There are about 7,000 languages worldwide and every two weeks one of these languages becomes extinct. In most cases this happens because indigenous languages are not passed on from one generation to the next as a result of ethnic shame or cultural changes. Native American languages are a good example of this phenomenon. From 1870, Native American children were forced to go to English boarding schools and as a result they learned English rather than indigenous languages. Learning or teaching indigenous languages was even considered a federal offence for decades. Nowadays, there are only about 230 Native American languages left, likely to be only three in 30 years from now.

So how can languages on the verge of extinction be saved? Firstly, languages have to be fun and interesting to learn and it has to be ‘cool’ to do so for younger audiences. Secondly and more importantly, these languages have to be accessible. Experts believe that social media sites and apps such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Siri might actually be the way forward for indigenous languages. Not only are these tools key to raise awareness on the topic, they also give people from all around the world the opportunity to learn a language that might not be taught in their vicinity. For example, people who speak Anishinaabemowin, a Native American language from Michigan, can now connect and interact with worldwide speakers on a Facebook page dedicated to this language. With almost 3,000 likes, it is fair to say that the page is quite popular, despite the only 400 people in Michigan who actually speak it. This Facebook page was an initiative from the University of Michigan, where the Ojibwe language is taught, among other indigenous languages.

Another great project that has been recently initiated is Indigenous Tweets, an aggregation website that collects worldwide indigenous tweets on Twitter and categorises them by language. Not only does it generate interest in a diversity of languages but it also helps find top users who tweet in a given language so that they can be easily followed in the future. Another great aspect of this website is that it also offers the same aggregation formula for indigenous blogs, which are all mostly written in rare languages. Another similar initiative is Rising Voices, a project that attempts to “bring new voices from communities and speaking new languages to the global conversation by providing resources and funding to local groups reaching out to underrepresented communities”.

There are many examples of social media initiatives, websites and phone apps that attempt to preserve and expand indigenous languages on these platforms. They all show how the global conversation can be entered successfully, whether you are a participant or simply a student: the conversations are happening in real time, every day. Perhaps it might not be possible to preserve all 6,500 languages spoken globally, but social media can definitely go a long way in raising awareness about many nearly forgotten languages and preserve at least some of them. Speak your language online, teach others and make new friends: indigenous languages and social media are here to stay.

By Malou Tulleken

What sounds like an easy enough task is in reality not that simple. Every day, hundreds of adverts are banned for not meeting legal standards. Most countries have their own regulatory bodies such as the ASA (Advertising Standard Authority) in the UK and in effect, they decide what is acceptable in advertising and what is not. Photoshop can easily make an advert “too attractive” for a local market, and advertising of tobacco or alcohol is strictly regulated worldwide. In other instances however, the trickiest test to pass is the ever watchful audience, and cultural differences often play a major role when it comes to how an advert is perceived by the locals. So where do the cultural boundaries lie and how to anticipate what is acceptable or not across borders?

A Red Bull TV commercial recently caused an outrage in Brazil, because Christian consumers found the ad to be ridiculing Jesus’ alleged ability to walk on water, and were offended by the use of his name as a swear word. While Red Bull denied intentions of hurting anyone’s feelings, the Christian communities in Brazil and South Africa were quite upset. Being a touchy subject in general, religion should be treated with extreme caution when used in advertising, particularly in heavily religiously influenced countries.

Sex sells – it’s not a secret. While the use of sexual imagery in advertising and our perception thereof have gone through drastic changes in recent decades, we are still far from an anything-goes-mentality. A few weeks ago, Belvedere vodka launched a viral campaign on Facebook and Twitter. It depicted a young man grabbing a struggling woman from behind – their tagline: “Unlike some people, Belvedere always goes down smoothly.” Not only did the brand suffer from copyright infringement, but the campaign also immediately sparked a barrage of complaints from their fans, who interpreted it as a direct reference to rape – and Belvedere eventually had to remove the offensive picture.

A controversial advert published in February this year by the American animal rights organisation PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) set off a similar storm of protest. They frequently manage to make headlines by featuring nude or scantily-clad women in their campaigns and comparing them to “meat” in order to emphasise on how humans actually treat animals on a daily basis. This time however, they seem to have crossed a line. Their advert intended to point out benefits of adapting a vegan diet by claiming that this enhances a man’s sexual performance – but to the point where he will inevitably cause physical harm to his partner. PETA garnered harsh criticism for launching an ad which many regarded as an indirect approval of domestic violence.

To continue on the theme of men-women relationships, we could also mention a Reebok advert that caused a lot of controversy in Germany in March this year. The slogan said: “Cheat on your girlfriend, not on your workout”. It was posted across gyms in the country and caused such an uproar that Reebok decided to withdraw it, instantly apologising for its morally questionable message. Sense of humour can also sometimes be misread… Interestingly enough however, a TV commercial for one of Germany’s biggest banks proves that even an ad which many would not consider as morally offensive can easily lead to widespread outbursts of anger. In this ING DiBa advert, basketball star Dirk Nowitzky is seen eating meat in a butcher’s shop, accompanied by the line “So that you will grow big and strong.” What shouldn’t have been more than a light-hearted depiction of an everyday life situation quickly resulted in hundreds of furious messages on the bank’s official Facebook profile, accusing them of supporting animal cruelty.

Advertisers choose very different strategies to reach potential new customers, sometimes by (knowingly or unknowingly) overruling local standards of what is considered acceptable in advertising. But in the end, does that even matter? If we take into account that every advertising campaign across the globe aims at attracting the most attention possible, even banned adverts can hardly be considered failed advertising. Looking at the degree of media attention controversial and banned campaigns get, marketers might as well call them a success – after all, negative attention is better than none. Or is it?

By Ilona Meier

He did not receive a basketball scholarship after high school and he was undrafted out of college. He was waived by the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets and he sparingly played in the NBA Development League after signing with the New York Knicks. Then, overnight, Jeremy Lin became a sensation on February 4, 2012, after he finally got a chance to show his worth for the Knicks. Within a week, Lin had made four starts and was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week averaging 27.3 points and 8.3 assists. Knicks’ coach Mike D’Antonio was later quoted that “He got lucky because we were playing so bad”.

Jeremy Lin’s story can be seen as the true American dream. Born in Los Angeles, California to Taiwanese parents, Lin’s father taught him to play basketball in a YMCA gym. Ultimately, it turned out that his journey to becoming an NBA player would be long, full of doubts and went mostly unnoticed. When he finally had his shot, Lin grabbed it with both hands and in the weeks after Lin’s sudden furore for the Knicks, fans even began to develop nicknames for him: Linsanity was born.

Videos of Lin’s breakthrough performances spread rapidly on the Internet and he quickly became an international celebrity. In Taiwan, where his roots are, Jeremy Lin became immensely popular in only two weeks’ time. At 8 am in the morning, the Taiwanese would already be crowding the bars of Taipei in order to see their favourite athlete play. They hardly seemed to care that Lin barely speaks Mandarin, wasn’t born in Taiwan and doesn’t pay regular visits to the country. Lin represents Taiwan: an underdog, overlooked by all major players.

But, has Taiwan gone a bit too far with Linsanity and has it quickly turned into insanity? Lin’s family has been harassed to the point where his grandmother had to relocate from Taipei to the countryside, only for Taiwanese reporters to get a small personal anecdote for their 24-hour news coverage of Lin. After one of the Knicks’ wins, Lin asked the Taiwanese media to leave his family alone: “The special request I have is for the media back in Taiwan to give [my family] space, because they can’t even go to work without being bombarded, without people following them”.

However, Lin was quick himself to make the most of his newly-found fame. Only six weeks after his breakthrough performances for the Knicks, Volvo signed the youngster to become the brand ambassador in the U.S. and China. Both Volvo and Lin stated that it was a perfect fit because of the represented values of the car brand and Lin’s personality.

