HOW MARKETING STRATEGIES DIFFER ACROSS DIFFERENT CULTURES.

HOW MARKETING STRATEGIES DIFFER ACROSS DIFFERENT CULTURES.

Culture is the people's way of life. It is the identity of a people. It holds relevance to both secrets and our ancestor's comparative references. Subscribing to any marketing preference without first considering the variation in cultures across different regions, states, units and nations will drastically reduce the equity your brand would have enjoyed.

Undermining the culture of any society is discrediting the existence of its ancestors. It can be perceived as an abuse of heritage, and apathy for values which subsequently fosters negligence and extinction. The "Jihad war" the Islamic society is protesting today, niched in Nigeria as "Miyetti  Allah" meaning western education is a sin is partly frontier by the inability of products and product managers to give credence to the culture of people.

Every consumer is dispense within a geographical culture and operating under a belief framework. If they must patronise your product, if your product must gain relevance retort to initiating a good public relations that will trigger a well ventilated CRM, sliced and diced by a stunning sales funnel, culture must subsist the fiesta of your market terms which will boost your conversion rates.

Identifying the culture of any people by ensuring that their cultural provision is not in any way abused is vital. While language varies both in tone, constructive usage and interpretation, the norms, values, religion differ from region to region, state to state etc.

The norms and social values of consumers decide their behavioural pattern, relationship seams, tuxedo, habit and inclinations.

Investing in your acceptance into the culture of that society requires you to understand the knowledge of cultural differences, the diversity it provides, unlimited by ethnicity and national entities, is a stepping stone to successfully market your product. What then should be taken into cognizance?

1. LANGUAGE AND TRANSLATION.

Language is the basis of a people"s culture. It is the primary factor of identification. Ascribing a product name or definition which do not merit the proper translation of your consumer language gets you off the persuasion point. Translations and localisation wildly define language vigour.

It invariably fulcrums the nativity of the consumer's beliefs and culture. What your product name signifies in Latin America might not merit the same translation in Chinese. What it means in Swahili might not yield an ovate interpretation in Igbo, Efik, or Portuguese.

Therefore ensuring that your product name undergoes a thorough translation survey and test is utterly necessary. It is the first move to securing leads in any cultural setting.

The Mitsubishi Pajero in Dubai is known as Montero in Spanish America because "Pajero" according to slangy Spanish translation means "one who is fond of himself." While on one side it suggests homosexuality or lesbianism, a moral decadence.

It was also viewed as a way of promoting masturbation among heterosexuals. The company quickly changed its name to Montero across Spanish American countries to suit its viable cultural translation.

The Mazda promise Spanish-named "Laputa" with 'puta' meaning prostitute stopped the distribution of the Mazda Laputa minivan, and it was renamed after a case was filed by an American dealer company for moral deformation.

In addition, the American base automobile company honda fitta merited a bad translation across Nordic countries. "fitta" in Norwegian, Swedish and danish slang means "female genital" which was compounded by a Japanese ad portraying the vehicle to be small outside and big inside. The company quickly changed its name from "fitta" to Jazz to suit the ideal cultural translation of nordic countries.

The MC Donald Hunt Wessen food flopped when it introduced its baked beans in Canada as 'Gros Jos' without realizing it meant "big breast" in french Canadian slang. The company quickly changed its name to avoid social stigma.

The giant automobile introduced its latest ford "pintu" in Portuguese with "pintu" translated as tiny male genital in brazil Portuguese. It was regarded as a way of dishonouring men and immediately rejected by the Portuguese. the company had its name quickly changed.

KFC foods marketed its official brand with the inscription "finger-licking food' translated in Chinese as " eat your fingers up," and the Mercedes Benz pronounced as " Bensi" in Chinese was wrongly interpreted as "rush to die". The company quickly changed its name to impede further social protest in China.

A lot and many more companies that have failed in translation and localisation have contributed to the failure of their brand.

2. PRICING/PURCHASING STRENGTH

Comparing prices and offsetting them according to geographical location influences the purchasing strength of your product. Due to the difference in monetary

value across the globe mapped out by a set of bureau de change lethal laws will immensely contribute to the affording strength of your product in every location.

The Apple product e.g iPhones and iMacs are wildly consumed by Canadians than any other country because of the value of the dollar compared to another country where a $1k worth product cost a fortune.

3. CONSUMPTION HABIT.

While some countries are identified as the market for some peculiar brands known for their wild consumption rate some prefer to produce than buy them. The culture of a person directly affects their attitude toward consuming a specific product. In the African culture affinity for new things, clothes, shoes, phones etc. is the gratification of luxury and emblem of change. This directly fosters that culture in consumers which directly applies to Adidas, Nestle, iPhones in high demand in yin our country.

4. AGE AND DEMOGRAPHICS

The parental guardian (PG-13) parameter often ascribed to television series to control the ideal age that homogenizes its content consumption gives credence to the culture that prohibits wild virtuality e.g nudity shows, pornography been exposed to their children. Identifying the age bracket of your target audience, and providing restrictive measures or policy is the way to keep your product under the hood of a consumer's culture to avoid negative reactions. e.g The porn content is for adults and adults alone. Adding cinematic copyright laws is also ideal.

5. TASTE AND PREFERENCE

The taste and preference of every product are outrightly determined by the culture of consumers. While it affects their behavioural response to what they eat, wears, drink, it also interplays in their sense of dressing. The "Ladu," and "Sari" material is one of the best mid-day snack and ceremonial dresses for women in India. While this is considered a luxurious item in India, it holds very little or no value in Africa.

6. RELIGION AND POLITICS.

Religion and Politics work hand in hand in the 21st century. While religion precisely affects the acceptance of a specific product, politics counterbalances it. No matter how prominent your product is or how eager consumers are willing to consume it. Once you fail to recognise the political manipulation or settings of a location can negatively affect your content syndication. Therefore, to an extent to succeed in business you need to become a politician. You have to learn politics, shake the wrong and greasy hands. Moreso, understudying the norms and religious traditions of your consumers and creating avenues to promote them rather than abuse them is ideal for product merchandising.

According to open secret, Joe Biden announced that he had realised over $1.3bn donations through his public and single-action committee. Through these platforms, a lot was contributed by individuals, organisations and brands. David Sussman, founder and CEO of Palomo partners contributed $9million. James Simeon, CEO of Euclidean capital contributed $7million to the sponsoring of the Biden campaign. These were just a few out of many who openly declared their contribution although through a subway. What about those who came through the backdoor. The likes of Microsoft, Amazon, whose multi-millions aggregates into definitive billions for Biden. In other words, all contributions done by brands were to secure equity and opportunity to market in the country without any hindrance. Understanding that power changes hands and learning to simulate choices and watch with precision how power trends keep you on top of every political pastime in any country.

In conclusion, understanding the culture of people and supporting them is the way to realise a profit. Also understanding the factors that constitute culture is imperative to secure brand equity, brand loyalty, remarkable ROI returns, massive sales funnel etc.