When Kentucky Fried Chicken planted its first stores in China, their slogan “finger lickin’ good” translated to horrified Chinese patrons, “eat your fingers off.”
Not good.
To prevent similar marketing debacles abroad, the European-American Chamber of Commerce Cincinnati Chapter (EACC) hosted a seminar on December 2, titled Global Branding and Global Coding.
Ralf Weber, President of M/E Brand Communications of Dusseldorf, Germany, gave the main presentation, which was followed by a lively panel discussion moderated by Nick Vehr, President of Vehr Communications.
Representatives from Jarden and Perfetti Van Melle sat on the panel.
“A one size fits all approach to marketing is very dangerous in the global context,” Vehr says. “There are images, colors or words that might be interpreted one way in one culture that could be interpreted another way in another culture.”
An example Vehr gives: in Germany, the Jeep Wrangler is a symbol of an occupying force; in France, a liberating force.
“Unless you’re aware of that, you could do damage to your corporate or brand reputation,” Vehr says.
Numerous local business leaders attended and participated in the EACC event, which gave valuable insights to Cincinnati’s significant number of companies involved overseas.
Sponsors for this event included Frost Todd Brown, LLC, the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber and the US Commercial Service of the United States Department of Commerce.
Writer: Jonathan DeHart
Source: Nick Vehr
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