Becoming a brand ambassador, Lin has followed in the footsteps of many other athletes who have signed lucrative marketing deals during their careers. One of the most famous examples is David Beckham, who has been the face of brands such as H&M, Nike, Adidas, Calvin Klein, Marks & Spencer and most recently Samsung for the 2012 Olympics in London. Beckham has almost become a brand himself, being marketed far beyond his athletic capabilities.

Yet, what is the brand’s risk in signing an athlete to be its brand ambassador? In 2009, Gillette featured Tiger Woods, Roger Federer and Thierry Henry in the same advertisement. In a period of two weeks, both Henry and Woods were scrutinised globally for personal, rather than professional, misconduct. The message Gillette was trying to get across with the advertisement was completely shattered by the behaviour of two out of the three athletes. Gillette therefore quickly ended the endorsement deal with both Woods and Henry as it was being associated with the behaviour of its brand ambassadors. Only Federer remained true to the brand.

In the case of Jeremy Lin, it seems that the agreement between him and Volvo was reached mostly based on legitimate reasons. The question, however, remains how much of an influence Linsanity was when Volvo was brokering the deal. Now that Lin has been out with an injury for the rest of the season, Linsanity will undeniably simmer down and people will slowly start to forget about him until he starts playing again.

Will Lin become a great NBA star? Will he become the next David Beckham when it comes to celebrity endorsement? Only time can tell. In the meantime, we are eagerly awaiting the first Volvo advertisements featuring Jeremy Lin and to see how the Linderella story develops when the clock strikes midnight.

By Malou Tulleken

La famille des réseaux sociaux s’agrandit chaque semaine et elle devra désormais compter dans ses rangs un nouvel outil que l’on pourrait qualifier d’« hybride » : Pinterest[1].

Définir Pinterest n’est point chose aisée. En effet, cet outil est à mi-chemin entre un réseau social (ensemble d’identités sociales à l’initiative d’interactions) et un discovery tool (outil de recommandation sociale). Un peu technique je vous l’accorde, mais son utilisation reste assez simple : comme sur un tableau, il suffit d’épingler vos images (ou informations) afin de les partager avec le reste des utilisateurs.

En résumé, Pinterest est une véritable vitrine offrant aux utilisateurs un aperçu clair et organisé des tendances du moment. De quoi attirer l’attention de bon nombre d’annonceurs…

Plus de 16 millions d’utilisateurs déroulent chaque jour des kilomètres de pinboards[2], sans but particulier, sinon celui de se divertir en parcourant les images partagées par la communauté Pinterest : plutôt alléchant lorsqu’on souhaite mettre son entreprise ou son produit en lumière sur la toile. D’autant plus que Pinterest est gratuit et qu’il profite de l’essoufflement de Facebook et  deTwitter.

À qui s’adresse Pinterest ?

Contrairement à ce que l’on pourrait penser, Pinterest ne diffuse pas de publicité. Néanmoins, de nombreuses agences se sont déjà lancées dans l’aventure (Havas Digital ou Pietri Publicis par exemple).  Le but n’étant pas de diffuser du contenu publicitaire comme les agences en ont l’habitude, il est alors crucial d’adopter une stratégie alternative adaptée à l’outil. Qu’en est-il pour les marques ? Et bien, la question de se lancer (ou pas) dans l’aventure Pinterest reste un sujet épineux. Quoi de plus attirant pour un annonceur qu’un support gratuit, à la porté de millions d’utilisateurs enclins à toutes sortes de découvertes ?  Il y a évidement un prix à payer: il leur faut accepter que leurs images, noms ou produits soient « épinglés » et que, comme sur tous les réseaux sociaux, les marques soient parfois critiquées ou tout simplement ignorées. Le principal atout de Pinterest est son contenu visuel. Sans images, Pinterest perd tout son sens. L’attraction visuelle dans le processus de découverte est une des clés de son succès. Les produits doivent être visuellement « attractifs » et « uniques ». En d’autres termes, les utilisateurs ne cherchent pas à retrouver ce qu’ils peuvent déjà voir sur Facebook ou en cherchant simplement sur Google.

Mais ne nous fourvoyons pas. À l’origine, Pinterest n’a pas été crée comme un outil marketing au service des marques. Il s’agissait de pouvoir partager ses intérêts (sous formes d’albums de favoris). Les thèmes récurrents sur Pinterest  sont la cuisine et la mode : en effet 80% des utilisateurs des réseaux sont des utilisatrices. Une aubaine pour certaines marques.

Quelles sont les marques qui ont sauté le pas?

Et bien, nous retrouvons les « habitués » des réseaux sociaux : Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Starbucks pour l’alimentation et Maybelline ou Gap pour la beauté/ mode, par exemple. Mais voilà, les utilisateurs de Pinterest ne cherchent pas à (re)découvrir ce qu’ils connaissent déjà. Nous observons donc que de petits nouveaux tirent leur épingle du jeu : Etsy et Modcloth font un véritable tabac avec respectivement plus de 69 000 et  17 000 abonnés. Un résultat plutôt encourageant face au géant Gap, avec 3 600 fans. En ce qui concerne l’agroalimentaire, Paula Deen, présentatrice d’émissions culinaires aux États-Unis, réunit 53 000 adeptes de cuisine familiale et de bons produits loin devant le roi du fast-food, McDonald’s du haut des ses 199 abonnés.

Stratégie : parfois, il n’y a que l’apparence qui compte.

Pinterest est aux réseaux sociaux ce que le scrapbooking est au monde du livre. C’est l’image qui attire le regard en premier lieu et c’est cet aspect qui permet à l’outil d’exporter ces photos à l’autre bout du monde[3]. Il n’y a donc pas de miracle: comme au début d’une relation, il faut faire une bonne première impression puis, entretenir la flamme pour garantir le succès de ce nouvel outil marketing de façon pérenne. Les marques ne postent pas uniquement des photos de leurs produits, le but n’étant pas de mettre en ligne un catalogue. Partager des photos qui ont plus ou moins un lien avec la marque est un moyen de mettre de coté l’aspect marketing de la chose pour ne pas faire fuir le visiteur. En France, Monoprix s’est prêté au jeu en créant son compte avec plusieurs boards[4] intitulés « Inspirations » et « Idées recettes »,  nous sommes bien loin d’une stratégie marketing pure et dure.

Le principal défi pour ceux qui souhaitent se lancer dans l’aventure Pinterest est donc de convertir du contenu informatif sous forme d’images qui attirent l’œil. Donner envie d’en savoir plus sur ce qu’il y derrière une simple photo (bien qu’attirante) peut nous renvoyer au défi de résumer un message en 140 caractères.  Alors, à vos punaises !

Julia Locatelli

It is that time of year again: April Fools’ Day. No one exactly knows how April Fools’ Day originated. Some believe that it first appeared in the Middle Ages, when New Year’s Day was celebrated on 25 March in most European towns and lasted for a week, ending on 1 April. When the French started celebrating New Year’s Day on 1 January, they made fun of those who started the new year on the fourth month of the year. Nowadays, April Fools’ Day is not a national holiday in any country; however, many people play tricks and hoaxes on each other on that particular day. So what exactly does it mean? How is it celebrated globally? And do brands and media get involved in April Fools’ Day hoaxes? Here is a little inspection on the day of practical jokes across borders.

In France, Canada, the Netherlands and the UK, people mostly get a kick out of playing practical jokes on friends and family, even in the smallest ways. In Spain, 1 April is just like any other day. No particular celebration or hoaxes take place and April Fools’ Day is not a concept Spaniards are familiar with. However, in Spanish speaking countries there is a similar day on December 28, called “El Dia de los Santos Inocentes” (Innocents’ Day). It is observed in a similar way and it is all about the jokes, too. “Aprilscherz” or “April joke”, is very popular in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, especially in the south of the German-speaking areas. On April Fools’ Day or the day after, some people ask each other “Na, wurdest DU auch schon in den April geschickt?” which means “So, and who sent YOU into April?”.

