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This study explored the processes and influences that helped determine the promotional imagery employed by a number of urban regeneration partnerships in London and New York. Although the degrees of ethnic and cultural diversity in the districts considered were broadly comparable, such diversity was given greater prominence in New York than in London. Partnerships that depended heavily on wider governmental economic development agencies selected promotional imagery that focused solely on attracting business investment, without mention of the ethnic/cultural heterogeneity of the area concerned. Marketing was seen as an important and valuable activity, but was generally regarded as an operational rather than a strategic function.

This paper presents the results of a cross‐cultural analysis of television advertising in the Czech Republic and the UK. The need for this research is suggested by a gap in the literature concerning cross‐cultural studies involving Eastern European countries. The aim is to compare advertising in the two countries in order to add to the debate on the feasibility of standardised advertising across cultural borders. The literature relating specifically to cross‐cultural studies of advertising in two or more countries provides the basis for this research study. A sample of television advertisements was collected from the two most viewed UK and Czech commercial channels and was examined using content analysis. The focus of the research is on differences and similarities in the creative strategies and executional formats used in the product categories advertised. In terms of creative strategies, there was great similarity overall. However, significant differences were found for six out of the 14 individual product categories studied. In contrast, many significant differences were found overall for executional formats. The partial nature of the support for the view that creative strategy is associated more with product category than with culture reflects a complex situation vis‐à‐vis international advertising standardisation.