Digital Output - March 2008 - (Page 16)

Outlook Print Marketing in a Multicultural World Understanding Cultural Differences Propels Growth by Steve Aranoff & Robert FitzPatrick nuances that are important to such groups. It is important to understand that an even number of roses, brought as a present to dinner at a house in Moscow is a faux pas. Traditionally, an even number of roses is brought to a funeral! Equally important is knowing that a Dane arriving to dinner early is a sign of respect. Or that Indonesian Moslems don’t eat pork, so something else must be on the menu for them. Being aware of these cultural practices can help avoid unintentionally destroying an international business relationship. A successful multicultural marketing campaign can net— or lose—a printing business. Whether big or small, a vast base of new customers could ultimately turn into lifelong patrons. E ven under the best conditions there are significant issues when dealing with partners, vendors, and dealers. When companies facing each other across the table come from different ethnic backgrounds, countries, and speak different languages, issues are often magnified by misconstrued meanings. Besides cultural differences, individuals from different countries have unique ways of approaching business. tomer. The product provided advantages that clearly would have made the color separators more efficient. If you can effectively target a new group, massive benefits may accrue to your business. Every business must learn how to appeal to a wide array of culturally and ethnically different groups, many of which have their own customs and value systems. This is becoming more important to profitability, let alone successful growth in many U.S. cities as immigration and ethnicity changes the make up of our markets. Getting the message right starts with having an intimate understanding of the target audience a company wants to reach. It is not sufficient to merely translate an advertising message or in-store display materials to another language, as the message may be insulting. That is not to say that translation isn’t important, but prior research is necessary to determine the correct message. We particularly remember an advertisement that introduced a dramatically new version of an existing product. The ad and banner developed for an international printing trade show proudly stated “TADA! Introducing the New Raycomp Adset,” a page makeup workstation for newspapers. We were taken aback, however, when a group of Japanese visitors to the trade show lined up outside our booth. Although they were kidding around with us, we were told that “tada” meant “free” in Japanese, and they were lining up to get their “free” products. Fortunately, we were kindly made aware of our mistake, but in real life, a miscommunication could certainly backfire. You may have heard about the trouble Chevrolet supposedly had in Latin America with their Nova car. “No va” in Spanish means “doesn’t go.” It is easy to see that naming problems can easily contribute to fiascoes abroad or even in a multicultural neighborhood marketplace. www.digitaloutput.net We vividly remember trying to market a new brand of Getting the message right starts with having an intimate color page makeup understanding of the target audience a company wants systems to the NY color trade shop to reach. community in the Even with the best product, you need early ‘90s. At that time, the commuto understand these differences to nity was heavily populated by people ensure success. of Armenian heritage. This group lived in a few bedroom communities For those accustom to international around NY and the employees of varbusiness, this is always of importance ious competing color businesses carand interest. But today, these same pooled together into Manhattan. No kinds of issues are important in our color trade shop manager/owner own community—even if you are wanted to be the first to buy a new interested in promoting your business system, if he made a mistake it would or limiting distribution of your printmake him the laughingstock of this ing related product. The U.S. is no close-knit community. Without finding longer a melting pot. Instead, it has a way around this perceived impedinow become a patchwork quilt made ment, the first sale was never made. up of people from various ethnic and special interest groups. To grow and On the other hand, approaching the prosper, even a small printing busicommunity more intelligently might ness must understand and cater to the have won more than just the first cus- 16 Digital Output March 2008 http://www.digitaloutput.net

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Digital Output - March 2008

Digital Output - March 2008

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