In France, it is customary to discretely tape a paper fish on people’s backs; something that is in fact mostly done by children. The idea is to not get caught while doing this and to make the person who is walking around with a fish on their back look like a fool. When a person falls for the joke or hoax, the French simply say “Poisson d’avril”, which literally means “April fish”. In the Netherlands, the symbol for April Fools’ Day is another animal: the frog. When someone is pranked, the Dutch yell “1 april, kikker in je bil (die er nooit meer uit wil)”, a rhyme that literally means “1 April, frog in your buttocks (who will never come out again)”.

In some countries, even the media and brands get involved. In 2004, Petit Bateau (understand “Little Boat” in French), a children’s clothing brand in France, gave away free paper fish to children for them to tape to people’s backs. In Spain, on the night of Innocent’s Day, there is a TV show about celebrities being pranked, but other media do not pay any attention to this celebration.

The UK is probably the nation where the media gets involved the most. The most famous example took place in 1957. The BBC programme “Panorama” aired an item that described the harvest of spaghetti in Switzerland. The broadcast showed local villagers picking spaghetti from trees and people were made to believe that spaghetti actually grows on trees. The next day, hundreds of viewers called the BBC to see where they could purchase these spaghetti trees. Another famous example from the UK is a BBC radio broadcast in 1976. A scientist was interviewed and he stated that the planets Jupiter and Pluto would align at 09.47am exactly. This would decrease gravity and those who jumped in the air at the right moment would experience something amazing. One woman later declared that she had floated in her room with 11 other people.

In Canada, the media and brands love to play practical jokes. Last year, Starbucks introduced Mobile Pour. This app would allow customers who could not or did not want to find a local Starbucks to summon a Starbucks barista. The barista would then deliver coffee to the customer on a scooter. The article published on Starbucks’ website was written by April F., which almost immediately gave away the joke. Furthermore, Canadian local newspapers especially like to run April Fools’ Day stories. For example, the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix featured an article that the city could become the first to offer flavoured tap water on special occasions.

 “Het Jeugdjournaal” is a popular 10-minute news segment especially for children in the Netherlands. This programme is famous for April Fools’ Day hoaxes. Last year, Het Jeugdjournaal had a news segment about children doing chores to raise money for their schools. The video showed 11-year old children doing heavy manual labour. At the end of the video, the expert mentioned a website offering more information on the project where the programme revealed it was an April Fools’ Day hoax. Nevertheless, the programme received quite some complaints from concerned parents declaring child labour is forbidden in this nation. Another famous example took place in 1969. The Netherlands’ most watched public news programme, “NOS-journaal”, broadcasted a piece of news explaining that people who did not pay TV and radio licensing would be tracked by auditors with scanners. The only way to escape the auditors was by wrapping your TV with tinfoil. The next day, tinfoil was completely sold out in the Netherlands.

In 2004, US company Google found out that people are actually quite alert not to be pranked on April Fools’ Day. On 1 April of that year, Google announced that it wanted to compete with Hotmail by introducing Google’s free email service Gmail. Users would get 1GB storage, which was quite a high standard offering for 2004. By deduction, people thought that Gmail was an April Fools’ Day joke. It was not until 2 April that people started to realise that Gmail was actually real.

April Fools’ Day might not be celebrated in the same way across borders, but it is still apparent that most people enjoy hoaxes, jokes and pranks on the day of laughter or on similar days. As a brand or media outlet, creating an April Fools’ Day hoax can generate enormous attention and might be a smart way to come across as cheeky and daring, especially in an era when social media and interaction are the key to truly engaging with customers.

Whether you are playing tricks on your family or on the masses: happy pranking this April Fools’ Day!

By Malou Tulleken

Much has been said and written about globalisation. Undeniably, the world is getting more global; economies compete on a single market, people have never been more mobile and therefore top brands aim at increasing their reach and present themselves as a strong and consistent unit across markets. With globalisation, advertisers can choose to localise or standardise their campaigns and use the same advertisement all around the world. But to what extend is this a good idea?

Imagine a future with one global culture: we eat the same food, we listen to the same music and we speak the same language. In this homogeneous global culture all cultural differences are disregarded. What is considered offensive in Middle Eastern cultures does not exist anymore and typical Western advertising is no longer the norm for global brands. One global culture is a utopia of identical life styles worldwide and people benefit through mutual understanding and a lack of complexity in international relations.

Most of all, homogeneity promotes an ever-increasing world economy, simply because everyone can be targeted through the exact same advertisements and marketing campaigns. This does not only optimise budgets by avoiding local overheads, it also appeals to virtually everyone and one global culture would increase profits from marketing campaigns. It could be the perfect world. Or would it?

Having one global culture and being able to advertise in one and the same way may sound like a dream for many marketers, but in reality we would be missing out on one of the most interesting aspects of marketing: diversity. At Creative Culture, we believe in “glocalisation” (obviously), the phenomenon by which a brand rolls out a single campaign across markets taking into consideration the various cultural sensitivities of the local markets, which is so much more interesting than having one global culture where everyone is more or less the same. Don’t you agree?

For example, some may argue that McDonald’s is the epitome of American culture; however, it has proven to be one of the leading glocal brands in the world. From advertising to localised menus, they have successfully introduced the concept of ‘doing the same a little differently’. Have you ever heard of the KiwiBurger, the McShawarma and the Mega Teriyaki Burger? They are the New Zealander, Israeli and Japanese versions of their top-rated burgers. In India, beef has been taken off the menu altogether due to religious views whereas kosher and halal meals are offered in other parts of the world. These alterations make it a whole new experience to walk into a McDonald’s when you are in a foreign country: it is a local taste with a global touch.

Another good example of successful glocalisation is when Disney opened a theme park in Europe, then called Euro Disney (Disneyland Paris). The theme park struggled to make a profit in the first few years and appeared to be a huge mistake by the American owned company.[1] Disney’s mistake was to force the US concept of the theme park to Europeans, and especially the French, who were everything but receptive. When changing the name Euro Disney to Disneyland Paris, the Walt Disney Company started to implement glocalisation practices. According to the study by Jonathan Matusitz, the main changes were “(1) cutting the price; (2) turning shows and settings into French style; (3) change the food menus and eating habits; and (4) change of employee customs and labour policies.” These changes turned out to be a smart move by Disney: the theme park is now immensely successful with 12 million visitors each year.

Globalisation brings people closer together, but it does not bridge cultural differences. What works in Europe does not necessarily work in Asia or the Middle East. It is important to regard this while creating global campaigns and to change what can harm the brand’s reputation. In a world consumed by globalisation, this is the only way to be a truly successful international brand. In other words, think globally, act locally and glocalise that advertisement!

By Malou Tulleken

La campagne pour les élections présidentielles en France soulève à nouveau la question du « consommer local »… mais est-ce une problématique à proprement parlé française ? Aux États-Unis, Barack Obama a fait du slogan « Made In America » sont cheval de bataille auprès des industriels américains.  Coïncidence ? Pas vraiment. Aujourd’hui la mention « Made in China » est connue de tous, et c’est bien cela qui inquiète industriels et consommateurs. La suprématie chinoise pousse les fabricants des quatre coins du monde à faire reconnaître leur savoir-faire en créant de nouveaux labels en tous genres. Plus récemment le label  « Origine France Garantie » à fait son apparition avec le soutien de gouvernement français. La marque respecte un cahier des charges strict : 50 % de la valeur du produit doit correspondre à des activités conduites sur le sol français. La seule origine d’un bien de consommation est-il un gage de qualité ou un simple atout marketing ? Coller un étiquette  « Made in » suffirait-il à relancer la consommation de produits nationaux ?

