PLEASE NOTE: ONLY RESPONG TO 2 STUDENTS @250 WORDS PER REPLY.
Reflect upon the following:
How could these blunders have occurred in the first place?
What specific recommendations would you make to prevent this from occurring in the future for your company?
student1
(1) How could these blunders have occurred in the first place?
The blunders occur because marketing people are not doing a complete job. The HSBC is a great example where they did not understand the markets they were advertising in and completely confused consumers about what they were supposed to do. The other examples with Goodby Silversteins “got milk?” tag line along with KFC’s blunders it seems as thought this is a common mistake. Translating messaging across cultures should not just be a direct translation, clearly. These teams need to make sure that they have local people overlooking campaigns and transitioning marketing across cultures. I think a lot of these brands were just moving too quickly and wanted to make sure they were quick to their new markets. Due to this you miss steps and do not take time to make sure you are covering all of your tracks. I think the need for speed in moving into these markets are why these blunders are made by some of the smartest marketers in the world.
(2) What specific recommendations would you make to prevent this from occurring in the future for your company?
In terms of how to fix this I would recommend having as many people taking a look at any creative for it is approved and taken into markets for real. When moving into a foreign market it is even more imperative to do this and as previously mentioned there should be local eye ball on the marketing to avoid these funny but embarrassing translation issues. Furthermore, directly copying a campaign into a new market may not even make sense in the first place. All markets should have a new outlook on what their strategy is regardless of what is working in other markets. If something seems to be catching on globally then obviously there is reason and data to move it into more markets however this process needs to be done very carefully to avoid mistakes. Overall, having teams working separately based on where they are is the best way to start and avoid these type of cultural crossover issues. If something is working then share it across teams however it needs to be up to the local marketers to make decisions into what is going to actually resonate within their market. If done correctly, there should be common themes that the brand portrays with spin offs that consider the market they are marketing in. KFC has iterated on this since their entry into China, they started with some issues but have now pivoted and have captured the attention of millions of consumers through unique branding and product offerings that resonate. I think this is a great example of how you can have a global brand but individualized local marketing approaches.
student 2
After looking over the marketing/advertising fails that various companies experienced, it was clear that the common occurrence was due to a lack of researching by the companies. Catchy slogans and comedic advertisements that were considered to be funny or appealing to consumers in the United States, were unfortunately confusing or inappropriate to foreign nations. Although there could be a variety of reasons for these blunders to happen, the main thing that comes to mind is how each company was heavily influenced by self-reference criterion as they were under the assumption that profitability and consumer interest was going to be universal if similar marketing communication was used (World Campus, n.d.). If a company is unwilling to invest significant finances in assuring that a message will not be misconstrued, there should be serious consideration if international expansion is the best option. It is important that once a company receives feedback about how the message was improperly decoded that they work with marketers to adjust their advertised message, so it is cohesively appropriate for all international markets. For example, WatchMojo (2017) shared how HSBC Bank quickly understood of the cultural misunderstanding their slogan “assume nothing” presented to foreign nations and adjusted it to prevent any more negative connotations. While this adaptation was helpful for the company’s future presence in foreign markets, it ultimately cost them more than $10 million to fix. For small businesses who do not have sufficient resources to pay for mishaps like that, it is crucial that they perform the necessary R&D for each country that their business will be located in.
If I wanted to take my company on an international level, and to make sure that I avoid the cultural misunderstandings presented in the advertisements, I would hire a local advertising agency to help develop and execute marketing campaigns for my products. What drew my attention towards that agency was its primary asset of having a deep understanding of a given market, as well as being attuned to specific market preferences and future trends (Cateora et al., 2019). Sure, a multinational agency may provide much larger coverage for businesses to expand into various markets, but having a local agency that could share personal experience for consumer needs provides much more assurance that there will be minimal misunderstandings with advertisement campaigns. Another recommendation for my company is to acquire and maintain public relation personnel to handle/manage the persona of my products in foreign markets. The Public Relations Society of America (n.d.) provides critical assistance in making sure that marketing/advertising actions are well-suited for a foreign environment, specifically in anticipating consumer attitudes with new product releases and protecting the reputation/brand image for my company. While advertisement agencies should provide the best help in adhering to specific cultures, there is always the potential for misunderstandings to occur, so seeking international public relation workers will help deal with negative publicity that is incited from mistakes. Also, it does not hurt for a company to research any cases from competitors in the market to learn from any past mistakes that were made during their advertising campaigns.
References Used
Cateora, P. R., Graham, J., Gilly, M. C., & Money, B. (2019). International Marketing (19th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.
Public Relations Society of America. (n.d.). About public relations. Retrieved from https://www.prsa.org/all-about-pr/
WatchMojo. (2017, February 22). Top 10 EPIC advertising translation fails [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pHWZ_XNij8
World Campus. (n.d.). Basic Communication Process. The Pennsylvania State University. Retrieved April 1, 2024, from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2314982/modules/items/40636716
