Professional English

Cambridge English for

Marketing
CASE STUDY
UNIT 4 International
customer communications
Part 1 The challenges of international
communication
Read the six examples of international launch campaigns (A–F). Then answer the
following questions.
1 What did all these campaigns have in common?
2 Which campaign(s) …
a showed a lack of local cultural knowledge?
b made a language translation error?
3 How could these problems have been solved?
4 What other factors should international marketers consider when expanding products
and services internationally?

FAMOUS MARKETING MISTAKES

A
Scandinavian vacuum manufacturer Electrolux used the following in an
American campaign: ‘Nothing sucks like an Electrolux.’(In the U.S., ‘sucks’
means ‘bad’ or ‘terrible.’)

B
When Gerber started selling baby food in Africa, they used the same packaging
as they did in the U.S., with a beautiful baby on the label. Later
they learned that in some parts of Africa, it is normal for companies to put pictures on
the label of what’s inside for those consumers who can’t read.

C
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).

D
Pepsi’s ‘Come alive with the Pepsi Generation’ translated into ‘Pepsi brings
your ancestors back from the grave’, in Chinese.

E
The Coca-Cola name in China was first read as ‘Ke-kou-ke-la’, meaning
‘Bite the wax tadpole’ (a tadpole is a baby frog) or ‘female horse stuffed
source: http://www.digitaldreams.com

with wax’, depending on the dialect.

F
When Parker Pen marketed a ball-point pen in Mexico, its ads were supposed
to have read, ‘It won’t leak in your pocket and embarrass you.’ Instead, the
company thought that the Spanish word ‘embarazar’ (to become pregnant) meant
to embarrass, so the ad read: ‘It won’t leak in your pocket and make you pregnant.’

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 UNIT 4 International customer communications

Part 2 International communication strategies:

Branding
a In pairs, discuss the questions below.
1 What do you understand by the term global brand?
2 What do you think are the top 10 global brands today?
3 Why might a global brand fail?

b Choose one of these brands from the list you made for question 2 (Exercise 2a)
and then discuss why you think it has been so successful in the global
marketplace.

c Match a brand strategy available to international marketers (1–5) with the

correct definition (a–e).
1 Brand extension a changing the appeal of a brand (and sometimes
modifying the actual product), in order to attract
new market segments
2 Brand repositioning b restricting the marketing of a brand to a relatively
small and restricted geographical area or
developing a brand for a specific national market
3 Global branding c standardising the name and image of a product
across worldwide markets
4 Local/national branding d updating a brand name or image to appeal to
different market needs or requirements
5 Rebranding e use of an established brand name on a new
product within the same market or product
category

d Think of examples of companies that have used these strategies. Then in pairs,
discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each one.

Part 3 Do local brands have a future?

a You are going to read a blog entry about the future of local brands. First, look at
the statements (a–f) below. Then in pairs, say:
●● to what extent you agree or disagree with each of the writer’s statements
●● which part of the world you think the writer is from
●● whether or not you think these statements suggest that the writer has a ‘global’
perspective
a Every brand that is global today started as a local brand
b A global culture dominates in fields of interest to young people
c Brands which blend local and global cultures will be the norm in the future
d The type of product category determines whether a brand should follow a global or
local approach
e Marketing communication, whether for local or global brands, needs to take
account of local culture
f you only have to look at Japan and Korea to realize that cultural identity is
resistant to change

b Now complete the blog entry (page 21) with the statements a–f from Exercise 3a.
c In small groups, discuss the following questions.
1 How would you answer the writer’s question at the end of the blog?
2 What product categories do you think the top future global brands will belong to?
Justify your choices.

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 UNIT 4 International customer communications

If today’s young people come to prefer global brands, will there be

a place for local brands in 20 years’ time? Without doubt, today’s
young people live in a world that is far more connected and mobile
than the one their parents grew up in. Even if they don’t have the
opportunity for international travel, many teenagers know people
from other countries and through them are directly exposed
to foreign cultu res. Others learn about the world beyond their
country’s borders through school and the media. 1 [ ]

There used to be a prevailing expectation that as standards of

living rose around the world, we would all become more similar.
However, 2 [ ]. And it is worth noting that those two countries
are the most challenging for foreign marketers.
I suspect China and India will present the same types of challenges.

Text adapted from ‘Straight talk with Nigel Hollis’ http://www.mb-blog.com/index.php/2010/04/04/do-local-brands-have-a-future/

When it comes to popular culture, Indians prefer Bollywood to
Hollywood, and though Bollywood happily adopts themes and
ideas from the West, it serves them up in a way more appropriate to
local interests. 3 [ ]

4[ ] Technology brands tend to find an advantage in a global

approach, because they serve needs that are consistent across
countries. Food and drink brands are usually local, because they
serve specific people in specific places with particular needs and
expectations.
5[ ] Very few ads have the power to travel globally because
communication is intrinsically bound up with culture.
There is one more compelling fact to consider. 6 [ ] Even
Google, Amazon, and Facebook started in the United States
and have found it tough to compete in other countries with very
different cultures, especially when a local brand launched before
they could get there. There will always be new local brands, created
in someone’s garage or bedroom, that find a way to challenge the
status quo and create a strong local presence before going global.
And who are the people most likely to adopt these brands? The
younger generation looking for the next new thing.
So those are my thoughts. What are yours? Is the future of brands
global, local, or a mix?