Pour 9 Français sur 10, un label prouvant l’origine française d’un produit est un gage de qualité. Mais est-ce le cas à l’étranger ? Un constat est clair en tous cas : les Français demandent de la qualité à la française. Habitués aux quotas culturels et notamment au pourcentage de musique francophone à la radio, l’éternel chauvinisme se fait ressentir dans leurs choix de consommation. Et les marketers l’ont bien compris. Mais au-delà du stéréotype concernant l’origine du produit, plusieurs critères entrent en jeu.

Bien entendu, l’origine seule d’un produit n’en détermine pas la qualité. Avant de devenir un outil marketing le label doit s’allier d’une identité forte et d’une qualité vérifiée. Prenons l’exemple des montres « Swiss Made » : le simple cryptogramme n’est pas seul responsable du succès planétaire de la Suisse  dans le monde de l’horlogerie. Menacées par les montres à quartz japonaises dans les années 80, l’ironie à fait que le temps, la patience et le savoir-faire ont permis aux montres suisses de  revenir sur le devant de la scène (grâce notamment aux Swatch). La clé de leur succès ? La créativité, le design et une touche de prestige. Rolex en est l’exemple le plus parlant mais pour cela il faut remonter dans le temps, au début du 20ème siècle, lorsque le jeune Hans Wilsdorf se lance dans le monde de l’horlogerie. La montre à gousset est encore la norme mais Hans bouscule les codes et lance la montre-bracelet, fiable et élégante. Mais Rolex n’en restera pas là, et c’est ce qui apportera au label  « Swiss Made » toute sa légitimité. La 1ère montre étanche baptisée « Oyster »[1] traverse la Manche au poignet de l’anglaise Mercedes Gleitze en 1926. L’audace technologique et la fiabilité ont donc fait de la mention « Swiss Made » une évidence en termes de qualité.

La renommée d’un produit ne dépend pas uniquement de son origine. Bien entendu le Camembert de Normandie n’a de sens que s’il est fabriqué en France, le Limoncello s’il provient des alentours de Naples et les voitures allemandes d’Outre-Rhin.

Les voitures allemandes, parlons-en. La Deutsche Qualität ne s’est pas fait en un jour. Au lendemain de la seconde guerre mondiale les constructeurs allemands ont préféré miser sur la qualité et le prestige alors que leurs voisins français ont opté pour un lancement de masse afin d’équiper les ménages français. Aujourd’hui, même scénario. Le prestige et le haut de gamme séduisent toujours autant et 70 % des allemands disent faire confiance à leur constructeurs. Le reste va de soi : la Deutsche Qualität n’est que la cerise sur le gâteau. Le « Made in Germany » devient donc une évidence.

Du coté français, la « Porcelaine de Limoges », appellation réservée à la porcelaine fabriquée et décorée à Limoges est connue de tous depuis le XVIII^ème siècle. Fournisseurs officiels de la cour des derniers grands monarques français, les manufactures Limougeaudes connaissent un véritable succès et attirent les convoitises des maisons américaines comme Haviland. La mention « Porcelaine de Limoges » n’existe que depuis 1962 mais la renommée des grandes manufactures s’est faite sans cette étiquette. Une fois encore, la mention « Made In », ici marquée d’un sceaux vert de chrome n’est qu’une consécration illustrant la qualité et l’authenticité du produit et non le contraire.

Le processus s’engage donc naturellement et le fabricant devient seul maître de la notoriété de son travail. Ce n’est que dans cet ordre logique que le label ou l’appellation devient un outil marketing légitime et donc efficace. Sans cela, le label perdrait tout son sens et ne serait qu’un masque pour tromper le consommateur. Mettre en avant un label tel que « Made In France » ou  « Made In Germany » doit en priorité permettre aux fabricants de rappeler la qualité première de leur produit, puis d’en augmenter sa valeur en second lieu, puisqu’il s’agira toujours d’un outil marketing très efficace.

Julia Locatelli

According to the European Union, 87% of Dutch citizens indicate English to be the most widely known language besides their mother tongue. This high percentage stems from the fact that English is a very important part of the Dutch secondary education system. It is a mandatory subject on all levels and according to European Platform there are 127 Dutch secondary schools that offer bilingual education (Dutch and English), out of a total of 659 in the whole country as of September 1, 2011. In other words, 19% of secondary schools offer bilingual education and are thus exposing Dutch teenagers to English frequently. It therefore does not come as a surprise if some European neighbours see the Dutch as proficient English speakers.

Teenagers do not only get in contact with English through education; pop culture also plays a major part in the so-called Anglicisation. It is particularly true with the hip-hop current. Dutch artists integrate many English words and sentences into their Dutch lyrics, while, in most cases, appropriate translations are possible. A good example is ‘Leipe Mocro Flavour’, a collaboration between Ali B, Yes-R and Brace. Ali B is “hard core to the bone”, “represents War Child”, has “flow”, is a “sell-out”, does not like “fakers” and drives his “car” to name but a few English phrases and words in his lyrics. Not so long ago, the media has also adopted this trend and magazines such as the Dutch version of Cosmopolitan now use many English words and catch phrases to appeal to their target audiences.

Over the past few years, it has also become more acceptable for Dutch brands to advertise partly or completely in English to the point that it has almost become a standard. For example, Dutch brand Duyvis, which produces a wide variety of cocktail nuts, changed their immensely successful slogan from ‘Duyvis, als er een fuif is’ (Duyvis, when there is a party) to ‘Selected by Mother Nature’. Guurd Bipshaar, representative of Duyvis, claimed (in Dutch) that the change was made because no one throws a ‘fuif’ anymore. However, some people wonder why the new slogan could not have been in Dutch, given the fact that Duyvis has no intention to export. On top of that, the Dutch adaptation would be just as short, if the motivation were that English is often more succinct and more powerful.

Companies have different reasons for using English in Dutch advertisements. According to Marinel Gerritsen, Associate Professor of Sociolinguistics and Intercultural Communication at the University of Nijmegen, “two of the reasons advertising agencies give for using English in commercials are, firstly, that it is good for a product’s image to be associated with English, and, secondly, that everyone in the Netherlands understands English anyway”. Based on her study ‘English in Commercials on Dutch Television’ (1997), Gerritsen stated that the latter is questionable. She found that young people appreciated English in Dutch commercials a bit better than older people. Yet she also found that in general both researched groups had a “fairly negative attitude towards English and this could lead to consumers not buying products which are advertised in English”.

The flip side of the coin is that some people wonder if marketers only target their commercials, when in English, to higher-educated consumers and if Anglicisation is a threat for the Dutch language. To strong feelings, strong words: opponents of Anglicisation refer to this phenomenon as “language pollution”. Some people even resent the overuse of English in Dutch, such as the Stichting Taalverdediging (Foundation Language Defence) which fights for the preservation of Dutch.

Whatever the reason might be for using English in Dutch commercials, both Dutch and international marketers need to keep in mind that English isn’t necessarily the best way to go in advertising or other media outlets. Not nearly everyone in the Netherlands understands English to such an extent to fully dissect the messages. Gerritsen further states that “the subjects may think that they understand the English used (ca. 80%), but when they are asked to explain what is meant, it turns out that only 36% are able to do so”.

Nonetheless, there are also successful examples of English use in Dutch commercials. This is the case of the Bavaria campaigns with Mickey Rourke and Hugh Hefner, reintroducing alcohol-free beer. Bavaria’s market for alcohol-free beer grew exponentially over the last two years. This market growth is, most logically, a combined result of celebrity endorsement and Bavaria’s new marketing approach. The fact that the commercials are in English does not seem to stop consumers from buying the product, contrarily to what Marinel Gerritsen concluded.

