Amy Keitel

Short Paper 1
COMM 5007: Current Issues in Social Media
Noem!er "# $01%
&he phrase 'lost in translation( has lon) !een used to descri!e *hat happens *hen a
*ord or phrase loses so much o+ its meanin) *hen it is translated +rom one lan)ua)e to another
that it is no lon)er understood, &his happens o+ten in mar-etin) *hen a collo.uialism that
ori)inates in one speci+ic lan)ua)e and culture is translated in to another, An e/ample o+ this is
*hen the +ast0+ood restaurant K1C translated its ta)line '1in)er0lic-in2 )ood( to '3at your
+in)ers o++( in Chinese, Needless to say# this slo)an could not !e used to adertise K1C in China
once the error *as identi+ied 45roo-s# $01"6, 7o*eer the use o+ metaphor in mar-etin) does
not een re.uire the te/t to !e translated in to a di++erent lan)ua)e +or its meanin) to !e lost on
people +rom a di++erent culture,
As 8ournalist 9hymer 9i)!y *rote in a Financial Times article, '&he :00 l! )orilla, ;o*0
han)in) +ruit, Pushin) the enelope, 5uildin) up your *ar chest, I+ there is one thin) !usiness
loes more than a !u<<*ord# it is a metaphor,( Metaphors are commonly used in mar-etin) to
!uild !rands as *ell as cultiate mindshare# eo-e a +eelin)# and paint a picture in the minds o+
their audiences so their company and its products or serices are memora!le, 45remer and ;ee#
1==76 &hou)h metaphors are o+ten +illed *ith cultural meanin) that is only -no*n in speci+ic
cultures,
Metaphors commonly used in the >nited States include 'a +or- in the road# ')ettin) cold
+eet#( and '!rea- a le)#( amon) countless others, I+ these phrases are not -no*n metaphors# the
literal interpretation o+ these phrases *ill not ma-e any sense, &he phrase 'a +or- in the road(
may paint a picture o+ a utensil in the middle o+ the road# *hich 8ust seems silly, &he phrases
re)ardin) ')ettin) cold +eet( or '!rea-in) a le)#( *ould ma-e sense to 3n)lish spea-ers *ho do
not reco)ni<e the meanin) o+ the metaphor# !ut *ould !e interrupted literally and *ould in no
*ay coney the intended messa)e,
7o*eer# accordin) to the !oo- Marketing Metaphoria, there are seen deep metaphors
that transcend culture !oundaries as they connect *ith intrinsic human emotions *ith no
dependence on cultural alues, &hese seen metaphors relate to !alance# trans+ormation#
8ourney# container# connection# resource and control 4?altman @ ?altman# $00:6, 7o*eer# the
*ay in *hich these seen metaphors are portrayed does not come *ith a 'one si<e +its all(
solution,
Kra+t2s Philadelphia Cream Cheese2s 'indul)ent heaenly e/perience( )lo!al mar-etin)
campai)n is an e/ample o+ a mar-etin) campai)n that utili<es metaphor success+ully, &his
campai)n captured the deep metaphor o+ 'trans+ormation#( or moin) +rom one state o+ !ein) to
another, &he oerall messa)e depicted throu)h isuals and lan)ua)e is that eatin) Philadelphia
Cream Cheese is a heaenly# decadent e/perience, &he notion o+ a euphoric a+terli+e is common
to all cultures, 7o*eer# Kra+t customi<ed their adertisements +or di++erent mar-ets, 1or
e/ample# an)els *ere used in ads that ran in oer*helmin)ly Christian cultures !ut not in
Muslim cultures# as an)els are not part o+ their ision o+ the a+terli+e 45e)ehr# $0116,
&here are situations in *hich *ords and phrases are not the reason +or !lunders in cross0
cultural mar-etin)# as ima)ery alone can cause con+usion in di++erent cultures, 1or e/ample#
Pampers used ima)ery o+ a stor- delierin) a !a!y to a +amily2s doorstep to adertise their
diapers in Aapan, &his caused much con+usion to Aapanese mothers as the tale o+ stor-s
delierin) !a!ies is not part o+ their culture, Conersely# the tale in Aapan is that )iant peaches
delier !a!ies to +amilies, Needless to say# this attempt at mar-etin) *ith elements +rom
American +ol-lore to another culture did not hae its intended e++ects 45roo-s# $01"6,
One *ay to com!at the issues that can potentially arise in social media mar-etin) due to
culturally di++erent audiences is to create separate pa)es +or di++erent re)ions, I+ the messa)es o+
a particular !usiness or or)ani<ation are so im!ued *ith cultural meanin) or +or other reasons
*ill not !e as e++ectie as they could !e# it *ill li-ely !e !ene+icial to mana)e pa)es +or di++erent
re)ions, &his also allo*s mar-eters to spea- to their audiences in their natie lan)ua)e and use
colors and ima)es that resonate *ith local audiences, 1or e/ample# Asian cultures pre+er the use
o+ aatars and li)ht colors on social media# *hile the *estern *orld is com+orta!le *ith the use
o+ ima)es o+ real people and !ri)ht colors are the norm, Another option is to utili<e locali<ation
+eatures o++ered !y social media sites# such as 1ace!oo- and ;in-edIn# *hich amon) other thin)s
proides the a!ility to distri!ute posts to ne*s+eeds o+ people in certain )eo)raphic areas 4>r!an#
$01$6,
5ein) culturally sensitie in a *orld that is so interconnected can !e a challen)e,
Creatin) a )lo!al social media strate)y can help remoe some o+ the ris-s inoled, Plannin)
ahead and doin) the proper research are sure to help social media mar-eters utili<e these
mediums +or positie results 4>r!an# $01$6,
9e+erences
5e)ehr# A, 4$0116, The power of universal imagery. 1or!es, 9etrieed +rom
http:BB***,+or!es,comBsitesB)yroB$011B0:B$%Bthe0po*er0o+0uniersal0ima)eryB
5remer# K, @ ;ee# M, 41==76, Metaphors in mar-etin): reie* and implications +or mar-eters,
Advances in Consumer Research, $%# %1=0%$%,
5roo-s# C, 4$01"6, Lost in translation ! international marketing fails. 1o/ 5usiness, 9etrieed
+rom http:BBsmall!usiness,+o/!usiness,comBmar-etin)0salesB$01"B10B0:Blost0in0
translation0international0mar-etin)0+ailsB
>r!an# C, 4$01$6, " tips to optimi#e your social media content strategy for a glo$al audience.
7u!Spot: In!ound Mar-etin) 7u!, 9etrieed +rom:
http:BB!lo),hu!spot,comB!lo)Bta!idBD"07B!idB""D1DB70&ips0to0Optimi<e0Eour0Social0
Media0Content0Strate)y0+or0a0Flo!al0Audience,asp/
?altman# F,# @ ?altman# ;, 7, 4$00:6, Marketing metaphoria, what seven deep metaphors
reveal a$out the minds of consumers. 5oston# MA: 7arard 5usiness Press,