From the editor.

I wanted to provide readers with a brief introductory note regarding this truly special issue of the Journal of Advertising. When I was named as Editor in spring of 2002, I asked the American Academy of Advertising Publications Committee and then current Editor Ron Faber if I could run special

issues in the Journal. Their affirmative responses were provided with a caveat--a special issue had to meet the high standards of the Journal. Given this response, I wanted to engage in a careful process of determining the nature of this first special issue. The process I used included the following steps: (1) choose an area for which I had little or no expertise, and (2) locate an Editor (for the special issue) who had not only published quality papers in the area, but also had high name recognition in the field. In other words, I needed to find a topic and a Special Issue Editor that would not only maintain, but actually enhance, the quality standards of the Journal.

While I do not profess to be an expert in many areas, one area of research in which I am admittedly very ill-informed is international advertising. I knew that the Journal did run a special issue on this topic over a decade ago, but also recognized that the importance of "international" advertising has increased dramatically since then (as most organizations now recognize that their customers are global in nature), and that research related to the topic was now more important than ever. Moreover, I realized that one individual had truly unique ideas regarding international advertising and also had research contacts throughout the world, and that person was Charles (Ray) Taylor. Thus, I approached Ray with a proposal to edit a special issue of the Journal that would deal with international advertising. To my delight, Ray accepted my offer. The rest, as they say, is history. Ray received nearly 60 submissions for the special issue, and selected 8 truly excellent manuscripts for publication. I am very pleased with the issue, and trust that readers of the Journal will be as well. Read on!

Russell N. Laczniak

Iowa State University