In the global market, it is very important to be aware of cultural traditions and translations. If a company is not cautious with their marketing attemps, the results can be disasterous. However, these disasters can also be quite hilarious. That’s exactly what kwintessential proved with its article about cross cultural marketing blunders.
The article lists a few rather humorous marketing errors that have happened in the past. Some of the companies listed include high profile names like IKEA, Honda and Procter & Gamble.
IKEA’s incident had to do with a poor choice in naming one of its new desks: FARTFULL. Honda did not do their homework when the automotive giant decided to introduce their new car “Fitta” to Nordic countries in 2001. With that research, the company would have learned that the term fitta is a vulgar term for a woman’s genitals in Swedish, Norwegian and Danish. Marketing megatron, Proctor & Gambel, did not understand the cultural differences of Japan. P&G offended the Japanese by broadcasting a television commercial that goes against the Japanese idea of privacy and appropriate behavior. The advertisement showed a husband entering a the bathroom, touching his wife while she was bathing.
Mistakes like these can cause many problems in marketing and public relations efforts. It is essential for companies to have better understandings of the world around them, to learn about the varying and different cultures in this growing global market.
Kwintessential.co.uk is a great source to use to better learn about the communication differences in this world. According to the website, “Business success is now more and more about creating and nurturing strong relationships with international and multicultural colleagues, customers and clients.” Kwintessential provides translation services, interpreters, multilengual design and intercultural communication training.
Resources, like Kwintessential, allow for effective and positive marketing across the globe to continue to grow and prosper. If companies are struggling in the global market, they should take a minute to look around and learn about their interculural marketing techniques. They must adapt these techniques to the culture to which they are marketing. It is only until then that their global marketing will become a success.
– Jesse Bazemore
IMC Hawks Blog 
This article highlights the premium of knowing your audience. If you do not know your audience, and their communication style then your product campaign can be severly hurt. I was amazed to see a company not do the homework on who they are marketing to. This site is very helpful and can be useful to many companies. Many telephone marketing companies are located in India, and they have to teach many of their workers the English language. They have to almost eliminate their Indian accident and teach them the diction of the language. Eliminating their native tounge is essential to selling their products, because as soon as some people here the Indian accent they hang up the phone. This site would be useful for these companies to use so they can learn the “language” of the language.
Knowledge of different cultures is essential in marketing products and also in marketing yourself. Mannerisms and greetings change across cultures. What is normal to one may be considered offensive to others. This post reminds me of a friend that I have who works as a technical service agent for computers. Although he has an ethic sounding name he is America- raised. People would call an 800-number and be directed to him. He soon found out that his American clients responded negatively when he answered an introduced himself by his real name. They assumed their call had be outsourced to India. In order to market himself better he changed his work name to “Gary”. He has found that this slight change has helped him do his job more effectively.
This blog is very interesting! I had no idea that mistakes like these were being made in the marketing world, and fairly often from the sounds of it. I believe it is really important for businesses to learn about the cultures that they are targeting before they begin their marketing strategies. In the last 4 years at UNCW, I have begun to realize how easy it is to offend someone else with a practice you have done on a regular basis for years. Companies should think twice before they jump into a new marketing technique and really do their homework.
This particular blog post was very interesting and funny. I agree with the following statement “Mistakes like these can cause many problems in marketing and public relations efforts. It is essential for companies to have better understandings of the world around them, to learn about the varying and different cultures in this growing global market.” Companies now-a-days should really focus on a better understanding of the world around them, not only for the companies itself but also for the consumers. For example, the desk that was named “Fartfull” from IKEA, unless it is an amazing desk or unless someone bought the desk just to say “Yeah, I got this desk, it was named FARTFULL, isn’t that funny?” Then I don’t see many consumers wanting to buy that desk. If the desk name was “Delightful” it would put a happier and more peaceful name to it, which might inspire consumers more.