Is Bavaria an isolated example of successful English advertising or have times changed since 1997? The latter seems to be a logical explanation, but only time can tell. It is up to the Dutch to decide how to approach Anglicisation as well as whether to oppose it if it is threatening the Dutch language. For now, however, there seems to be a good balance between Dutch and English advertising. As the now famous Dutch commercial for Roosvicee proclaims: “Het komt wel goed, schatje” (it will be all right, baby).

By Malou Tulleken

La question de la popularité des réseaux sociaux en France ne se pose plus. En effet, les chiffres parlent d’eux-mêmes : en 2011, 87 % des internautes français étaient inscrits sur Facebook, LinkedIn, Viadeo ou Copains d’Avant. On compte de plus en plus d’inscrits chaque année avec une progression sur le segment des plus de 50 ans. Néanmoins l’attitude des internautes français vis-à-vis de ces réseaux est assez paradoxale.

Les Français entretiennent une relation assez particulière avec ces différents outils que l’on pourrait qualifier d’amour vache. En effet 1/6^ème  des personnes interrogées par l’Observatoire des Réseaux Sociaux déclarent s’inscrire afin de suivre l’actualité des marques, de s’informer, ou de rester en contact avec leurs amis. « Classique » me direz-vous ? Et bien non. Les Français ne sont pas des réseauteurs comme les autres. La France est l’un des marchés media européens les plus complexes et ultra-hétérogènes en termes de « tendances réseaux sociaux »[i] . Les Italiens seraient plus prolifiques que les Français en matière de création de contenu et les Suédois plus actifs et moins focalisés sur le blogging. Au niveau mondial, l’Europe et plus particulièrement la France sont étonnement à la traine, loin derrière le Brésil, l’Inde ou la Chine (cf. la série d’articles « Spotlight BRIC » par Moses Lemuel, également disponibles sur notre blog). De plus, il semblerait que les pays émergents soient bien plus « actifs » que les utilisateurs américains et européens (rappelons que Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube et autres réseaux mondialement connus ont pour la plupart été conçus aux États-Unis).

 Comment expliquer la passivité des utilisateurs français ? Serait-ce un trait culturel qui les pousserait à la frilosité ?

C’est bien connu, la France préfère les exceptions à la règle. Pourquoi faire comme les autres quand on peut créer un réseau bien français ? Copains d’avant et Viadeo, deux réseaux 100 % made in France, font un carton : Copains d’avant se place en 4^ème position des réseaux préférés des Français en 2011 et Viadeo 12^ème juste devant LinkedIn[ii]. Mais cela suffit-il à expliquer le gouffre qui sépare les Français des utilisateurs brésiliens, indiens ou chinois ? Dans une certaine mesure. Mais cela n’explique pas entièrement ce statut de « spectateur ».

Les Français sont tout simplement méfiants et conscients des risques liés à l’exposition de leur vie privée : usurpation d’identité, harcèlement et violation de la vie privée. En effet, 35 % des utilisateurs n’accordent pas leur confiance aux réseaux sociaux et 44 % portent une grande attention aux informations qu’ils postent en ligne[iii]. Il semblerait que les Français préfèrent observer les erreurs des utilisateurs américains avant de se lancer sur la toile : le scandale des photos piratées d’Angie Varona en est la preuve ; une histoire qui a fait le tour de l’Hexagone en l’espace de quelques semaines.  Les Français sont des followers[iv] prudents, qu’on se le dise !

Ainsi se pose la question de l’attitude à adopter de la part des marques souhaitant mettre en place une campagne sociale sur le marché français.

Les utilisateurs de réseaux sociaux sont des consommateurs comme les autres et les réseaux sociaux représentent une véritable mine d’or. Les marques et entreprises qui se lancent dans la course aux « abonnés » ou aux « fans » ont tout intérêt à prendre en compte les différences culturelles de chaque territoire. Prenons l’exemple des #FF Follow Friday. Vous n’en n’avez jamais entendu parler  ou vous ne l’avez jamais utilisé ? C’est normal, la tendance venue des Etats-Unis a fait un flop en France. Le but étant de recommander de s’abonner au flux Twitter d’une autre personne afin de créer une réaction en chaîne. Le mouvement n’a vraisemblablement pas séduit les Français. En effet, à défaut de miser sur l’appartenance à un groupe et de se montrer au monde entier comme le font les Anglais et les Américains, les réseauteurs français préfèrent valoriser le contenu et la qualité des publications des personnes qu’ils suivent. Autre exemple de flop en 2011 : la campagne social media « Mon minou tout doux» de Veet pour les jeunes filles. Manque de glamour à la française et perçue de mauvais goût, la campagne n’a pas séduit les Françaises, bien au contraire. Créée pour lancer un buzz viral, la campagne uniquement diffusée sur internet a suscité de virulentes réactions parmi les internautes, la jugeant sexiste et malsaine.

Renault l’a bien compris. Pour séduire les Français, le contenu doit les intéresser. La parodie de la vidéo d’Opel pour la nouvelle Opel Corsa (conçue par Renault) a été partagée, Twittée, postée et  aimée par des milliers de Français. Sens de l’humour bien français ou génie international ?

Ainsi, force est de constater la particularité des internautes français. Malgré l’existence d’une certaine tendance internationale (les Français ne sont pas totalement des exceptions à la règle) chaque marché a ses préférences et ses codes : il ne faut pas mettre tous les réseauteurs dans le même panier.

Par Julia Locatelli

In this series of articles, we will look at the group of countries known as BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China), which have been on the global radar as some of the world’s largest and fastest growing markets, focusing on particular social and cultural trends in each of these countries.

Today, we will look at trends in social media use in Russia and differences between the country’s two most popular social networking platforms, Facebook and Vkontakte.

As with the other BRIC countries, social media usage in Russia has experienced significant growth. For example, in the first four months after its January 2010 launch in Russia, Facebook use grew by 376%. By 2011, it had more than 4.5 million regular users. Moreover, in June that year, Russians spent on average nearly 10.2 hours per month on social networks, nearly twice the US average and more than twice the amount of time spent by their global counterparts.

Within this upward trend, however, there are other interesting online trends and customs that can tell us something about Russian social media users. While Facebook, like in many other parts of the world, is popular in Russia, many Russian users log on to an alternative home-grown social network called Vkontakte. And although significant overlap between their respective user bases can be expected, the two sites do not have the same kind of appeal.

With its global reach, Facebook tends to attract early adopters who are English-speaking or at least eager to engage in global communities and are more savvy about global tech and social media trends. Vkontakte, on the other hand, is a space for Russian speakers and younger users with low purchasing power. This means the approach needed to tap into the user base of each is different. For Vkontakte, in particular, being able to speak Russian is necessary, and the younger profile of its user base makes it unsuitable as a medium for advertising expensive goods and services.

However, this does not mean that Vkontakte is lacking in marketing potential—with tens of millions of members, its user base is still larger than Facebook’s. It just means that it is important to plan the right kind of campaigns that would match the site’s user demographic and online culture.

In this regard, Clearasil has enjoyed remarkable success with its campaign, boosting sales by as much as 30% between 2009 and 2011. It took advantage of the Vkontakte’s user demographic of young people, their core target audience, by creating a campaign based on a Vkontakte app called Clearbooth, which allowed users to create videos about the product’s benefits, thereby engaging their customers and taking their opinion into consideration to improve their positioning and product offer locally. In tandem with this, Clearasil made use of the online culture of a social networking platform frequented by young people by designing the app so that the user-generated content could go viral within the platform through a competition. The results were impressive, with more than 13,000 pieces of content created and a total reach of half a million people.

