Presidential Election in Taiwan

I had dinner with my family in a Chinese restaurant tonight. I couldn't help but keep watching the TV. It was all about the presidential election in Taiwan and how people were celebrating on Ma Ying-Jeou's victory. I wasn't alone. Many of the patrons were more interested in the TV than the food.

As usual, I paid more attention on the commercial than the program itself. It was a satellite TV station I was watching. The program was 100% fed directly from Taiwan. The commercials were mixed – some local and some global. How could I tell?

HP's commercial featured their Compaq slim desktop, which is not available in the U.S. McDonld's offered their coffee at 50% off; I don't think we have the same discount here. In couple other commercials, celebrities were holding boxes of CIBA Vision's Focus Dailies written in Chinese.

I suspect these spots were not placed by the US office of the brands, but the office in Taiwan. They most likely were added value. Taiwanese marketers of course would not pay for such placement, but they might think more spots – regardless anywhere – was good for global brands like theirs; and so accepted the added value offer. They forgot the brands had different products, promotional offers and packages around the world. Though the audience does not mind – in fact, they are used to it, it could cause legal issues.

I am not saying overseas marketers should not accept such added value. They just need to be mindful about the creative placed around the world.