Conclusion

     All in all, after comparing the three ads of Nescafe in the U.S., China and Germany by analyzing rhetorical strategies, I drew the conclusion about Nescafe’s great popularity in three countries (especially in China) from two aspects: Similarities and Differences. In terms of similarities, Nescafe’s symbols and logo are the same throughout the ads, in an effort to be more recognizable. The other aspect, differences is more superior from my view. It is because Nescafe’s marketing strategy is global in the sense that the company varies its advertising messages and product formulation to suit cultural differences, including diverse consumer attitudes and preferences. That is an essential point that many other multinational coffee brands' corporations have to think about and learn from.

Works Cited

Individualism: William Harms  America’s individualist culture influences the ability to view others’ perspectives The university of Chicago Chronicle,Vol.26 No.19, July 12, 2007
Data source: http://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/culture/
German: http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/germany-country-profile.html

Ads: The German part

   

Before getting into German ad, there are several basic points about German culture(German cultural) we have to pay attetion to first: The German culture is influenced by militarism, meaning that structure and order is very important in life. Germans are conscious of time and put an emphasis on promptness and perfection. They are forward thinkers concerned with the future due to their long‐term orientation.

        In terms of the German ad, we can see female Hands cupping a steaming mug of coffee at the first glance. Coffee is foamed on the top, sprinkled with either chocolate or cinnamon. It gives us the impression of softness and comfort, and alludes to a warm, comfortable environment. As Germany is a predominantly masculine country which spurs competitiveness and therefore it makes sense to use feminine hands, giving the viewer the feeling of comfort. The colors are contrasted between a sharp black background and a light, attention‐grabbing focus point. The purpose of this is to highlight the central product, which made me connect to another cultural trait of German. It is the privacy of home. Germans think that the home is a place to get away from the outside world, where they do not have to be so serious. So the feel of the central product can remind the German consumer of the calmness and comfort that they feel while in their homes, away from the stresses of work or school.

       Obviously the Nescafe logo is located in the bottom right corner. The ad is written in German, using an artistic font. From the picture we can see that copy is secondary to the image, in that it is off to the side and smaller, meaning the viewer will notice the image first and then look for the copy. The copy means "Give (offer) yourself a break", emphasizing again drinking Nescafe is a way to get away from the stresses and rigors of everyday life.

     Overall the ad conveys feelings of relaxation and calmness. As Germans place great emphasis on structure and routine, Nescafe’s placement of the product as being used during a specific moment during the day (the “break”) makes sense. Germans are typically busy people; therefore positioning the product as a respite from the hectic daily schedule is well done; even the simplicity of the ad adds to the feeling of tranquility and getting away from the rigors of every‐day life. The selling proposition infers that the user will be relaxed as a result of drinking Nescafe. The ad uses an emotional and psychological appeal, “those calm mom hands” that offer a sense of tranquility and relaxation. The overall ad is very clean and not very busy, in that the viewer is not overpowered by numerous stimuli.

Ads: The Chinese part

     Nescafe not only does well in gaining considerable percentage of the U.S.’s market share, it has also successfully entered into Chinese market and earned a proper place. The data(data source) shows that Nestlé’s Nescafe brand is a long-running favorite in the instant coffee sector in China and Nescafe has now become a generic name for coffee. Why can Nescafe stand firmly in the Chinese coffee market? Some of the reasons are in the ad above. The ad was also released in 2009, and can be seen almost everywhere in big cities. What comes first to my eyes of this ad is the steaming mug of coffee. The mug is also a sharp red color, which fits in the deep red-brown background well. In contrast to American’s on-the-go lifestyle, Chinese people advocate a casual and easy lifestyle that emphasizes the perception and enjoyment of things. In addition to that, from Chinese’ view, red color symbolizes good fortune and joy. Therefore the implicit message here is this warm, steaming cup of coffee can absolutely make you enjoy the current moment and the rest of your day. It is probably for this reason that makes Nescafe insist on its red color to emotionally connect to Chinese people. Additionally, a pile of coffee beans under the mug is to indicate that the company uses genuine, high-quality raw materials to make Nescafe for the purpose of establishing credibility and appeal to the ethos of audience.

