Some brand, like Apple, is such a global brand that it can use mostly standardized advertising across the globe. However in general is it possible to have one standard universal story for the entire world? Or is a localized story more effective?

Example

Here is an example from a Chinese company point of view. I saw this ad on a Shanghai subway car. It is for a job board company called liepin.com.

Even if you do not read Chinese, can you guess what is the copy? If you guessed the left pane says something like "I lost my job", and the right pane says "you are hired" you will be very wrong.

The left pane says:

When I went home during Chinese New Year (a very common thing to do for Chinese, travelling to their family home to spend time with the extended family) I saw my parent's getting so old, I tell myself I want to give them a better life.

The right pane says "headhunters will recommend great jobs, changes start at liepin (the advertiser)"

Local Story

It is a very common story for adult children to return to their family home to visit their parents during the big Chinese New Year (Spring Festival 春节）. There is also a (older) cultural expectation and responsibility to support your parents. Therefore this advertisement story is quite powerful. Would this work in the US? Absolutely not.