Marketing Across Cultures (Culture for Business Series)

To assist you further, we also invite you to evaluate how well you have understood the argument that we all need to recognize, respect, and reconcile cultural differences in every aspect of marketing in order to be effective. Please take some time to study the following cases and choose one of the possible options. We hope that simply reading the cases and thinking about each option will enable you to select appropriate courses of action, just through reflection.

If you are interested further, please visit our website (www.cultureforbusiness.com) for an electronic version of these cases (and others) that will also give you some feedback. You can also determine a version of your own personal cross-cultural profile there.

Good luck!

Case 1. How do We Serve Hot Breakfasts to US Passengers?

During the planning of the strategic business alliance between British Airways and American Airlines, discussions among executives of both companies dealt with the expectations of passengers and the service that the two airlines should provide.

Peter Butcher, the marketing director of American Airlines, stated his concerns: "You might say that in the US we tend to serve our passengers at the lowest cost and in a reliable way from NY to LA. Safety, being on time, and price are more important to the passenger than hot meals on short flights . In Europe people are willing to pay a higher fare for a hot meal during a one hour flight."

John Smythe, a British Airways executive, agreed. "Indeed. On BA flights passengers are served a hot breakfast from London to Amsterdam in a flight that is no longer than 40 minutes. I once had a first class flight from Detroit to Chicago of just over an hour. It took off at 6.30. a.m. and, at around 7.00 a.m., after the 'fasten safety belts' signs were turned off, I wondered when breakfast would be served . I couldn't smell anything. I asked the flight attendant when I could expect something to eat. I took her by surprise with that question. Two minutes later she came back with a big smile, saying 'Sir, we have pretzels or potato chips. Which would you prefer?' I said that a cup of coffee would do."

When passengers' expectations are so diverse around the world of travel, how would you advise John and Peter to approach their global service to their passengers?

• Airlines are selling seats on planes that transport passengers safely. The airline industry becomes mature and will look like a bus service. The extras don't matter. They should concentrate on providing the lowest fares available, like Ryanair or Easyjet.

• Passengers should be given a decent meal, which could be served according to some minimal but fair quality standards.

• When passengers travel they will chose the airline that provides added value to the flight. Full service, like hot meals on short flights, is one way to satisfy passengers and should be included in both the US and Europe. It is the best way to differentiate yourself from the competition. It can also act as a distraction to overcome boredom.

• Passengers should be given low fares. However, if special service is needed, such as connecting flights and hotel service, the carrier should be able to give the fullest service possible.

• Hot meals on short flights should be provided. However, continuous feedback should be taken from passengers and employees to monitor passenger satisfaction and possible changes in needs. When they want less, they could fly economy.

Case 2. A British Supermarket 's Misplaced Marketing Strategy

A large British supermarket chain took over a successful chain of Irish supermarkets in 1997. The terms of the takeover allowed the Irish cooperative to keep a percentage of the Irish supermarkets open under their former name. Others would be redesigned and new stores would carry the British supermarket name .

The British decided to open their first branch in a prosperous midland town, in a new shopping center on the outskirts of the town. They decided to concentrate all their business in the new store and close down the older supermarket, which was located in the town center. The new store would offer Irish customers many British products that were not available locally. It would also provide a home delivery service, which would be the first in the area.

To the British management's surprise, the new store incurred huge losses in the first weeks of business. In fact local radio and newspapers carried daily complaints from people in the area about the new supermarket's unfriendly policies. The whole town was talking angrily about the home delivery vans, whizzing around the streets with their UK-registered license plates. Customers were annoyed at the disappearance of Irish products on the shelves and their replacement by British-made goods. The union set up a picket outside the new store, protesting at the closure of the original town center store, which they said was against the terms of the takeover agreement.

Management realized they had made major mistakes. How should they seek to rectify the situation?

• They should go "Irish" again by quickly registering vans with Irish plates and gradually reopening the supermarket under its former name. The management should apologize to local suppliers, stop importing fresh produce from Britain, and invest heavily in marketing, stressing their commitment to Irish suppliers and workers.

• They should communicate the advantages of being part of a British group in terms of economies of scale and logistics and thus lower prices.

• They should try to find a balance between Irish and UK products. Some economies of scale are won, some are lost - but that's intrinsic in international business.

• They should emphasize the importance of being "Irish" and underlining the strength of community and local loyalties. The strength of British logistics and being part of a larger whole should be aimed at helping to serve the Irish better.

• The strength of being part of a British chain will show automatically in terms of logistics and economies of scale and also by importing Irish products to the UK.

Case 3. The Globalizing Beer Company

Frank S. is the marketing manager of a Chicago-based beer manufacturer. He is in Paris to discuss the firm's global marketing strategy with his counterpart in France, one of the company's most important local markets. The main sticking point is whether marketing should be centralized or decentralized, in particular with regard to television advertisements.

The French want the advertisements to reflect local circumstances, while the Americans prefer having one global advertising campaign. The French marketing manager insists that the advertisements be in French. But Frank is convinced that this would jeopardize the firm's global aspirations.

What do you consider the best course of action?

• Push for global advertisements. Beer is a global product that requires an internationally recognized brand name.

• Listen to the French more carefully , and leave the advertisements to a local agency. In countries like France people are very selective about their choice of beer and favor products with a local attachment.

• Use a global advertising campaign as a context within which local adaptations are made. In the French ads, national (French) landmarks can be included.

• Leave all the advertising to the local firm with the requirement that beer should shown as a global product.

