Cultural Differences

As the world becomes more globalised, foreign markets present a wealth of opportunity for companies daring enough to venture outside their home borders. Many of them, when making this leap into new waters, make a crucial mistake; they fail to take the time to understand the culture of the people. This lack of complete information can not only lead to marketing plans missing their mark, but also leave the people with a tarnished brand association.

A Detergent company hoping to establish itself in the Middle East was once taught the importance of this very ruthlessly. This company already had its product in the market but sales were low. To capture a larger share of the rapidly growing market in the Middle East they planned an extensive marketing campaign. Their plan was centered on a simple advert which was published in magazines and billboards in the region. The advert was a simple comic strip made up of three panels. On the leftmost panel was a pile of dirty clothes; the middle one showed them being put into the washer; the rightmost panel showed a pile of clean clothes.

After the ads were run, the company saw a decrease in sales. The executives were surprised until they realized, far too late, that that the official language of the Middle East, Arabic, is read right to left. The ad made people think that the company’s detergent turned clean clothes into dirty ones.