Global and Local Features in Romanian Commercials broadcast at Christmas Time

This article aims to research how global and local brands managed their image according to traditions and values shared by Romanian target during the Christmas Holiday, a special time for everyone all over the world. Our research focuses on TV ads broadcast (40 spots) in Romania in December 2010, namely winter campaigns developed before Christmas and dedicated to the Christmas spirit. The questions we will answer in the following study regard some important aspects such as: which product categories and brands use this special time of the year to get closer to the consumers’ life, which values are promoted by these brands, which characters and heroes of the commercials better express these values, which Christmas symbols are emphasized and what is the balance between global and local features in these campaigns. We are interested to see how brands mark out this special time of year, according to two important criteria: their strategic global values, on the one hand, and the consumers’ insight strongly influenced by tradition and local events, on the other hand. The research method applied here is the content analysis. We defined it based on previous values (product categories, brands, values, symbols, advertising heroes) as quan titative terms, and on the relationship between global and local features in the chosen campaigns, as qualitative terms.