Kachru's Three Circle of English
World Englishes and Global Advertising
It is the age of rapid globalization and super-branding. English is the most important language of globalization and it's the choice of global advertisers and marketers.
Some people argue that there will be global homogeneity and language conformity. The paradox of globalization and localization brings out questions like "should language, logo, be standardized into monolithic norms or should they be adapted to local norms, tastes and sensitivities?" and "should ads show a fused style with universal appeal or embody particular cultural identities?" etc.
In fact, a product being too nationalized cannot reach international audience. Therefore, global advertisers have the needs to be creative rather than subject to homogeneity. Nowadays, advertisers tend to think and act both global and local at the same time. They oppose to linguistic segregation and try to combine the globalization and localization themes by integrating other linguistic systems with their own scripts. They emphasize the importance of "understanding the consumer's mind-set" and using local varieties "to create closeness to the audience".
Moreover, the cross-fertilization of world Englishes and other languages in advertising is becoming more apparent. Linguistic innovations outside the Inner Circle Englishes is continuously influencing native-English-speaking advertising.
As a consequence, there is an increase in the joint use of Inner-Circle Englishes and local styles of Englishes. Meanwhile, they also create their own standards of mixing English.
In addition, advertisers subscribe to bilingualism either consciously or unconsciously. Thus, English becomes the most suitable linguistic drive for promoting bilingualism.
Some people argue that there will be global homogeneity and language conformity. The paradox of globalization and localization brings out questions like "should language, logo, be standardized into monolithic norms or should they be adapted to local norms, tastes and sensitivities?" and "should ads show a fused style with universal appeal or embody particular cultural identities?" etc.
In fact, a product being too nationalized cannot reach international audience. Therefore, global advertisers have the needs to be creative rather than subject to homogeneity. Nowadays, advertisers tend to think and act both global and local at the same time. They oppose to linguistic segregation and try to combine the globalization and localization themes by integrating other linguistic systems with their own scripts. They emphasize the importance of "understanding the consumer's mind-set" and using local varieties "to create closeness to the audience".
Moreover, the cross-fertilization of world Englishes and other languages in advertising is becoming more apparent. Linguistic innovations outside the Inner Circle Englishes is continuously influencing native-English-speaking advertising.
As a consequence, there is an increase in the joint use of Inner-Circle Englishes and local styles of Englishes. Meanwhile, they also create their own standards of mixing English.
In addition, advertisers subscribe to bilingualism either consciously or unconsciously. Thus, English becomes the most suitable linguistic drive for promoting bilingualism.
Hong Kong and Global Advertising
Advertising in Outer- and Expanding-Circles (e.g. Hong Kong) makes use of the bilingual and multilingual environment of those places. The main focus is therefore Language Contact. Areas like language mixing, language attitudes, linguistic innovations, group targeting, and domain allocation etc. are being considered.
While Inner-Circle Englishes use foreign language for symbolic or mocking use, non-English advertising usually use English to code-mix with their dominant language. English is used for the structural domains like attention-getters, company logo or name, packing and labeling, pricing, slogans, and even the main body of the text. This symbolizes the power of English in the two circles.
One major concern of cross-cultural advertising is the translation mishaps which may lead to product failure. Cross-cultural translations and intelligibility in advertising reflect the appropriateness and acceptance of world Englishes in advertising. .In Hong Kong, most people have a certain understanding of English so English mixing seldom leads to translation blunders.
English mixing in the two circles is not induced by low-level concerns like borrowings--using English to fill a lexical gap in a particular language. In fact, it is motivated by advertisers' deeper and creative intention. To them, English is a "cool" language that can mark audience identity (as international, modern, rational, objective, ethno-cultural stereotypes etc.) and increase the attractiveness of the product (as standard, American or British)
Language mixing of global advertising allows international advertisers to strengthen the appeal of their advertising messages by means of audience identity construction, product branding, and socio-psychological rendering of both consumers and products.
(Bhatia, 2009)
While Inner-Circle Englishes use foreign language for symbolic or mocking use, non-English advertising usually use English to code-mix with their dominant language. English is used for the structural domains like attention-getters, company logo or name, packing and labeling, pricing, slogans, and even the main body of the text. This symbolizes the power of English in the two circles.
One major concern of cross-cultural advertising is the translation mishaps which may lead to product failure. Cross-cultural translations and intelligibility in advertising reflect the appropriateness and acceptance of world Englishes in advertising. .In Hong Kong, most people have a certain understanding of English so English mixing seldom leads to translation blunders.
English mixing in the two circles is not induced by low-level concerns like borrowings--using English to fill a lexical gap in a particular language. In fact, it is motivated by advertisers' deeper and creative intention. To them, English is a "cool" language that can mark audience identity (as international, modern, rational, objective, ethno-cultural stereotypes etc.) and increase the attractiveness of the product (as standard, American or British)
Language mixing of global advertising allows international advertisers to strengthen the appeal of their advertising messages by means of audience identity construction, product branding, and socio-psychological rendering of both consumers and products.
(Bhatia, 2009)