Business does indeed make for some strange bed fellows. Who would have thought that India would become manufacturers of Jaguar and China the makers of Volvo, when neither country has ever produced their own automobile? The King of Beers, Budweiser and Anheuser Busch are now owned by a Belgium/Brazilian firm. Yes, it is good to be king!
Today's market is truly global. The recent depression certainly left an impression on the global marketplace. It only proves how much of a global impact one economy has on the other. As we speak Greece is being bailed out for the second time and must privatize to the tune of 71B Euros. Will Spain be next? Yes, the world is a much smaller place and there is a cause and effect on business dealings. And, while the stakes are high, big business continues to operate as usual routinely wasting billions of dollars in the process.
Mixed Messaging
After decades of off-shoring, strategic alliances and political hook-ups the process for conquering global business around the world has not changed. They still follow the one-message-fits all strategy. Product launches and campaigns are designed in the U.S. and cookie-cuttered for use in global markets such as China, Latin America, the Middle East and Europe. Even when translated often the message is misunderstood. All cultures process communications differently. So, often it is not so much what you say, but how it is interpreted.
Recently one large company brought 25 employees together in a leadership training session each representing a different culture. They were asked to form teams of five to address how to handle an upcoming customer communications. Prior to adjourning they had to agree to a common approach. While the individuals were given the exact same description and wording each understood the message differently. The result was no consensus or in legal terms a "hung jury."
Another Fortune 100 corporation hosted the second in command of all of China and 120 government officials. During the event it was agreed to play a video with a capabilities overview of technologies off-shored to China featuring the company's CEO. The CEO planned to have the video play in advance of his speech with the delegation. Upon hearing of this activity the government officials announced this would be unacceptable. In China, it is disrespectful to be in a video while in-person with a delegation. Suffice it to say, the final video did not include an image or likeness of the CEO. I wonder how movie stars fare at Chinese movie premiers?
Reversing the Call
Call centers have proliferated in India due to their low cost. But now many big businesses are reversing the call due to high turnover and inefficiency. Consequently, call centers in India are slowing relocating to the states as frustrated consumers and employees drive up the costs by repeating calls because of the poor and miscommunication by the call center employees. What once was a bargain now is a liability.
Manufacturing too is starting to see a reversal. Several companies such as GE and NCR and others have announced plans to bring jobs back to the states due to large cost of training and labor. Poor communications have made what was thought to be an easy transition into very slow startups and extremely low productivity. Many of these corporate transitions have turned into red ink for years to come.
Spreading the Message
There is no peanut and jelly approach to global communications. Each region, country and culture have their own rules of engagement. First and foremost consider the timing of your messaging. This is a trap that happens around the globe. How often do you see an important message sent a day before the holidays? Even if an email is opened today's fast paced corporate world it is not top of mind.
One major corporation recently decided to launch a major thought leadership social media campaign just days before the 4th of July. The strategy was to create a steady stream of followers who would weigh in on the positioning of the company. The cost of the effort was in excess of $250,000 and involved a large integration team and months of planning. They had been so obsessive in the planning that they missed one of the most important elements; timing is everything. Once they were informed of the timing they re-thought the approach and pushed the launch out two weeks.
Does anyone know what time it is?
On Friday June 1st if it is 5:00 p.m. in New York City it is 4:00 p.m. in Chicago and 2:00 p.m. in L.A. So if you live in L.A. and plan to send a message at 3:00 p.m. most people on the east coast have left for the weekend. If you were to send that message globally that same message would be received in Beijing on Saturday morning at 6:00 a.m. and Friday at midnight in Rome. Chances are that the message would not be read until the following Monday with a high probability of it being deleted.
Of course, if you do have a negative announcement that has to be made you can follow the tried and true PR approach of distributing it around Friday 4:00 p.m. eastern time. If it is a news release and does get picked up it would appear in the Saturday morning edition, which is the least read edition of the week.
Time can be on your side if you consider the time zones and plan accordingly. Also, take in consideration that holidays and vacations times vary wildly. For example the combination of vacation and paid holidays in the U.S. is 25 while in France it is 40. In Europe most people take the month of August off for holidays. And, in the Middle East Friday and Saturday are their weekend. Business resumes there on Sunday.
