“How Do ASEAN Region Localizes International Brads?”: A multidimensional Analysis of TV Commercials in Southeast Asian Region

Authors: Remart Dumlao, Nawapan, Thiti (Muban Chombueng Rajabhat University, Thailand)
Speaker: Nawapan, Thiti
Topic: Semiotics and Semiology
The (SCOPUS / ISI) SOAS GLOCAL CALA 2020 General Session

Abstract

In the world of commerce, specifically advertising, there is increasing demand for television commercials. This has intensified over the past two years, due to the demand of globalization in the global market. In response, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand have increased their economic growth, and expect to see double-digit gains in next two years, motivated by continuous immersion between local and international business enterprises (eMarketer, 2017; IAB Singapore, 2017). Of these international business enterprises, television commercials provide an effective strategy for introducing products to local markets, considering the geographical location of some cities and provinces in the ASEAN region. Given the impact of TV ads in global market, there is, however, an interesting query regarding how international companies localize their products in order to raise interests of local costumers.

This paper explores how ASEAN localizes international brands in TV commercials, and how it links to glocalisation and intercultural representation in creating new discursive forms of identities within the ASEAN context. Drawing from insights connected to inter-semiosis by Kress and Van Leeuwen (1996) and SF-MDA by O’Halloran (2004) to conceptualize the process of glocalisation in brand positioning within the screen platform. Two TV commercials in each Southeast Asia countries from the food industry were employed, based on the criteria of the study. These TV commercials from different Southeast Asian countries were compared with country origin of product, so to expose processes of glocalisation.

Findings from the multimodal-discourse analysis suggest that commercials construct glocal identities through several factors and incidences. These incidences and factors support and provide understanding for brand positioning identity, which itself describes the intersemiosis of discursive elements from various cultural aspects within contemporary consumer cultures. Implications of this study are thoroughly discussed in the paper.

Keywords: Multi-modal analysis, commercials, glocalization, international brands