Advertising in Turkey

Turkey has a very interesting background, culturally speaking. Generally, the people are friendly and outgoing, and they are especially family-oriented. This is why they have been consuming more goods marketed as ‘creating happiness’ in one way or another. So it should be easy, right?

Well, Turks are very exposed to huge amounts of marketing in their daily life. That had led to a certain desensitisation when it comes to advertising, which in turn makes it hard to market Turkey’s population effectively. However, they are not immune to good marketing campaigns. If you are creative and energetic, you will get noticed. If you are true to your brand, transparent and sincere, you will get noticed. There is not one culture that enjoys being lied to, but this holds especially true for Turks. Being such an open people, they expect others to be open about their actions too.

They are also susceptible to digital marketing, as there is a high penetration rate when it comes to the internet, and youngsters throughout the country are eager to participate in the digital era. And in this case us marketers are lucky, because there are many young people in Turkey, and almost every one of them is a fervent social media fan, making Turkey the #4 Facebook country. 

So if you want to successfully market your brand in Turkey, you would do well to use all of the opportunities available and use social media to your advantage. It is highly important to stay up to date with these, as Turkish youngsters expect nothing less. Don’t be obnoxious by spamming their inboxes or trying too hard to reach them. Instead, you should keep them interested through social media such as Facebook and Twitter.

An example of a good marketing campaign aimed at a young Turkish audience.

Marketing older people in Turkey should involve social media too, although it should mostly concentrate on drawing their attention and offering interesting deals to keep them close.

Sources:

http://www.effie.org/downloads/State_of_the_Industry_Turkey.pdf

http://www.youngdigitallab.com/en/case-history/social-media-marketing-in-turkey-analysis-of-the-turkcell-twitter-campaign/