Impact mémoire
International reach Universal behaviour
We are all different! Each social group has its own culture and each individual has his or her own sensibilities. Our cultural references, education and upbringing are often worlds apart from those of our neighbours: a Canadian lumberjack, for example, has very little in common culturally with a Yemenite fisherman!
While not denying this obvious fact, certain social science and psychology researchers have chosen to emphasise the similarities rather than the differences in our cultures. As their research has progressed, it has emerged that we have more in common than differences!
A few examples from the long but non-exhaustive “List of Human Universals” that are independent of culture compiled by Professor Donald Brown, Professor of Social Psychology at the University of Michigan, illustrate this:
Statuses and roles – Numerals – Emotions – Decorative art – Beliefs about fortune and misfortune – Belief in supernatural – Concept of person – Behaviour towards external influences – Envy – Dance – Music (vocal) – Body adornment – Risk taking – Etiquette – Curiosity – Loyalty – Altruism – Revenge – Property — Reciprocity – Logical notions –Gift giving – Spatial cognition — Units of time – Private inner life — Inheritance rules – Ethnocentrism – Recognition of individuals by face — Healing the sick – Males more aggressive – Adultery and cheating – Snakes (wariness around) – Attraction to gambling and games – Potentially suicidal – Sexual attractiveness – Awareness of self-image – Giving meaning to insignificant things – Reasoning – Jokes – Intuition – Identity – Ideals – Attempts to predict the future – Taboos and medicine – Black and white (as colour terms) – Classification of colours – Baby talk – and many more.
This clearly shows that many key themes and behaviours are truly universal. If these ‘universals’ are incorporated into advertising messages, they will carry meaning in all four corners of the globe, making them the ideal basis for truly international communications programmes.
Naturally, these common ‘hot buttons’ must be shaped into a universal form and convey symbolism that can be understood and assimilated by everyone. To this end, campaign execution is critical.
Our aim here is simply to show that there is a multitude of themes that can be exploited to reach audiences worldwide. The IM! team is uniquely positioned to identify these themes — from the initial creative intention through to concept development of international and indeed universal campaigns