Does Culture Matter in Marketing?

The problem about culture is that it is multi-faceted and includes areas such as lifestyle, politics, behavior, history, mentality, faith and language. In order to succeed away from home, brands must cater to all of the above factors of each market they cater to. Companies which fail to accommodate and acknowledge these differences in culture either fail or have to face an arduous battle to replicate their success at home in other markets.

• A classic case would be the American baby food company Gerber. When they started selling baby food in Africa, they used the same packaging as in the USA i.e. the cute baby on the label. It was only later they found out that in Africa companies put pictures on the label of what is inside the container.
  

• Pepsodent did the exact opposite by marketing itself in South East Asia as something which whitens the teeth. What it did not know was that black teeth were considered attractive by the locals and they made elaborate efforts including chewing betel nuts to keep their teeth black.
  

• McDonalds spent thousands of dollars on trying to convince the Chinese consumer that they offer cheap food throughout the year through a TV ad. What they did not understand was that begging on national television does not equate to cheap; it is considered shameful.
  

• Nike, on the other hand, had packaging issues when it tried to sell golf balls in packs of four in Japan. The issue here was the number four. It sounds like death in Japanese.
  

• The film Hollywood Buddha ran into troubled waters in the island nations of Sri Lanka and Malaysia when its poster showed the lead actor sitting on the head of Lord Buddha. Something similar happened with Big Brother in the middle east when the local religious bodies protesting against showing men and women who are unmarried or not married to each other living together on air.
  

• When Microsoft showed some parts on Kashmir in a different light (read: shade of green) on a version of the Windows 95 OS, it had to recall 200000 copies of the offending software as the product was promptly banned in India. Needless to say, it cost them millions.
  

• The funniest example would be when at the African port of Stevadores, the time staff mistook the international symbol for fragile as broken. Multiple boxes of imported champagne were dumped into the sea as a result.
  

• Language has often been a major issue in cultural dissonance. Most companies do not want to tamper with their taglines. However their translations often leave more than a sour taste in the mouth. Some examples are given below
  

1. Ikea had a workbench called Fartfull.
   
2. Gerber (again!) in French means to vomit.
   
3. Umbro had to remove its Zyklon range from the shelves as Zyklon was the gas used in the Nazi concentration camps.
   
4. Honda had to rename the Fitta to Jazz as Fitta in the Scandinavian languages sound a lot like a vulgar representation of the female genitals.
   
   Electrolux ran the Nothing sucks like an Electrolux campaign in the U.S. Your guess why it did not work would be as good as mine.
   
   Mist in German means manure. So one can understand why the drink Irish mist did not do too well. Also Vicks does not do too well in Germany as V is pronounced like F in German.
   
   Japanese FMCG products do not cross over too well simply because no one would like to buy Homo soap, Coolpis or Shito Mix.
   

Apart from these international differences, one must also associate that a brand has its own culture. Just like companies misinterpret foreign audiences, they can also misinterpret foreign brands. So when a company like CBS went for inorganic growth by buying the guitar ompany Fender, it should have realized that it was not its market. The same can be said of Quaker Oats acquisition of the soft drink Snapple. In both cases, the parent company should have realized that their core competency did not lie in the acquired brand. Had they realized this, they would not have lost the millions they did eventually.

 

[Dhruv Bindhani]

The problem about culture is that it is multi-faceted and includes areas such as lifestyle, politics, behavior, history, mentality, faith and language. In order to succeed away from home, brands must cater to all of the above factors of each market they cater to. Companies which fail to accommodate and acknowledge these differences in culture either fail or have to face an arduous battle to replicate their success at home in other markets.

• A classic case would be the American baby food company Gerber. When they started selling baby food in Africa, they used the same packaging as in the USA i.e. the cute baby on the label. It was only later they found out that in Africa companies put pictures on the label of what is inside the container.

• Pepsodent did the exact opposite by marketing itself in South East Asia as something which whitens the teeth. What it did not know was that black teeth were considered attractive by the locals and they made elaborate efforts including chewing betel nuts to keep their teeth black.

• McDonalds spent thousands of dollars on trying to convince the Chinese consumer that they offer cheap food throughout the year through a TV ad. What they did not understand was that begging on national television does not equate to cheap; it is considered shameful.

• Nike, on the other hand, had packaging issues when it tried to sell golf balls in packs of four in Japan. The issue here was the number four. It sounds like death in Japanese.

• The film Hollywood Buddha ran into troubled waters in the island nations of Sri Lanka and Malaysia when its poster showed the lead actor sitting on the head of Lord Buddha. Something similar happened with Big Brother in the middle east when the local religious bodies protesting against showing men and women who are unmarried or not married to each other living together on air.

• When Microsoft showed some parts on Kashmir in a different light (read: shade of green) on a version of the Windows 95 OS, it had to recall 200000 copies of the offending software as the product was promptly banned in India. Needless to say, it cost them millions.

• The funniest example would be when at the African port of Stevadores, the time staff mistook the international symbol for fragile as broken. Multiple boxes of imported champagne were dumped into the sea as a result.

