The purpose of this dissertation is to 1) critically explore how contemporary advertisers are operating within a glocal framework to diffuse product information and branding to diverse, distant consumers; and 2) to assess the implications of these processes for consumer-audiences. This project explores what approaches global advertising producers utilize to distribute product information and branding to local audiences, how these processes then impact and shape the creation and diffusion advertising campaigns, and lastly, how do those processes impact the way advertisers imagine and target their audiences. The findings of this study shed light on how advertising producers imagine their work, their role within that work, and the audiences who consume their products. This project uncovers how the processes of global information diffusion impact partnerships between “headquarters” and local offices, the way in which messages are adapted and localized for various audiences, how these messages are extolled around the world, and conversely, what messages, stories, or cultural values might be minimized or lost as a result of this current environment. This project draws upon in-depth interviews with advertising professionals and other global stakeholders, as well as on industry trade reports, press articles, and academic research. Interviews were conducted with global stakeholders at Airbnb, Campbell Soup, and Under Armour. In addition to conducting in-depth interviews as a methodological approach, this dissertation engages with a case study logic as a way of understanding the context within which global advertisers localize global brands. Furthermore, employing a multiple-case study approach allowed me to compare and contrast processes and implications between and amongst this trio of brands and various global producers, balancing the intricacies of a single organization with larger themes and trends in industrial production. Themes related to the glocal framework emerged that spoke to the complex processes that global producers must navigate in order to do work on a global scale. These themes, the Global Mindset, which considers how producers conceptualize their role and their work; the Global Story, which explores how producers tell global stories to their consumers (and to themselves); and the Global Consumer, which illuminates the undercarriage of the delicate relationship between producers and consumers; have significant implications because understanding global production processes helps to explain under what context campaigns were conceptualized, how decisions were made, and why certain campaigns are more culturally relevant to local audiences. Beyond this, these findings shed light on the nuances of global brand diffusion pointing to larger trends in glocal advertising, and more broadly, the future of advertising on a global scale. / Media & Communication

Digital platforms such as blogs and social networking sites provide new means for individuals to gather and spread information about products and services through electronic Word of Mouth (eWOM). Within those platforms, individuals have the potential to emerge to become influential actors with the power to affect the behaviours and attitudes of others. Despite the growing interest in online influence, there is still a limited understanding of how key individuals share and engage in eWOM. This study looks at tech-bloggers as an emerging actor category that create and develop consumption oriented online content such as product reviews using blogs and associated technologies. This thesis presents an in depth qualitative investigation to understand how this emerging actor category have been able to establish an influential status. Existing literature often labelled bloggers as “opinion leaders” obscuring what is new and different about them. Building a practice based discussion of these emerging actors aims to capture activities and processes in a wider, natural setting. Paired with the exploratory nature of research, this thesis draws on a conceptually grounded, qualitative research approach utilising interviews with key tech-bloggers, marketers and blog analysis. Findings show that these emerging actors engage in three distinct but interrelated practices centred on audience construction, content development and network formation. Audience construction requires emerging actors to develop quality content utilising existing networks composed of other actors within the same category and the audience. As a consequence, emerging actors are socially embedded in a multiplicity of interactions online and offline to develop their blog and their content. This study contributes to existing concepts in eWOM by showing how emerging actors develop a particular expertise, distinct from consumers, in attracting an audience. Furthermore, these emerging actors transform from being knowledge replicators to become knowledge producers developing communication content in line with a wider audience. As tech-bloggers become more established as emerging actors, tech companies are adapting their marketing to account for these practices. The result is a co-creation of product news and advice on new products between emerging actors, marketers and the audience. Thus, this work gives a more nuanced account of eWOM and the role of emerging actors shaping communication in this sector.