- Disruptive Technologies
- Globally Connected Consumers
- Localization
- Multi-Channel Misses
- Organizational Structures
Hits and misses in international marketing are inevitable and undoubtedly a source of significant frustration. However, today we'll make like of this challenging issue by giving you a snap shot of a few misses and lessons learned in marketing our well known products and services away from home. Enjoy!
International Marketing Errors
Coors put its slogan, "Turn it
loose," into Spanish, where it was read as "Suffer from
diarrhea."
Clairol introduced the "Mist
Stick," a curling iron, into German only to find out that "mist"
is slang for manure. Not too many people had use for the "manure
stick".
Scandinavian vacuum manufacturer Electrolux
used the following in an American campaign: Nothing sucks like an Electrolux.
The American slogan for Salem cigarettes,
"Salem-Feeling Free", was translated into the Japanese market as
"When smoking Salem, you will feel so refreshed that your mind seems to be
free and empty."
When Gerber started selling baby food in
Africa, they used the same packaging as in the US, with the beautiful baby on
the label. Later they learned that in Africa, companies routinely put pictures
on the label of what's inside, since most people can't read English.
An American T-shirt maker in Miami printed
shirts for the Spanish market which promoted the Pope's visit. Instead of
"I saw the Pope" (el Papa), the shirts read "I saw the
potato" (la papa).
In Italy, a campaign for Schweppes Tonic
Water translated the name into "Schweppes Toilet Water."
Pepsi's "Come alive with the Pepsi
Generation" translated into "Pepsi brings your ancestors back from
the grave," in Chinese.
When Parker Pen marketed a ballpoint pen in
Mexico, its ads were supposed to say "It won't leak in your pocket and
embarrass you." However, the company mistakenly thought the spanish word
"embarazar" meant embarrass. Instead the ads said that "It wont
leak in your pocket and make you pregnant."
The name Coca-Cola in China was first
rendered as Ke-kou-ke-la. Unfortunately, the Coke company did not discover
until after thousands of signs had been printed that the phrase means
"bite the wax tadpole" or "female horse stuffed with wax"
depending on the dialect. Coke then researched 40,000 Chinese characters and
found a close phonetic equivalent, "ko-kou-ko-le," which can be
loosely translated as "happiness in the mouth."
Also in Chinese, the Kentucky Fried Chicken
slogan "finger-lickin' good" came out as "eat your fingers
off."
When General Motors introduced the Chevy
Nova in South America, it was apparently unaware that "no va" means
"it won't go." After the company figured out why it wasn't selling
any cars, it renamed the car in its Spanish markets to the Caribe.
Colgate introduced a toothpaste in France
called Cue, the name of a notorious porno magazine. (Courtesy Aha! Jokes.com)
