Tag: Marketing

Marketing & Advertising

April 16, 2010

Let’s go to a place where signs line the streets left to right, up and down, and where thousands of people walk; Times Square in New York City! What more could a business ask for to advertise their product? If you’ve been there, you know exactly what I mean, and if not let me paint you a picture.  Times Square is an area within the City where ads come in the forms of pictures, lit up signs, and even videos.  Marketing and advertising take place in all businesses and is needed everywhere, but Times Square for me resembles the latest trends and a competition of who can attract the most attention to their ad. What element will make people stop and stare at a specific company’s ad?

These are only some elements and aspects that are studied using a communication studies degree. Within communications we are able to study these questions and find what trend may be the most effective in reaching a target audience. Using a communication studies major you can go into a variety a fields, and marketing and advertising is seen as a growing area.

Certain characteristics are needed to work in marketing and advertising, such as patience, multi-tasking abilities, creativity, and the ability to work well in a team environment. Just as in any company or organization, to complete the work effectively and efficiently, working with others is essential. To be a successful marketer, it’s important that you are able to communicate well, be it talking to large crowds, other employees, or to clients in a meeting.

As students, it is our responsibility to develop a strong foundation while we are in school, so that upon graduating we can be confident in our journey ahead into the professional world of business.

– Alissa Lockwood

Blunders of Intercultural Marketing

April 7, 2010

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