Clearasil’s success with Vkontakte demonstrates the latter’s viability as a marketing platform. It also indicates that adequate research and a tailor-made strategy are necessary to tap into the potential of Vkontakte as a means of reaching millions of Russian-speaking users.

By Moses Lemuel

In this series of articles, we will look at the group of countries known as BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China), which have been on the global radar as some of the world’s largest and fastest growing markets, focusing on particular social and cultural trends in each of these countries.

Today, we will look at trends in social media use in Brazil.

So far, our survey of the BRIC countries tells of an upward trend in social media usage. Statistics show that 88% of internet users in China and 51% in Brazil have written their own forum or blog posts compared to only 32% in the US, indicating that rates of participation in social media are higher in the former two countries. Moreover, Brazilians are among the most active in social networks, with a reported 18.9% of Internet users visiting social networks over a period of a month, perhaps as an online testament to their reputation as warm and sociable people.

Until recently, Orkut has enjoyed greater popularity amongst Brazilian users compared to Facebook. And while the number of users on Facebook has been growing rapidly, the most dramatic growth is in the number of users on Twitter, whose market share almost doubled from 17% in April 2011 to 31.3% in August 2011, according to data from F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi and IBOPE Nielsen Online. This makes Brazil’s rate of participation on Twitter the highest in the world.

Twitter’s success in Brazil has been attributed to the ease with which Brazilians can use it to connect with their idols and to browse topics of interest, which has interesting implications for brands wishing to build a loyal following in the local market. However, the most fascinating story in the country’s social media scene is Orkut’s rise and its eventual defeat by Facebook.

When Brazilians began joining Orkut en masse in 2004, partly in an effort to outcompete other countries in terms of numbers, English-speaking users reacted to the proliferation of Portuguese content on the site by forming communities such as “Too Many Brazilians on Orkut”. Thus, according to social media researcher Raquel Recuero, Orkut’s popularity in Brazil also became its limiting factor, as the aggressive push to expand the Brazilian user base and the linguistic exclusivity of Portuguese content eventually drove off other users. By the time Orkut moved to divide its network into regions, it was too late. The site had begun losing its global edge to other social networking sites including Facebook. From there, it was simply a matter of time before Facebook became so much larger globally that Brazilians are induced to jump on the Facebook bandwagon as well.

Orkut’s dethroning by Facebook may be a sign that Brazil’s heretofore self-sufficient social media scene is becoming increasingly globally connected. The plurality of Facebook’s user base offers greater prospects for content diffusion across cultural and linguistic groups. This means more sharing of content between Portuguese-speaking Brazilian users and English-speaking users, which may in turn make it easier for foreign brands to reach Brazilians through social media.

By Moses Lemuel

In this series of articles, we will look at the group of countries known as BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China), which have been on the global radar as some of the world’s largest and fastest growing markets, focusing on particular social and cultural trends in each of these countries.

Today, we will look at the widespread use of local English dialects as well as social media in India and what this means for the future of the country’s social media landscape.

The English language is much more deeply-rooted and has a much longer history in India than in China. It is part of the legacy of the colonial period, when India was under British administration. However, Indians have made the language their own through the use of local dialects.

Unlike in China, where English is regarded as a foreign language and the amalgamation of Chinese and English known as ‘Chinglish’ is looked down on and even banned from use in the media, Indians feel a sense of ownership and even pride towards localised versions of the language, which feature idiosyncratic phrases such as “I’ll come today itself” and “I go there thrice a week” as well as combinations of local and English words. Moreover, English has enjoyed rising popularity in India due to the economic opportunities it opens up and the social status it confers to those who are able to speak it.

Meanwhile, social media use is also on the rise. There is an estimated 35 million Facebook users in India, and the country is ranked 4^th in Asia for the number of users on Twitter. Although the numbers pale in comparison to those in China, there is good potential for growth in India’s social media landscape as the country has an estimated 121 million internet users. And as mobile phones are the primary driver of Internet usage in India, this number will continue to increase with the widespread adoption of smartphones.

Both the potential reach of social media and the popularity of ‘Indlish’ in India are demonstrated by the popular reception of hit song “Why This Kolaveri Di”, which went viral on YouTube at the end of 2011. The song, sung in a combination of the Tamil language and English, has racked up nearly 40 million views on YouTube by the end of January 2012, becoming a top trend on Twitter in India as well. The song is peppered with ‘Tamglish’ catchphrases including its distinctive title (meaning “why this murderous rage” in Standard English), which has been incorporated into local slang as a phrase used to poke fun at another person’s irritation in the manner of to the English catchphrase “You mad?”

For those keen to take advantage of social media as a marketing tool in India, “Why This Kolaveri Di” also tells a forward-looking tale of the country’s nascent social media landscape. The advantages of social media marketing in India may not be as clear as in China, and the variety of languages spoken in the country, with more than 20 languages with over a million speakers, adds a layer of complexity to the matter. However, as the literacy rate climbs and as more Indians jump on the social media bandwagon, we can expect to see more and more web content in ‘Indlish’, which offers a convenient means for Indians throughout the subcontinent to communicate with each other as they interact online.

By Moses Lemuel

In this series of articles, we will look at the group of countries known as BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China), which have been on the global radar as some of the world’s largest and fastest growing markets, focusing on particular social and cultural trends in each of these countries.

Today, we will look at China and its increasingly globally-connected population, particularly in light of the rising popularity of the English language and the rapid growth of social media usage.

It is estimated that the number of English learners in China is at least over 300 million and constantly growing (Lidi, 2008), which potentially means that the number of English speakers in China will at some point exceed the population of the United States. Meanwhile, the number of Chinese social media users currently exceeds 250 million.

So what does this mean for brands looking to expand their reach in China? While it is tempting to conclude that the growing numbers of English speakers and social media users imply that it will automatically be easier to reach more people in China, this is an opportunity that should not be taken for granted; rather, it needs to be cleverly exploited. Although the Chinese have a preference for learning Standard English rather than a localised version or ‘Chinglish’, China is still a primarily Chinese-speaking society and will remain one for the foreseeable future. This means the Chinese will continue to use the Chinese language, what is locally known as Putonghua (Standard Chinese), among themselves, indicating that Putonghua will remain the primary language of local media.

However, rising interest amongst the Chinese population in learning the English language and in Western culture does have great potential for facilitating cross-cultural communication and marketing. Initiatives such as popular online video series “OMG! 美语” (OMG! American Language), shown here featuring American pop culture icon will.i.am, demonstrate that it is possible to promote American culture while being fully in touch with local linguistic and cultural sensibilities, especially through Chinese social media such as popular microblogging site Weibo. Moreover, according to the Gerson Lehrman Group, 95% of surveyed Chinese citizens are more trusting of brands that advertise through microblogs, while 61% of Chinese social media users decide to make a purchase because of a digital marketing campaign.

These trends present international brands with an effective way to reach their target audience in China, especially the younger generations who are increasingly web savvy and eager to learn more about other cultures.  Through a judicious combination of English and Putonghua in ad campaigns with a more extensive use of social media, where regulations on language are also less stringent, it may be possible to maintain a crucial linguistic connection with the target audience while capitalising on the popularity of English language and social media use in China in order to get local people talking about a brand’s products.

By Moses Lemuel

Reference: Lidi, Wang. (2008). The Spread of English in China and its Implications. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics: 31(3), p. 32.1-32.4

Typically, advertising must conform to laws and cultural norms. Most advertisements from the 1950’s – 1970’s, like this particular selection for example, wouldn’t be acceptable today due to changing perceptions about various issues such as gender, racial discrimination and public health. The effect of the cultural shift is such that some of these advertisements might even be illegal today.

