A research study submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Business Administration in International Business

Research Studies Project Report (M.B.A.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2007

In an ever changing world, mostly characterized by swift and deep transformations at all levels, and where globalization encompasses all countries, the transfer of advertising messages, puts forward a set of problems, both theoretically and practically. The research objective is to bring into light the problems engendered by the transfer of these advertising messages in a country where old values and modem ones coexist, as in the case of Morocco. This research study investigates the extent to which the ads transfer has been successful in meeting the expectation of the Moroccan audience. Some of the most significant conclusions are as follows: First, I discovered that the degree of adaptation of foreign advertising to the local context does intervene in shaping the audience's attitude towards the ads. Indeed, adapted or localized ads have greater success than standardized ones. Therefore, in order to advertise successfully to mass markets in Morocco, it is clearly preferable to localize campaigns rather than to rely on a wholesale transplant of images, symbols and sounds from elsewhere. But adaptation of advertising to local realities is, of course, by no means a guarantee that the advertising strategy will work in all cases. Morocco is a developing country where are encountered marked differences in life-styles, level of wealth, level of education and various aspects of the society. Therefore, what I would recommend to MNCs when adapting their TV commercials to Moroccan realities is to take into account the different social classes in Morocco and to have different approaches adapted to each category of Moroccans. Finally, MNCs should take into account that a great part of the audience does no longer perceive the prevailing social order as everlasting especially in terms of gender roles in society. Therefore, they should integrate in the implementation of their advertising strategy the social changes that the society is experiencing.