of entertainment as a means towards enriching consumers’ lives.

This analysis of the market and Frontier’s position therein, the agency needed to come up with a basic brand concept, corporate slogan and communication strategy that included one or more sets of print advertisements illustrating the approach it was proposing that Frontier adopt. It was here an anthropologist entered the game. As part of a anthropology fieldwork in the agency, anthropologist was placed in different divisions – print media buying, television advertising, marketing, merchandising, and so on – for a month at a time in order to learn how employees went about their jobs.

Now let’s move on to the 2nd part of my research which is about Client relations and The importance of negotiations and workshops

The process of ad production is one directed by key members of an agency, not so much at the brand, consumer or even rival agencies, but towards the client. Because the marketing world in which advertising operates is so uncertain and unstable, the value placed on managing impressions and directing human relations is at an all time high. This becomes apparent as this course paper examines the tenuous nature of relations between advertising agencies and their corporate clients and the ways in which agencies attempt to moderate the tension.

Advertising agencies face a number of uncertain elements, any one of which can potentially derail a campaign, or even an agency. At various stages of production ads are shaped by the collective efforts of teams, groups and key individuals who influence others. Agency account planners, account executives and client brand managers develop research ideas; agency teams write the advertising creative brief; copywriters and art directors sketch the ads.

Not infrequently, strategies are dropped altogether in the middle of development and new ones taken up. Exacerbating the situation, as two marketers point out, competition among agencies over client accounts is fierce, precisely at a time when client loyalty is at an all time low.

To mitigate this situation, advertising executives attempt to direct and control as much of the interaction with their client as possible.

Workshops are occasioned by a new relationship with a client, either after winning a pitch or after having been assigned a new business opportunity from an existing client. In both cases, new teams from the advertising agency and corporate client are brought together.

The brand workshop offers an ideal setting in which to analyze the ways an agency manages strategies in building relationships with its corporate client. An agency must manage information while it seeks to foster affinity so as not to put its client off. To accomplish this an agency faces a particular dilemma or double bind, a concept identified by a specialist in anthropology. On the one hand the agency has to present itself as competent in a service or skill that is perceived by the client to add value. At the same time, an agency places a premium on human chemistry, and so must demonstrate to the client that working together will be amicable, cooperative and mutually beneficial. This presents a challenge to negotiation since it requires one to stand apart as distinct, and yet blend in and show affinity with others.

From an objective viewpoint, the workshop appears to offer an ideal way for an agency and client to collectively identify a position in a highly competitive marketplace. It is also an ideal place for an agency to demonstrate its expertise and knowledge of the client’s brand and consumer.

Linguists inform marketers that in any conversation, the intentions of speakers are communicated through stylistic features of language that have less to do with what is being said, and more to do with how it is being said. To understand a speaker’s message, people need to know how the words spoken are meant to be taken, that is, seriously, in jest or in some other way.

The degree to which people communicate using stylistic features of speech is germane to our understanding of how agencies use metaphoric language to calibrate and maximize interaction with their clients. Metaphors are intended to compel the feelings of an audience to move in certain directions. They are also purposefully ambiguous so that people become involved in making sense of them. So, for example, when expressed in battle hymns such as ‘Onward Christian Soldiers,’ metaphors rally participants to express militance in fighting against iniquity and are often put forth into action with accompanying ritual.

Exchanged in business meetings, metaphors are ideal devices for fostering emotional bonds when there may be little affinity to begin with. Nevertheless, the figurative language with which the agency and client describe their domain is one that is not value free. It is hinged on a narrative metaphor that is meant to evoke strong sentiments among all present.