Nowadays, advertisements regularly do not pass muster and are banned. This can be due to reasons that have to do with nudity, depiction of drug use or likelihood to “cause excessive fear and distress”, amongst others. Even when local laws are clear, bans can often be dependent on context and the interpretation of the offending advertisements. Thus, besides abiding with local regulations, advertisers need to be sensitive to ever-shifting cultural sensibilities.

To make matters more complex, cultural norms and sensibilities don’t just vary across time. They vary across different societies as well. This might seem obvious when we think about it, but it is easy to forget that what is acceptable in one society may not be in another. A good example is that of deodorant brands that launched a set of advertisements based on flirting  in India last year, which were considered “indecent, vulgar and suggestive” by the local authorities.  Even without the use of official bans, content may be regulated through self-censorship by broadcasters, which is the case in the United States, where many condom ads cannot be shown despite containing no nudity due to the fear of backlash.

There are some well-known facts about restrictions on advertising globally. Alcohol and tobacco advertisements, for example, are banned or restricted in many countries. There are also some prominent hot button issues that advertisements would do well to avoid being associated with, such sexism and racism.

However, cultural norms and local laws can be fairly obscure and apply to things you might not expect. In Lithuania, language is a potential problem as linguists are employed by the Lithuanian Language Committee to perform random checks on aired content to look for linguistic errors.  Broadcasters must remove any offending content found or face fines, making it necessary to ensure that voice-overs have proper accentuation. Language is also an issue in France, where it is required by law that everything on an advertisement must be translated into French, so even a tagline such as Nike’s “Just Do It” must appear with a French ‘subtitle’. This is due to a law that was passed at the end of the 1990′s by then Culture Minister Jacques Toubon, who wanted to promote and preserve the use of the French language.

Incidentally, a Nike advertisement was banned in China in 2004 for completely different reasons. The ad, which featured US basketball star LeBron James in battle with a cartoon kung fu master, was banned for misusing Chinese “cultural symbols” and for failing to “uphold national dignity” and respect Chinese culture.

So perhaps a good set of advice would be: don’t just do it; research local laws and sensibilities before proceeding with an ad campaign, just in case it ends up pushing the wrong buttons.

By Moses Lemuel

Some businesses take pride in offering products that have universal appeal, no matter where they are sold. IKEA’s furniture has its distinctive DIY style that vary little from market to market, while a can of Coca Cola looks similar whether you bought it at a roadside stall in the sweltering heat of the tropics or in snowy Spitsbergen. In fact, most international super brands have products that are like that; it’s part of why these brands are so recognisable.

However, the universality of these products does not mean that they cannot be marketed in ways that are tailored to local sensibilities. Indeed, some international brands with big marketing budgets do localise their campaigns, as we can see in examples such as this Coca Cola advertisement in India that features Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai. Less common are campaigns that draw on the more peculiar in local culture and customs such as HSBC’s very first ‘World’s Local Bank’ advertisement that infused an advertising campaign with local flavours that can truly bring out the brand’s global character.

There is certainly no shortage of interesting and even humorous material from around the world. For example, some cultures have interesting customs associated with the process of moving to a new home. In France, people may organise a party called ‘pendaison de crémaillère’ or ‘to hang the trammel’, a custom which goes all the way back to the Middle Ages, when people would bring the trammel (a metal hook used to hold kettle and pots over the fire) into the new home last. In Russia, people may let a cat into the house first in order to attract a guardian spirit called the Domovoy and ward off bad luck, whereas in Chinese tradition it is auspicious for the main bread winner of the household to enter first, walking backwards and stepping over a charcoal burner.

Such customs are a treasure trove that should not be overlooked. The point is to tap into the potential of images and themes that local customers can not only recognise but readily identify with in daily life. ‘Personalising’ your products this way indicates to people around the world that you understand how they think and that your products are perfectly capable of meeting local needs.

In short, the big picture is made up of its component pieces; to have a truly global outlook one must also pay attention to the local.

By Moses Lemuel

Indonesians are renowned for their friendliness, so much so that they often make it into lists of the friendliest people in the world. In 2011, Japanese comedian Udo Suzuki went as far as to test this by going to Indonesia to pull a few pranks on seemingly unsuspecting people. The results appeared to vindicate the Indonesian people’s reputation.

It should be noted, however, that the Japanese comedian chose to perform his stunt in Bali, which has its own customs and culture. Indeed, it is difficult to generalise about Indonesian culture as the country spans more than 17,000 islands and is home to around 300 different ethnic groups. Although Bahasa Indonesia is the official language of the country and is overwhelmingly favoured in the mass media, partly thanks to previous government efforts to promote it, more than 700 languages are spoken in the country. It would therefore be a mistake to assume that the local culture is the same in every part of the nation or that there is one single Indonesian culture. While the Balinese are indeed a friendly nation, ethnic groups such as the Bataks are known for their hot temper, with a historical reputation as fierce warriors and cannibals!

However, in the midst of this diversity, Java plays a dominant role in the Indonesian cultural landscape, commanding vast political influence as well as a large media presence. Home to nearly 60 percent of the Indonesian population, the island of Java is also where the country’s capital Jakarta is located. All over the country, Indonesians tune in to popular television and radio programmes that are produced in Java. The cultural landscape of Java is in turn dominated by the Javanese kejawen culture. The latter, therefore, comes closest to being an exemplification of a traditional Indonesian national culture.

Fortunately, Javanese culture is not entirely different from Balinese culture by reputation. Javanese people are known to be extremely polite. Their politeness makes interacting with them a generally pleasant experience, but it also poses its own problems. Refusing a request, for example, might be considered impolite. As a result, on a personal basis, Javanese people would often accede to requests even if they have no intention of keeping their word.

Lonely Planet’s guide to bargaining in Indonesia emphasises the need to be subtle and polite whilst being persuasive, and this advice rings true even outside of the shops, at least when dealing with the Javanese. How to be persuasive yet subtle and polite? I have found that the key to getting what you want is to be persistent while remaining courteous. Never openly express your dissatisfaction towards the other party. This might be difficult for those who are used to fast-paced and demanding environments, but a good working relationship requires a large degree of accommodation. Being rude and demanding may get you what you want for now, but it is very likely to hamper future cooperation.

By Moses Lemuel

“Eat according to the dish” is a Chinese idiom that invites people to act according to the actual circumstances. This is an advice that we would do well to remember, particularly in cross-cultural contexts.

The recent ‘controversy’ over the school lunch served on the anniversary of the Pearl Harbor bombing at the school attended by Malia and Sasha Obama in the US reminds us how easy it can be to overlook differences between cultures. Of the eight items featured in the menu, only two items were associated with Japan:  Teriyaki Marinated Chicken Strips and Garlic Roasted Edamame. Yet the school’s unintentional choice of an “Asian” menu has provoked the ire of some, which raises the question of just how outsiders see Japan and East Asia. Perhaps there is a good reason for the confusion. East Asian cultures have drawn heavily from each other—Chinese culture, language and Confucian traditions, in particular, have had a historically strong influence in the region. With the explosion of mass media in the last few decades, the process of cultural diffusion has gained momentum with the exporting of popular culture from wealthier societies to the rest of the region. The movement known as the Korean Wave, for example, saw the spread of Korean pop music and television throughout the region, generating popular interest in Korean culture. Many in East Asia began learning the Korean language and adopting Korean street fashion. Korean cuisine also enjoyed a boost in popularity.

However, such cultural exchanges also suggest that there are differences between the various East Asian cultures. Even within the same cultural-linguistic sphere there can be significant differences across societies. There is much that the ethnic Chinese in Singapore or even Hong Kong do not have in common with their friends in China, ranging from differences in perspective to those in dialects and linguistic expressions. For example, in China the Chinese word used for ‘market’ is ‘shi chang’ (市场), while in Singapore it is ‘pa sha’ (巴刹). The latter is derived from the Malay word ‘pasar’, which is itself derived from the Persian ‘bazaar’.