• Language has often been a major issue in cultural dissonance. Most companies do not want to tamper with their taglines. However their translations often leave more than a sour taste in the mouth. Some examples are given below

1. Ikea had a workbench called Fartfull.
2. Gerber (again!) in French means to vomit.
3. Umbro had to remove its Zyklon range from the shelves as Zyklon was the gas used in the Nazi concentration camps.
4. Honda had to rename the Fitta to Jazz as Fitta in the Scandinavian languages sound a lot like a vulgar representation of the female genitals.
   
   Electrolux ran the Nothing sucks like an Electrolux campaign in the U.S. Your guess why it did not work would be as good as mine.
   
   Mist in German means manure. So one can understand why the drink Irish mist did not do too well. Also Vicks does not do too well in Germany as V is pronounced like F in German.
   
   Japanese FMCG products do not cross over too well simply because no one would like to buy Homo soap, Coolpis or Shito Mix.

Apart from these international differences, one must also associate that a brand has its own culture. Just like companies misinterpret foreign audiences, they can also misinterpret foreign brands. So when a company like CBS went for inorganic growth by buying the guitar ompany Fender, it should have realized that it was not its market. The same can be said of Quaker Oats acquisition of the soft drink Snapple. In both cases, the parent company should have realized that their core competency did not lie in the acquired brand. Had they realized this, they would not have lost the millions they did eventually.

This article from September 16, 2012, vividly illustrates the critical importance of understanding local culture when expanding brands internationally. It argues that culture, being multi-faceted (lifestyle, politics, behavior, history, mentality, faith, language), demands careful consideration, and failure to do so often leads to significant, sometimes humorous, and costly blunders.

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Cultural Blunders in Global Marketing: Lessons from Brand Failures​

The article emphasizes that for brands to succeed internationally, they must meticulously cater to all facets of a local market's culture, including lifestyle, politics, behavior, history, mentality, faith, and language. Companies that neglect these cultural differences often face failure or an "arduous battle" to replicate their domestic success abroad. The piece provides numerous examples of brands that stumbled due to cultural insensitivity.

Examples of Cultural Marketing Missteps:

1. Gerber (Africa): The American baby food company used its standard packaging featuring a cute baby on the label. This failed because, in many African countries, companies print pictures of what is inside the container on the label, leading consumers to believe the product contained actual babies.
2. Pepsodent (Southeast Asia): Pepsodent marketed its toothpaste with a "whitening teeth" claim. This backfired because, in some Southeast Asian cultures, black teeth were considered attractive, with locals actively striving to maintain them by chewing betel nuts.
3. McDonald's (China): McDonald's ran a TV advertisement in China promoting cheap food throughout the year. However, the ad was perceived as depicting begging, which is considered shameful on national television, rather than conveying affordability.
4. Nike (Japan): Nike faced packaging issues when selling golf balls in packs of four in Japan. The number four ("shi") in Japanese sounds like the word for "death," making it an inauspicious and undesirable quantity.
5. Hollywood Buddha (Sri Lanka and Malaysia): The film's poster depicted the lead actor sitting on the head of Lord Buddha, which caused significant offense and "troubled waters" in Buddhist-majority nations like Sri Lanka and Malaysia.
6. Big Brother (Middle East): The reality TV show faced protests from local religious bodies in the Middle East due to the depiction of unmarried men and women living together, which was culturally and religiously unacceptable.
7. Microsoft (India - Windows 95 OS): A version of Windows 95 OS depicted parts of Kashmir in a "different light" (implied, a controversial shade of green, indicating a disputed territory as part of Pakistan in India's view), leading to the product being promptly banned in India and forcing Microsoft to recall 200,000 copies, costing millions.
8. African Port of Stevadores: In a humorous but costly misunderstanding, time staff at an African port mistook the international "fragile" symbol for "broken," resulting in multiple boxes of imported champagne being dumped into the sea.

Language as a Major Issue (Tagline & Product Name Blunders):

The article highlights that linguistic missteps are common, especially when companies are reluctant to alter their taglines or product names for different markets.

• Ikea: Had a workbench named "Fartfull" (unfortunate meaning in English).
• Gerber: The name "Gerber" in French means "to vomit."
• Umbro: Was forced to remove its "Zyklon" range from shelves due to its association with the gas used in Nazi concentration camps (Zyklon B).
• Honda: Had to rename its car model "Fitta" to "Jazz" in Scandinavian languages, as "Fitta" is a vulgar term for female genitals.
• Electrolux (U.S.): Their campaign "Nothing sucks like an Electrolux" inadvertently conveyed a negative meaning in English, despite its intended meaning (vacuum cleaner's powerful suction).
• Irish Mist (Germany): The drink "Irish Mist" did not do well in Germany, as "Mist" in German means "manure."
• Vicks (Germany): "Vicks" struggled in Germany because the "V" is pronounced like an "F" in German, making it sound like a vulgar term.
• Japanese FMCG Products: The article humorously lists product names like "Homo soap," "Coolpis," and "Shito Mix," which would obviously face challenges in English-speaking markets due to their unintended connotations.

The article serves as a cautionary tale for global brands, underscoring that cultural awareness is not just about translation but involves a deep understanding of local customs, beliefs, sensitivities, and linguistic nuances to avoid costly and embarrassing mistakes.