• Agree on a globally acceptable aspect of beer consumption, such as thirst, and gear the international advertisements toward this. This becomes a superordinate value system that transcends cultural differences.

Case 4. German Dairy Products Go Sour in the Netherlands

A German dairy products company had been very successful in the domestic market and so decided to expand internationally. Their success at home was due to their consistently high quality and stylish packaging, delivering products for which the market was prepared to pay a premium price.

The first foreign market that the company chose to enter was the Netherlands. Detailed market research showed that this was a logical choice because it was both very close and had lots of milk-loving consumers. At great cost and with significant fanfare, the Germans marched into the Netherlands with their milk and yogurt.

The German company was very proud of their line of small, stylishlooking, glass yogurt containers, intended for the high end of the market. These containers were very successful with German consumers, who associated it with high quality. After some months the Germans realized that they had encountered an unqualified disaster. Nobody bought their products.

What could you do to avoid this problem next time?

• The Germans need to impress their own ideas upon the Dutch environment more and invest more money in advertising the high-class idea to the Dutch.

• Adapt the approach to the Dutch market, where people want quality at the lowest possible price and are oriented toward buying very fresh dairy products.

• It's give and take. The luxury packaging should still be retained, but for a slightly less extravagant price.

• The company needs to focus on the high end of the market by advertising that it is still the best price for the higher quality delivered.

• The Germans should adapt to Dutch local conditions but gradually upgrade the product so that it will tap into new market segments and niches .

Case 5. The Importance of Titles

An operations manager of a Korean company kept calling the director of the customer support group of an American supplier to request customer support rather than calling the American customer engineer assigned to his account. The customer support director had told the Korean manager that he should call the customer engineer directly, but the situation had not changed. The American company found out later that the customer engineer did not have enough status to be seen as the point of entry for these requests .

That's all very well, but what can be done to solve this problem, in view of the fact that everyone can't be called "director"?

• The company needs to give the engineer the title of Customer Service Manager and clarify his authority to solve the customer's problems.

• The company needs to communicate to the Korean that the customer engineer is technically the best equipped person to help solve his problems.

• The company needs to increase the age of the customer engineers so that they are respected by the Koreans, even in cases where they lack all the technical knowledge needed.

• The company needs to communicate to the Koreans that the customer engineer is one of the most educated and talented people in the organization and that if there was any doubt they could always call the director.

• The company needs to make the director's telephone line less accessible so calls will automatically transfer to the customer engineer.

Case 6. Silent Eater

A European sales manager had invited his Chinese agent's entire staff for dinner as a reward for a well-organized seminar. Everyone seemed to be happily eating and drinking except for one person, Mr Li, who had hardly touched his food or beer. He had not spoken to anyone , and he had a very serious look on his face. The European was not sure whether he should ask about Mr Li's problems. Fortunately, the Chinese manager explained the situation on his own initiative. He began by saying that his entire staff held their European friend in high regard. The best example was Mr Li, who had a serious domestic problem but still insisted on taking part in the dinner in order to honor the host.

Later, more details were disclosed. Mr. Li's young son had caught a cold that day and was running a fever . For Europeans this is not considered a problem; in China, however, severe colds can easily lead to complications. Moreover, the Chinese live for their children, especially as each couple is only officially allowed to have one child. Leaving home for whatever reasons under such circumstances is considered quite improper in China, let alone to participate in a joyous event.

What would you do in this situation?

• In this case Mr Li thought it appropriate to attend the dinner but clearly showed his concern to all his colleagues. Let's leave it at that.

• His colleagues in their turn regarded such a display of emotions as natural. If Mr Li had been eating, drinking, and laughing like the others, his colleagues would probably have reproached him for his lack of human feeling.

• I would just tell him that I was concerned with the mood he was in and ask him what had happened . I'd suggest making the event a bit shorter.

• I would take him aside and tell him how much I appreciated his worries, but advise him to go home to his child. This would make the group happier in view of the fact that Mr Li cares about his son.

• I would give a little speech indicating that it is important to respect our families and children and that all those who agree should go home now; the rest could celebrate even further.

Case 7. Future/Past Confusion

A western company had agreed to provide financial support for some of the promotional activities of its Chinese agents , including taking part in two national exhibitions a year. The only condition was that the Chinese submitted a proposal and got consent whenever they wanted to attend a particular exhibition.

While reporting on the promotional activities of the past year and negotiating those for the coming year, the Chinese suddenly started talking about an exhibition in which they had participated. The Westerners got a little irritated because this was the first they had heard of this exhibition, so they reproached the Chinese for not having sought approval beforehand. The Chinese were confused .

After a while it became clear that the exhibition was scheduled for six months in the future, but this information had gotten lost in the translation. As the event was to take place in the near future, the agent had spoken about it as if it were a current event. He had also taken part in an exhibition a few months earlier. As this event had taken place in the near past, it was also talked about as a current event. This was confusing even for the most experienced interpreter.

The performance of interpreters during Sino-foreign negotiations is a perpetual source of jokes and complaints. Linguistic knowledge alone does not make a good interpreter. The interpreter not only has to be fluent in both languages but also has to be aware of the cultural differences and how these differences are reflected in the respective languages.

How would you address these issues? We invite you to create your own alternative options for this case.

• What would be the course of action in which you had ignored the cultural differences and simply gone your own way without any attempt to reconcile the differences?

• What would be the course of action in which you had abandoned your own orientations and immediately sought to behave like the other side?

• What would be a compromise solution?

• Finally, how could you reconcile these differences?

As explained above, you can explore the answers to these cases on our website: www.cultureforbusiness.com.