Common Mistakes in Doing Business Internationally

When companies first think of doing business on a global level, they first must consider the culture they are dealing with. One of the mistakes Gerber baby food made was when they expanded into the African market, they didn't realize that it was custom to put a picture of what the item is inside the container on the outside the package. (American Demographics, 2005) The reason many companies doing business in Africa put labels of what was inside the container on the product is because many African's can't read. (American Demographics,2005) This type of mistake can be made by any VP who doesn't understand the culture of the country they are doing business with.

Another very common mistake is in the translation of a product name in another language. There are many examples of this very common mistake. One for instance is from a leather company, Braniff, who's upholstery slogan is "Fly in Leather", in Spanish it came out as "Fly Naked". (American Demographics, 2005) Of course this type of error may increase sales.

Clairol, a hair product manufacturer, introduced their curling iron in Germany. Their product was called the "Mist Stick". However Mist is a slang term for manure in Germany. (American Demographics, 2005) People did not run out to purchase their manure sticks. Another example is from Coors, the beer company, their slogan is "Turn it loose", in Spanish it means "Suffer from Diarrhea"

These mistakes were made because someone didn't take the time to understand the market they were selling to. We must understand the culture of the market before we can introduce a new product to that market. It would be like trying to sell gasoline in a country where everyone uses mules for transportation. There won't be a big market demand for this type of product. Before we decide what country's we will be doing business with we first must understand their language and culture.

References:

American Demographics, 2005, International Advertising Mistakes, retrieved on November 14, 2005 from http://bears.ece.ucsb.edu/personnel/astornet/humor/humor91.html