Marketing Internationally - Beware!

The concept of growth outside your own country can be an appealing concept. After all, you have sold your product or service successfully for many years here and now its time to expand into foreign climes. It will be easy. Just take what you've already done so well here, translate it and hey presto, instant sales!

Nice thought – doesn't work that way unfortunately. Ignore everything you've heard about a Global Village and we’re all connected. People, cultures, languages are all very different and they need to be treated that way. Try and force your traditional marketing and sales tools on different countries and you’ll have empty order books!

Legal Constraints 

Countries have a variety of different laws to cope with advertising and marketing and they are unique to each country.  In Europe it has only just become permissible for Comparative Advertising, comparing your product to competitors, although this has been around for many years in the States.

What is acceptable from a decency perspective in one country may not be acceptable in another. Showing too much skin or making too many innuendos may get your company sued. 

Given that this is a highly complex set of rules, running afoul of the law could cost brand equity and fines so expert in country advice is indispensable. It is important to understand which countries do not permit your product to be advertised. Many countries do not allow the advertisement of pharmaceuticals. 

In addition, some products are permitted to be advertised in limited media or at specific times of the day and may be limited to the number of times that they may be run in a specific period of time.

Finally, in certain countries, such as China, the sole access to media is denied to foreign nationals and companies of foreign origin. This can creates great challenges for advertising and marketing. It is important to understand these issues and their potential solutions before investing in an international market.


Language limitations 

Unless you are a native speaker of a target country who is up to date with all of the latest linguistic fashions such as  slang, idioms and jokes you have a big problem in designing marketing in another country. For example the word “Mate” has a very different meaning and connotation in the USA than it does in the UK or Australia where it is used extensively to refer to a good friend. And this is just an example where the language is actually ‘common’ to both countries. Where languages spoken are actually different, the problems can be greatly magnified.

Encoding and decoding of an idea between two people of different linguistic backgrounds is filled with pitfalls. Even if the parent company decides on the basic message for a product, the native language speakers must change that message and adapt it as necessary. Now that is assuming that there are native marketers available. In many instances it could be sales staff who may not be the best judges of any messages. So target audience feedback is necessary.

In many instances you may not be able to understand the subtle nuances of a language and there is the temptation to step in and readjust back to the corporate line. For example, the French are very proud of their language and often use words and phrases that have multiple meanings. You may not understand this and will miss out on the message.

So simply translating messages and text word for word is not as easy as we would like it to be. There are problems ahead. Obviously the solution is to get professional help in the target country wherever possible. But this comes at a cost.


Cultural Diversity

In America there is a certain amount of cultural diversity but we do not fully understand what it is like in other countries. In international marketing, it is what you don’t have an awareness of can often sabotage your plans. Consumers respond to it in terms of their culture, its style, feelings, value systems, attitudes, beliefs and perceptions. 

For example, in advertising where the individuals may stand closely together, it can inadvertently communicate something sexual. Body language involved in the presentation of a gift may insult a whole section of a culture and mixing the sexes in a marketing piece can be a definite mistake in some countries. A specific color may even have meanings of which you are totally unaware. Without a native’s appreciation of the subtleties disastrous unexpected controversy could result.


Media and Measurement Systems


This may be a small point but it can be important. Paper! In the USA the standard print size is based around the letter – 8.5” x 11”. Elsewhere it is A4 (8.3” x 11.7”). So when creating cross Country literature it must be able to be ‘stretched’ to this new dimension, especially with PDF documents. 

The other issue is the measurement systems used in the US. If you have technical documents, inches and pounds mean nothing to the majority of the world’s technical customers, so a translation has to be made of this also. 

It’s the little things that will trip you up.




So what’s the Answer?

There are a wide variety of issues pertaining to moving marketing and sales activities to different countries, especially from the USA – legal, cultural, language and more. However, many companies have made the transition well and are highly successful. So how do you make the jump yourself?

First – get a marketing professional who has international experience. He or she should be able to see many of the problems ahead and can guide you through the maze. Then invest in on the ground natives who have the knowledge to fine tune the product and the messages correctly