Abstract:

This is a brief case history about the role of multi-country qualitative research in helping to develop a global campaign for a ski manufacturer. The company is Salomon, a well-established French manufacturer of ski boots, bindings and other ski accessories. They have a strong corporate philosophy which can be summed up as a commitment to product quality and innovation, and a reluctance to introduce products on the market unless they have a real technical advantage. They had been aware for some time that their image amongst consumers lacked warmth and presence, and they hoped that this would be remedied by the introduction of their new ski, a unique construction which had proved very successful in performance trials. The job for research was to provide Salomon, and their agency Saatchi and Saatchi, with information that could help them define their advertising objectives and, subsequently, develop a worldwide press campaign to meet these objectives. The first stage of the three-stage study helped to provide an understanding of the attitudes of skiers at different levels of proficiency, in terms of skiing in general, and about equipment and brands. This, together with the specific knowledge of the Salomon image, helped Saatchi create a very strong campaign, which was rejected by consumers in a further stage of research because of its lack of universal acceptance. A further campaign proved more acceptable in the third stage of research although not in one of Salomon's most important markets, the U.S.A. A final compromise was suggested which illustrates the fact that globalism is an ideal which has to be approached gradually.