Naturally, such interesting cultural divergences are also reflected in the respective cuisines. Despite having a large Chinese majority, food in Singapore has much more in common with food in neighbouring Malaysia and Indonesia than food in China. So the next time you see ‘Singapore Noodles’ on the menu in a Chinese restaurant, remember that chances are it’s not actually Singaporean!

By Moses Lemuel

Creative Culture has proudly supported the global launch of the Nokia Lumia, providing the brand and their creative agency with astute local market health checks, cultural consulting and adaptations covering a range of continents: from Asia to Europe and the Americas. Truly global and truly integrated, the marketing campaign included print, TVCs, retail and web material.

The highlight of this end of year in the Emirates: Cointreau is launching an amber-gold edition of their iconic bottle for the Dubai duty free. To spread the word, Cointreau asked Creative Culture to copywrite a press release. Poetic and inspiring, it invites UAE travellers to grab this limited edition bottle and indulge themselves with delicious cocktails.

Valeo has decided to do it again! In January, Creative Culture will be taking forty two of their employees to London, for the second time in two years, for a memorable cultural and team-building experience. From classic attractions like the London Eye and the Big Bus Tour, to a musical and a top restaurant, the Valeo team will enjoy the ultimate London experience! In the meantime, our cultural and events managers have been all hands on deck over the past few weeks!

Singaporean English, or ‘Singlish’, as it is locally known, is something that is closely linked with the Singaporean psyche. It is celebrated as a pillar of local culture, as a means of identifying oneself with the local culture. As a spoken language, it pervades local audio-visual media with its “lah”s and its peculiar, uncodified grammar. At times, it may even sound far removed from standard English. To complicate things further, it features a large assortment of loan words from various Asian languages and dialects that are spoken locally.

Singaporeans tend to be proud of Singlish while being able to see the lighter side of it — to be amused by the Singaporean-ness of it as an embodiment of the simple cultural life that exudes the down-to-earth but indefatigable attitude for which the past generations are known. Officially, however, Singapore has grappled with the Singlish question for a long time. Although it forms part of the reality of everyday life, government officials have, over the years, rolled out numerous Speak Good English campaigns to encourage Singaporeans to speak less Singlish in order to appear more globally-connected.

On the other hand, there are small movements of resistance that celebrate Singlish. “Yes, I speak Singlish and I’m not ashamed to admit it!” declares a Facebook group. While the Government sees it as simply a kind of mangled English, these movements seek to establish it as a language in its own right. These movements raise a crucial question: Why should Singaporeans speak ‘good’ English when they already communicate perfectly well in Singlish?

Interestingly, these movements are championed by members of Singapore’s small artistic-intellectual community, by people who are typically described as cultured and well-educated. They have no difficulty with speaking ‘good’ English, but they champion Singlish as a means of cultural resistance against what they see as the officious and un-Singaporean character of the Speak Good English initiative. Colin Goh, film director and creator of local satirical website TalkingCock.com, announced at the start of the 2002 Save Our Singlish campaign that there is a need to preserve Singlish “because it’s simply part of our culture.”

Standard English does remain economically important in Singapore as a means of communicating clearly, being a staple of business communication, particularly in international and cross-cultural contexts. However, good knowledge of how Singlish is used and a keen grasp of its influence on Singaporean culture are vital for a close understanding of local ways of thinking. Tailoring a marketing campaign to local sensibilities would ensure real engagement with the target audience while avoiding potential pitfalls arising from a lack of familiarity with local cultural-linguistic norms.

By Moses Lemuel

Paris’ Indian sub-continent can be found along the streets between the two metro stations Gare du Nord and La Chapelle, in the north of the French capital. The colourful shop signs serve as a symbolic contrast to the traditional Parisian 19^th century off-white buildings. Here in Little Jaffna, the community is constituted mainly by Tamils ​​from Sri Lanka, but also by Bangladeshis, Indians and Pakistanis. Rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis, the street that runs between La Chapelle and Gare du Nord, is covered by oriental grocery stores, hairdressers and restaurants. At lunch time, all restaurants are filled with people, and oriental food is served along with traditional Indian music.

Most of the Tamils now residing in Paris ​​escaped from Sri Lanka in the 1980s during the violent civil war between the country’s two ethnic groups, Tamils ​​and Sinhalese. The French authorities were at first hesitant regarding the refugees’ pleas for help, but in 1987, a period began when asylum was systematically granted to all refugees. However, this period of liberal refugee policy came to an end in the mid-1990s as a result of the joint European measures to regulate immigration. Today there are approximately 100,000 Tamils ​​in France, most of them residing in Paris, along with around 65,000 Indians and 50,000 Pakistanis. In the early 1990’s, the first Tamil businessmen began to open shops on and around rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis. Today there are Tamil newspapers, a radio station and several websites dedicated to the area’s residents.

Across the world, a wide range of businesses are looking for opportunities to serve the tastes and needs of growing minority groups. The digital revolution along with the increasingly refined usage of demographic information on ethnic groups is making this task easier every day. It is fuelling the move toward ethnic marketing.

Malarvizhi Kutty came to Paris from Sri Lanka in 1988, and works in the Tamilan Music Center shop. The shelves are filled with DVDs from Bollywood and Kollywood, cassettes and CDs in different languages, and posters of the Hindu God Ganesha and Bollywood star Shahrukh Khan. Malarvizhi Kutty explains that the difficulty of learning French helped to further strengthen the ties between the Tamils.

“Because of language problems, we have not been very well integrated into the French society. In order to create our own lives here, we try to stay together and preserve our culture and traditions. When arriving, you are very dependent on other Tamils ​​who already live here, and who take good care of you,” he says.

When companies are looking for new target markets, the ethnic market is often overlooked. Mainstream marketing campaigns fail to reach these audiences; it often requires somewhat generalised messages. But today, the potential is bigger than ever.

Here are a few things that anyone who wishes to go ethnic with their marketing should take into consideration. First, it is of utter importance to understand the beliefs, cultural interests, consumption patterns, attitudes, and traditions of the ethnic group that you are aiming at. Furthermore, when researching your audience, it is essential that you understand whether you are targeting first or second generation communities, as this has the potential to make a huge difference when it comes to cultural outlooks and opinions. Residents born in Little Jaffna are more likely to be comfortable with the French culture than their first generation parents who may hold on more strongly to their traditional roots within the multi-cultural landscape. When it comes to location, Little Jaffna represents an interesting example – just like Brick Lane in London, it is a very concentrated area, meaning that residents are more likely to have a traditional perspective on things than those spread within other communities.

Tamils ​​are often English speakers, as a result of Britain’s past as a colonial power, and most refugees who come to France don’t speak a word of French. “Many give up the idea of ​​integration through work and would rather look for jobs among friends and relatives”, Malarvizhi Kutty says. Additionally, Malarvizhi Kutty says that many Tamils ​​find it difficult to accept and integrate certain cultural differences.

“In Sri Lanka, girls and boys never get together before they are married. The mothers are often quite worried about their daughters when they are out with their friends. Many families send their children to India to study, if they can. I think we Tamils ​​are afraid that if we integrate too much into the French society, we will lose our own culture.”

When conducting ethnic marketing, the language factor should obviously be of great concern. Like Malarvizhi Kutty points out, many of the residents in Little Jaffna speak poor French, suggesting that the chances of engaging increase significantly if you translate your campaigns. Living in a multi-cultural world opens to incredible opportunities when it comes to marketing new products and finding new target groups. By capitalising on this diversity through campaigns that are bespoke, specific and well-targeted, chances are you will achieve great results.

By Michelle Sejersen