Understanding Through Advertising

In her cultural complexity speech, brand strategist Veda Partalo applies her personal experience as a Bosnian immigrant to principles of advertising. She cites a study that claims 43% of Americans believe immigrants threaten American values while 41% believe immigrants are a burden on America. The study further stated that ingrained practices within American journalism promote these negative views. This is relevant as Partalo sees a direct correlation between media and advertising. One main difference is that in advertising, ad professionals must cater to a different audience constantly and need to learn how to communicate to everyone equally.

Partalo's cultural complexity speech highlights three advertising principles she learned: difference is an asset, but only in a welcoming environment; the buyer's motivations must be accurately reflected for advertising to be successful; advertising is also about understanding, rather than comparison.