      When it comes to the text of the ad, the four big vertical Chinese characters on the left side mean “Nestlé Coffee” which aims at publicizing its brand image to create more influence. The text”味道好极了” on the top right corner means “It tastes great”. Same as the slogan on the American ad, this sentence has some other unsaid meaning. In this tea-drinking nation, coffee culture is just starting to touch down. Most Chinese do not fully appreciate the taste of coffee, but they are content with the taste of instant coffee. That is because Nescafe delivers the best coffee taste catering to Chinese consumers’ taste. This not only enables Nescafe to stand out from other countless coffee brands and dominate Chinese youth’s heart, but also makes it become dominant in Chinese instant coffee market. If the slogan above is brilliant enough, the other two lines of text below the slogan can be attributed to a typical but good example of logos. The translation of the text is: “Every wonderful moment” “Every cup of Nescafe”. The company emphasizes yellow color on two “every” in an attempt to establish a logical connection which can be interpreted as: Nescafe will help you achieve every accomplishment in your life. According to my research, in China coffee mainly appeals to adventurous, open-minded, young, urban consumers who are in favor of western lifestyles, such as students and white-collar workers. Nescafe targets at this point and makes good use of the logos to encourage them to experience coffee and live out their dreams. 

                                

Ads: The American part

      The Nescafe ad displayed on the left is the one that was issued in 2009. Without much exquisite software design and air brushing, it is simple in presenting its content and picture. On the left side of the ad, there is a Large, bold, stacked copy that encompasses over 50% of the ad space writing “WE WERE INSTANT BEFORE A SMALL BECAME A TALL”. What needs to be paid attention to here is that the color of text is alternated between brown and red, and the font size varies to enhance and highlight certain parts of the message. Among the text, the word “INSTANT” and “TALL” can immediately grab consumers’ eyes.  As the United States has a fast-paced society that is in constant movement, most of people follow an “on-the-go” life style which makes them view time as indispensible and finite, therefore a popular American phrase is “time is money”. This consciousness of time has also created the thriving fast food chain market in America. Aside from that, Americans are ambitious and value the competitive spirit, which means that they are interested in building and accomplishing goals. So here Nescafe penetrates these two American culture elements and uses the rhetorical strategy of pathos in the highlighted “INSTANT” and “TALL” in an effort to establish an intimate connection between the product and potential consumers.

     In terms of the right side, there is a coffee-filled red mug with a Nescafe logo alongside a “Taster’s choice to-go” packet. The mug is a sharp red color, which contrasts the whitish-beige background. Meanwhile it is not difficult to find that both the mug and packet stand alone, which makes me connect to a cultural trait here about American individualism(Individualism). According to a scientific survey, the U.S. is classified as the most individualistic nation, which means members identify their own interests and opinions first and make decisions accordingly. Nescafe makes use of this trait to promote the visual of the individual packet (as well as mug) to appeal to the typical highly individualistic American, as in this packet is made “just for you”. Last but not least, there is a very important point that cannot be ignored on the bottom-right corner---- “the smart choice”. Although being so short and simple, it actually implicates a lot more meanings. These few words will surely appeal to the consumers going through the economic recession of 2009, because after experiencing the financial crisis, those people’s consumer attitudes have changed. They now place more emphasis on price and value rather than brand image. This happened to give Nescafe the opportune time to publicize itself: It employs a rational appeal to imply that Nescafe’s coffee is a better value, although it is not positioned as a prestigious brand like Starbucks. By comparing itself to Starbucks and positioning itself as the “smart choice”, the company appeals to the consumers’ intellect and encourages them to be logical in their choice of coffee.

Nescafe’s global advertising strategy------Introduction from cultural aspect

      As the largest food company in the world measured by revenues, Nestlé, with its renowned products such as baby food, milk, coffee, and breakfast cereals has had access to nearly every household. Besides, it is not difficult to find that this brand has a time-honored history, as it was originally founded in 1867 by Henri Nestlé. In the context of the many factors that determine Nestlé’s lasting success during more than a hundred years, advertising strategy is a minor and yet significant element. Nestlé employs a “think globally, act locally” marketing strategy. For example, although the symbols and logo are the same throughout the ads, the marketing advertisements targeting different locations and regions often are different in terms of language and advertising appeal. The three pictures in the following pages are Nescafe's instant coffee ads in America, China and Germany. To throw light on Nescafe’s advertising strategies for other fellow coffee brands' sake, I would like to analyze rhetorical strategies of pathos, logos, ethos and kairos of the ads to find out why Nestlé can stand a chance of being unrivalled in the international market.