Temerlin Advertising Institute Launches First Meadows Program in Asia
How do you market fast-food restaurants in a country in which most people eat no beef? How do you market automobiles in a nation in which gasoline costs five dollars per gallon and animal-drawn vehicles share the highways with cars and trucks? SMU students will have the opportunity to explore answers to these and other intriguing questions this summer, thanks to a new study abroad opportunity at SMU: a partnership between the Temerlin Advertising Institute (TAI) and the Mudra Institute for Communications in Ahmedabad (MICA) – and the university’s first program in Asia.
SMU-in-India is open to both advertising and non-advertising majors, who will earn six semester hours of credit. Although the March 1 deadline has passed, applications still are being accepted on a rolling admissions basis as long as places are available.
Up to 15 students will study consumer behavior and integrated marketing communications during the program, which will include three weeks of course work at the MICA campus and two weeks of industry field trips and cultural tours, including a visit to the Taj Mahal.
“This program came about because of a fortunate confluence of circumstances,” Temerlin Advertising Institute assistant professor Kartik Pashupati said. “On the one hand, Meadows has begun a push toward greater globalization of the curriculum. On the other hand, I knew of the institute (MICA) and told (Temerlin Advertising Institute Director) Patty Alvey that it might be a good partner institution. MICA’s Director, Professor Atul Tandan, was planning a visit to Dallas, and I asked him to visit Meadows, to explore the possible collaborative opportunities, and Dr. Alvey went on a fact-finding mission in November, and confirmed that MICA was an institution we wanted to partner with.”
Alvey said that as companies increase advertising and marketing efforts in other countries, students need to learn about the international influences within the industry.
“As we look to the future and to educating globally-aware young advertising professionals, it’s keenly important for us to reach out to other parts of the world,” she said.
“India is a very attractive destination for a program like this,” Pashupati said. “For one thing, language skills are less of a concern, as India has the largest number of English-speaking people in the world. (In fact, India has more than a dozen constitutionally recognized languages spoken among its estimated 1 billion citizens, as well as hundreds of regional dialects. However, a great deal of Indian advertising is created in English and adapted to local languages.) The Indian middle class – estimated at 100 to 200 million people – represents a very attractive opportunity for local and global marketers.”
By offering so many people – and so many diverse groups of people – as potential customers, India presents a unique set of challenges to marketers. It is therefore an optimal location for students to learn to adjust to a wide array of advertising and marketing challenges.
“After the economic globalization of the 1990s, many more American companies have started to enter the market in a variety of sectors, including cars, food and retailing. Wal-Mart and Starbucks are formulating strategies for entering India, while KFC and McDonald’s already are there,” Pashupati said. “McDonald’s is a perfect example of what our students will be studying there – a fast-food restaurant that wants to expand its market share in a country where a majority of the people eat no beef. Most McDonald’s restaurants in India have signs that say ‘No beef products served here.’”
“The students will be taking three weeks of classroom study, and two weeks of field work and cultural immersion. They will visit advertising agencies to see how companies have adapted to the Indian market,” he said. “Cultural differences across the globe require marketers to adapt their marketing and communication strategies from one market to another. Smart marketers need to know how to find a balance between building a global brand presence and adapting to local cultural environments”
The ability to modify advertising and marketing messages to fit different cultures is an increasingly important aspect of the industry, and the SMU-in-India program will allow students to experience and study a multitude of different demographics and cultures on a single, enriching trip.
“India is an emerging market of remarkable proportion,” Alvey said, “and it’s vital that we develop relationships there.”
Parts of this story were originally written in a story that appeared on SMU’s official website.
How do you market fast-food restaurants in a country in which most people eat no beef? How do you market automobiles in a nation in which gasoline costs five dollars per gallon and animal-drawn vehicles share the highways with cars and trucks? SMU students will have the opportunity to explore answers to these and other intriguing questions this summer, thanks to a new study abroad opportunity at SMU: a partnership between the Temerlin Advertising Institute (TAI) and the Mudra Institute for Communications in Ahmedabad (MICA) – and the university’s first program in Asia.