L IFE Is WORTH B ACCARAT Selling The American Dream MARTINI GLASSES, $180 THE PAIR. FROM OUR GIFT-BOXED COLLECTION. Advertisers are force-feeding the image of the U.S., and Israelis are eating it up. JAN JABEN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS imberley-Clark under- stands the Israeli market- place. Introducing a new prod- uct into the highly competitive baby-supplies market in Israel, the company declares that Hug- gies diapers are the best-selling brand in America. Ocean Spray heralds its cranberry juice as 100 percent tasty, 100 percent healthy and 100 percent American. What's good for Americans must be good for Israelis, at least that's how Israeli consumers seem to feel. And marketers are taking HI advantage. Wherever one looks — whether it's a TV spot, billboard, bus-stop poster or special promotion — red, white and blue are used to get con- sumers' attention, and shekels. Even Israelis' love affair with U.S. President Bill Clinton became fair game when Chrysler used his photo in a controversial billboard campaign that succeeded in caus- ing a local stir. According to Moshe Teumim, chairman and CEO of Gitam/ BBDO advertising agency, there's "no limit to how much America can be used in adver- tising in Israel. America repre- sents quality, sophistication and wealth. Everything is becoming more American here. We're im- itating what we believe to be the perception of America." According to some marketing observers, the love affair with America — reflected not only in advertising strategies, but also in its popularity as a travel desti- nation, and perhaps even in the election of an American-educat- ed prime minister in an Ameri- can-style election — is due to two main factors. First, although the numbers are in dispute, some estimate that as many as one million Israelis live or have lived in America. Sec- ond, since the introduction of ca- ble TV, Israelis have been exposed to more American pro- gramming and culture. David Tamir, general manag- er of Tamir Cohen Advertising, also believes that Israelis' love af- fair with America is unlimited. He attributes the preference for everything American to the same thing that brought down the Berlin Wall and the end of the So- viet Union — "in one word, tele- vision.' " Israelis have become even more enamored with American entertainers, programs, sports and products since the arrival of commercial and cable TV, Tamir says. "Israelis are in the midst of an Americanization process. We're just at the height of it. Israeli ra- dio plays American songs; Israeli people like American TV pro- grams. The top-rated shows on Israeli Channel 2 are American or are copies of American pro- grams. "There's an Israeli "Baywatch," called "Kahol Amok," or Deep Blue. American brand names get a lot of respect from Israelis just by the fact that they come from America," he says. ..!.10,„, America to Israelis when it launched its American Food Fes- tival. The 1996 bi-annual festival underlined that enchantment with American products. Supersol claims that sales rose by 50 percent during the festival, compared to the same period in 1995. Ya'acov Ginsburg, vice-pres- ident of marketing for Supersol, says that the festival enticed cus- tomers from competitors and es- timated that 5 percent were retained after the festival was over. "We started the festival be- cause we found that many Is- raelis were traveling to the U.S. and many were arriving from the eveme.0 r.? p.1i4Wt? j iei; 076 0,1?!.6;::::- . 7(' ,:f..4:;X 66...f .. • • ■ 11,..'1V,%:,,:' 11 .6 . 29333 Northwestern Hwy. ■ Southfield, Michigan 48034 (810) 356-7140 ■ Fax: (810) 356-1901 At Republic Bank We Are Completely Dedicated to you. , We are Michigan's largest personal banking network, one of the nation's largest mortgage lenders and the number one SBA certified lender in Michigan. REPUBLIC BANK Ct raw According to Mr. Tamir, Burg- er King is an example of an Amer- ican company which has made tremendous inroads into the Is- raeli market, and kept its Amer- ican identity and logo in doing so. "Three years ago, the ham- burger market was 20 percent of the total fast-food market in Is- rael; today it has a 45 percent share. Three years ago, falafel and shwarma had one-third of the fast-food market; today it's only 15 percent. Two-thirds of the fast-food market is comprised of pizza (dominated by Domino's and Pizza Hut) and hamburgers (McDonald's and Burger King)." Tamir adds that 40 percent of the cigarettes smoked in Israel are American. Ten years ago, the Supersol su- permarket chain first realized the attractiveness of marketing' U.S. and they asked for the prod- ucts," says Mr. Ginsburg. "People think American things are better." He points out that even his wife shows an interest when she sees Americans en- thusing over a new U.S. import in Israeli stores because "they must know what they're talking about." "Supersol was much smaller when we first started the festi- vals," he says. "Thday we have 100 stores and a turnover of $1 billion, and we think the festivals have helped." More than 1,000 food products were imported for last year's fes- tival, valued at about twice that of the previous festival. Many food manufacturers use the festival to test their products in Israel, and this time New York Kosher Deli, Pillsbury and Sara Lee introduced DREAM page 58 Visit any branch or call today: MEMBER F.D.I.C. 1-800-758-0753 Republic Information Center Hours: Monday-Friday 7 a.m.-7p.m. Saturday 9 a.m.-Noon qieta*tafrif, Thy 2Sizecan Complete Financial Services PaineWebber ti 0) CS) Invest With More Intelligence Gerald E. Naftaly Vice President-Investments 32300 Northwestern Hwy., Suite 150 Farmington Hills, MI 48334 (810) 851-1001 or (800) 533-1407 57