The Value Of Multi-Cultural Branding
My partner, Liz, and I were in Krakow, Poland last week, attending a conference hosted by the ECCO International Public Relations Network.
While at the conference, we had an opportunity to catch up with old friends and make new ones. There is a common bond between us - we're all pr and marcomms practitioners and we all own and operate our own companies. The similarities cut accross geographic and political boundaries easily. But underneath it all, there was a foundation of trust and understanding.
That trust and understanding has taken almost a decade to create and underscores how difficult it is to create and manage brands that can be shared between people of different nationalities and cultures. We refer to the discipline (as Americans tend to view it) as "cross-cultural branding" and have adopted it as one of the unique services B&LPR can bring to our clients who want to market their products in other countries.
What is cross-cultural branding?
For starters, we have to understand and accept what seems to be a farily obvious fact: brands are built by not only what we say, but what we do. Words just represent the values that stand behind the brand. Actions show our convictions and indicate the relative importance we place on the relationships we create between our brand and the people who matter most to it.
To make a brand mean the same thing (or, most nearly the same thing) in one culture that it does in its native culture, we have to distill the essence of the brand down to its core values. Messages need to be broken down and identified with essential emotions and information. In the process, we need to be able to recognize where our native culture shades those values and makes them uniquely our own.
Moving the brand into a new market (and, more importantly, a new culture) then, requires "re-construction" of the brand from the values up. We have to temper those values in the process using what we know of the new culture (based on study, observation and direct input) and find the right words, images and opportunities to convey the brand's message. Touchpoints need to be re-defined to become culturally relevant to the audience and remain true to the universal essence of the brand.
All in all, the brand has to change in every new market in order to stay the same.
Perceived conflict
Americans, especially, have a hard time with this notion. Ironically, that's a cultural phenomenon we quite easily overlook. In our culture, standardization is valued and efficiency is rewarded. We encourage people to pick what works best and let the market decide. We're comfortable with this "grass roots" form of decision making and often accept the outcome even if the result is a "lowest common denominator" answer.
Outside of our country, this approach is contrary to hundreds (and sometimes, thousands) of years of social history. In many cases, consumer expectations are for more control and authority in how things are. Messages that don't address the cultural history of a certain region or country are seen as "outside" the social order and, effectively, less valuable.
As a result, making slight changes to how the core values of a brand are presented from culture to culture helps reduce this friction and positions a brand for faster - and more complete - adoption.
Finding the right cultural resources
This is where having partners located in over 40 countries around the world and a background in history (specifically Medieval European History) make a big difference. We have an appreciation for the nuance of a brand and the role history plays on establishing the cultural filters that will impact the brand's performance. But whether you ask to work with us or not, there are certainly plenty of other resources available to the interested marketer:
While at the conference, we had an opportunity to catch up with old friends and make new ones. There is a common bond between us - we're all pr and marcomms practitioners and we all own and operate our own companies. The similarities cut accross geographic and political boundaries easily. But underneath it all, there was a foundation of trust and understanding.
That trust and understanding has taken almost a decade to create and underscores how difficult it is to create and manage brands that can be shared between people of different nationalities and cultures. We refer to the discipline (as Americans tend to view it) as "cross-cultural branding" and have adopted it as one of the unique services B&LPR can bring to our clients who want to market their products in other countries.
What is cross-cultural branding?
For starters, we have to understand and accept what seems to be a farily obvious fact: brands are built by not only what we say, but what we do. Words just represent the values that stand behind the brand. Actions show our convictions and indicate the relative importance we place on the relationships we create between our brand and the people who matter most to it.
To make a brand mean the same thing (or, most nearly the same thing) in one culture that it does in its native culture, we have to distill the essence of the brand down to its core values. Messages need to be broken down and identified with essential emotions and information. In the process, we need to be able to recognize where our native culture shades those values and makes them uniquely our own.
Moving the brand into a new market (and, more importantly, a new culture) then, requires "re-construction" of the brand from the values up. We have to temper those values in the process using what we know of the new culture (based on study, observation and direct input) and find the right words, images and opportunities to convey the brand's message. Touchpoints need to be re-defined to become culturally relevant to the audience and remain true to the universal essence of the brand.
All in all, the brand has to change in every new market in order to stay the same.
Perceived conflict
Americans, especially, have a hard time with this notion. Ironically, that's a cultural phenomenon we quite easily overlook. In our culture, standardization is valued and efficiency is rewarded. We encourage people to pick what works best and let the market decide. We're comfortable with this "grass roots" form of decision making and often accept the outcome even if the result is a "lowest common denominator" answer.
Outside of our country, this approach is contrary to hundreds (and sometimes, thousands) of years of social history. In many cases, consumer expectations are for more control and authority in how things are. Messages that don't address the cultural history of a certain region or country are seen as "outside" the social order and, effectively, less valuable.
As a result, making slight changes to how the core values of a brand are presented from culture to culture helps reduce this friction and positions a brand for faster - and more complete - adoption.
Finding the right cultural resources
This is where having partners located in over 40 countries around the world and a background in history (specifically Medieval European History) make a big difference. We have an appreciation for the nuance of a brand and the role history plays on establishing the cultural filters that will impact the brand's performance. But whether you ask to work with us or not, there are certainly plenty of other resources available to the interested marketer:
- The US Department of Commerce - the DOC has trade representatives (referred to as Foreign Commercial Service Offices) in 80 countries around the world. These folks are employees of the US government and are available to provide local market knowledge and insights for free or for a reduced cost (depending on what you're requesting).
- International Trade Publications - like World Trade Magazine or online e-zines like the Cal-Trade Report provide great insights into international trade and marketing issues.
- Marketing Publications - those that focus on international and multi-cultural marketing are your best bet. We recommend checking out the Inter-National-Ist for starters.
- The CIA Fact Book - nothing secret here, the CIA compiles and updates great summaries of non-classified information on every country on the planet. It's a quick and efficient way to get a glimpse of the history, geo-politics and current events in any market. Maybe not comprehensive - but it's a perfect place to start.
- Foreign Investment Office Websites - most industrialized countries have foreign investment offices which attempt to provide useful information for those companies and individuals interested in doing business in that country. Make sure you include "foreign investment office" in your Google Search.
So, where to go from here.
The first step to a successful brand introduction abroad is making sure you really understand it at home. If you haven't done so already, you need to make sure you've clearly identified a vision for your brand and those someone (ideally, someone who can act objectively) has worked through the identification of the guiding principles, values and messages that make up your brand.
Until you know yourself, you're not ready to research, re-build and re-launch your brand elsewhere.
(c) 2005 - Bawden & Lareau Public Relations, all rights reserved.
posted by Mike Bawden at 9:47 AM
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1 Comments:
Mike,
I wrote a post on multi-cultural marketing and stumbled upon your blog. Hope you don't mind my adding it to my blogroll. I believe my readers will benefit. Mario
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