Marketing Across Cultures

The story is often told about General Motors trying to sell their Nova model car in Latin America and finding out that “no va” literally means “it doesn’t go” in Spanish.

But cultural awareness in marketing is a lot more than careful translation. There are many more subtle differences between cultures. For example, colors that seem attractive in one culture may be unattractive or tasteless in another. Schedules, transportation, and everyday routines differ widely. And the simplest cultural differences can upset the greatest plans.

In Japan, for example, a US household products company spent millions of dollars on a marketing campaign to introduce its laundry detergent. Nevertheless, sales were very low. In fact,, few stores even stocked the soap. The reason? The typically American “large, economy-sized” boxes were far too big for the Japanese market. The product required too much space to stock and the boxes were very heavy to carry.

In Europe and in much of Asia, product comparison in advertising are not accepted or allowed. Declaring that one soft drink tastes better than another, or that one automobile is more dependable than another, could be met with distaste or even legal action. Many cultures prefer a more humble approach and consider American advertising too loud and aggressive. US companies doing business overseas may find that an approach that emphasizes company longevity and reputation may work better.

Check () which of the following topics are mentioned in the article.

_________________________________

Translation of product names. Religious beliefs and superstitions. Different preferences for colors. Animals and cartoons characters used in advertising. Differences in national and regional cuisine. Differences in living styles and habits. Differences in marketing and advertising styles.

Exercise 150

Read and translate the text. Pay attention to the abbreviations.

The Guinness Book of Records

Money: The smallest coins were the Nepalese ¼ dam. Called a Jawa. They were made of silver in about 1740. They weighed about 0,002g. The heaviest coin was a Swedish 10 daler in 1644. It weighed 19,71 kg.

Typing: The person who typed for the longest time on an electric typewriter was Violet Gibson

Burns at the Royal Easter Show in Sydney, Australia. She typed for 264 hours from 29

March to 9 April 1985. M. Kanagasundaram of India holds the record for typing on a

manual typewriter. He typed for 142 hrs 50 mins from 25 July to 31 July 1990.

The fastest typists on manual typewriters are Mrs. Carole Forristall, who typed at 176

wpm for 5 minutes on 2 April 1959 in the USA, and Albert Tangora, also from the

USA, who typed at 147 wpm for an hour on 22 October 1923.

Salaries: Michael Milken earned the highest recorded salary in the world in 1987 in the USA.

The total amount of money he received that year was $550 milion.

Shorthand: The fastest recorded shorthand speeds are 300 wpm for 5 mins and 350 wpm for 2

mins. The holder of this records is Nathan Behrin. These speeds were recorded in

New York in December 1922 using the Pitman system.

Working: Young doctors probably have the longest working week. In June 1980, in

Week the UK, Dr. Paul Ashton, then aged 32, worked a 142-hr week, which gave him an

average of 3 hrs 42 mins 51 sec sleep each night. The shortest working week is

probably 3 hours. Some university lectureres have a working week of 3 hours which they work for only 24 weeks per year so they work a 72-hour year.

Find the adjectives in the text. Give three degrees of comparison for these adjectives.

Exercise 151