Question

1. Examples of international marketing blunders?
2. Should a company that offers its products internationally customize its marketing strategy to each market, or is “one size fits all” a preferred approach? Why? When would one work better than the other?
3. What does “Made in the USA” actually mean?
4. What marketing tools or tricks are likely to be equally effective worldwide?

Answer 1

The answer to question 1: International Marketing blunders:

There are various examples of marketing blunders in which the companies marketed the products without realizing that the words used can be misinterpreted in the different region due to differences in culture and languages.

1. Electrolux: The company marketed its vacuum cleaner in the USA, but did not realize that the tagline would create a blunder. Electrolux is a Swedish company that failed to convey the message of the intense power of vacuum cleaner. The tagline was “Nothing sucks like an Electrolux.”
2. KFC: KFC entered China in the late 1980s with the translated tagline, “eat your fingers off.” KFC has the tagline. “Finger licking good.”
3. BMW: The company made a blunder by improperly using national anthem in UAE. The advertiser made a mistake to represent intense emotion for the car.

The answer to question 2:

Yes, the company should customize its marketing strategy to each market. Marketing of the product is to increase the sales and brand identity of the product. People buy the products for which they find some similarities. Therefore, to attract the target customers, companies should customize a marketing strategy. For instance, McDonald’s has a different marketing strategy in India and the US. In India, McDonald’s focuses to attract children and families to the restaurant. Differences in law, language, culture, and tradition force the leaders to customize their marketing strategy.

One-size-fits-all is better when the company is offering to standardize products to all the customers.

The answer to question 3:

The given phrase is associated to reflect respect for the domestic merchandises. It is a way to show the feeling of nationalism. When customers buy the products which are produced domestically, they feel that they are helping the local industries to grow and compete in the domestic and international market.

The answer to question 4:

In the current dynamic and boundless world, think local and act local is the method that is equally effective worldwide. The companies should recognize the differences and design the marketing advertisements that do not violate any cultural norms or communication rules.