Putting the holidays in perspective also provides a revealing look at the global communications messaging window. While most of the world celebrates Christmas, Chanukah is celebrated December 20-28. China does not celebrate Christmas. Their main holiday is Chinese New Year typically the first week in February. If you take vacation time and holidays on a global basis you would potentially black out the following dates:
U.S.
Vacations-June-September
Holidays-Thanksgiving, Christmas
Europe
Vacations-August
China
Chinese New Year/Spring Festival (late January)
Therefore, a global communications approach would eliminate messaging for the months of June, July, August the last week of November and the last two weeks of December to be effective. On a weekly basis in order to include the Middle East and cover the Asia Pacific time zones all important messages would be delivered by midday Thursday eastern central time.
Look who's talking!
Every culture has their own protocols. For example, Chinese value rank and status. When conducting meetings your senior member of the team must lead the meeting. Introductions are formal and titles are expected. Do not expect for decisions to be made quickly. Many Chinese will wait for a sign of luck before making decisions. Business cards are handed out with two hands and appointments are always prompt and on time.
Correspondingly, in Saudi Arabia and Israel do not discuss women or inquire about their health. Saudis may dismiss themselves during a meeting to say their daily prayers. Often the person asking the questions are the least important. Decision makers prefer to remain silent.
In Spain much of your communication will be over dinner or lunch. Time is very relaxed and appointments and deadlines are met if possible, but they are not considered essential. Dinners typically start late around 9:00 p.m. There are four official languages in Spain.
Brazil favors scheduled and meeting are planned at least two weeks in advance. It takes a long time to establish business relationship so plan to commit the time. Titles are very important and Portuguese is the official language. Midday is the large meal of the day and dinner is typically light.
Indians just can't say no. They would rather say what you want to hear and consider it rude behavior to not give a person what they asked for. Since they are not prone to giving bad news they may provide vague responses. They revere the titles of Professor, Doctor and Engineer. Most Indians expect concessions in both price and terms. It is acceptable to expect concessions in return for those you grant.
Earnings is a foreign language
Today the international business language is English and taught in schools around the world. So while English is much more prominent than ever before it still is not universal. Many CEO and their staffs tailor their communications to their peers with a predominance on the key drivers for their success; financials.
At the Manager level financial indicators such as EBITA (earnings before taxes) is not a language they speak. So many of the presentations the executive leaders make go on deft ears. No wonder that strategic plans are not actionable. They are misunderstood at the doer level.
Correspondingly at the manufacturing level not only don't they speak "Earnings," they might not speak English.
In one Fortune 100 corporation has half of its 50,000 employee base do not speak English. They provide no translations. So, over half of the employees never understand the message. Another large corporation provides translations but plant employees have no access to computers to read the message. In both cases the businesses are confused on why employees are not engaged.
Globally, 1.8 billion people speak English 5.2 billion don't.
Lost in translation
A study by SIS International revealed that 70% of small to mid-size businesses claim that ineffective communication is their primary problem. A business with 100 employees spends an average downtime of 17 hours a week clarifying communication. This translates to an annual cost of $528,443. Now scale this up to large corporations with global workforces and you see the importance of a true global marketing communications strategy.
Global marketing indeed is a puzzle, but when done right it can have tremendous impact on a business. The key to successful global marketing is regional insight. Successful global marketing strategies require a regional focus and team. Just like waging any campaign you need an on the ground team who can engage in a timely manner. Prior to launching any communication it is important to solicit a regional perspective. This can be very helpful in translation, protocols and delivery channels. A strong team in each of the regions can help modify the message so it will be understood and resonate globally. The result will be a consistent message and approach both within the business and the marketplace.
For businesses to flourish they need to speak the language, recognize the cultural differences, the timing and content to each of its stakeholders. Without these considerations it results in simply, No Hablo de Marketing Global!
No Hablo de Marketing Global
"How to Market in a Global Economy"
By Arden Hill
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