Part 4
You are working in the international marketing department of a company which
wants to increase sales of its main brand by expanding abroad. You have been
asked to input ideas into the most appropriate brand strategy and to help devise
a promotional campaign to support the chosen strategy. Working in small groups,
consider the following:
●● choosing a local consumer brand from your own country
●● selecting your export market(s) and appropriate brand strategy
●● deciding whether to adapt or standardise your promotional campaign for your
chosen markets and justify your choice
●● drafting ideas for your promotional plan thinking about media choices and your
promotional mix

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 Professional English
Cambridge English for

Marketing
TEACHER’S NOTES

UNIT 4
Before you begin …
International
customer communications
Write two columns on the board with the headings ‘successful’ and ‘unsuccessful’.
In small groups, students brainstorm examples of successful and unsuccessful
international launch campaigns in their own countries and discuss the reasons for
the success or failure of these campaigns. If any students in your group have a
background in international marketing this will be a good opportunity for them to
share their own experiences. If students don’t know of any examples, ask them to
suggest a product from their country and discuss what factors they think would
make an international launch successful or unsuccessful. Groups then feed back
their examples and ideas to the rest of the class.

Part 1 The challenges of international

communication
Students work in pairs to answer the questions.

Answers
1 They all failed due to a lack of linguistic and local cultural understanding (i.e.
the sociological or socio-cultural ‘S’ in a PESTEL analysis).
2 a Gerber baby food packaging
b Electrolux; Parker pen; American T-shirt maker; Pepsi; Coca cola in China
3 Through thorough research starting with an environmental audit (i.e. PESTEL
analysis of export market – see Student’s Book Unit 2 pages 16–18), and
brand name / advertising trials in local markets.
4 competitor activity and political, economic, technological, environmental and
legal factors.

Extension activities
1 Some other examples of marketing blunders students can discuss are given
below. Please note that these three items may not be appropriate for use with
students from some cultures.
1 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.’
2 Colgate introduced a toothpaste in France called ‘Cue’, the name of a notorious
naughty magazine.
3 Coors put its slogan, ‘Turn It Loose,’ into Spanish where its translation was read as
‘Suffer From Diarrhoea.’

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 UNIT 4 International customer communications

2 Ask students to expand on their answer to question 4 using a PESTEL framework

to organise their ideas. Encourage students to review their ideas from the ‘Before
you Begin’ activity (i.e. why campaigns fail). Ideas include:
P (Political): political stability, relations between the two countries
E (Economic): interest rates; state of the local economy
S (Sociological/Socio-cultural): already touched on in Part 1, but other ideas include;
levels of literacy; attitudes to religion and moral values; family and gender roles;
attitudes to different media such as advertising and web based communications;
cultural connotations of proposed brand names or advertising messages; attitude
towards foreign products and services
T (Technological): availability of promotional media such as the Internet
E (Environmental/Ethical): attitudes to ‘green marketing’
L (Legal): legislation may prevent a slogan being used; use of local language may
be obligatory for slogans and packaging; regulations regarding advertising to
children, etc.

3 Ask students what primary and secondary sources international marketers can
use to get information on the above. Ideas include:
●● Primary sources such as specialist research agencies; omnibus surveys
●● Secondary sources including local chambers of commerce, the OECD (organisation
for Economic Cooperation and Development) www.oecd.org; publications such as
the Financial Times country surveys, etc.

Part 2 International communication strategies:

Branding
a Students discuss the question in pairs.

Suggested answers
1 Any brand whose brand name has achieved worldwide recognition by being
marketed to a wide of different geographic territories.
2 Coca cola; IBM; Microsoft; Google; GE (General Electric); McDonald’s; Intel;
Nokia; Disney; HP (Hewlett-Packard) (taken from Interbrand’s 2010 best
brands report: http://issuu.com/interbrand/docs/bgb_report_us_version?view
Mode=presentation&mode=embed.) See also http://www.businessweek.com/
interactive_reports/top_brands.html for a variation of this list.
NB: The lists referred to above are subject to variations according to how the
value of brands is measured, and are updated annually.
3 Brand awareness might not be so strong in some markets; the brand may
compete with established local brands; the brand name may have a different
meaning or symbolism in different markets; the brand may inspire negative
feelings towards the country of origin (e.g. attitudes towards America in
Middle Eastern markets); if problems are experienced in one country, there
could be world-wide repercussions.

Note
There is some controversy over whether there really is such a thing as a truly
‘global’ standardized brand. While the product may be the same globally, in many
instances the marketing communications or other aspects of the marketing mix
may have been tailored to suit local market conditions.

b Students discuss the question in pairs before reporting back to the class.
c Students match the strategies to the definitions.

Answers
2 e   ​3 a   ​4 b   ​
5 c

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 UNIT 4 International customer communications

d Give students 2–3 minutes to make a list of companies that have used the
strategies in Exercise 2c. Then ask them to work in pairs to compare their ideas
and discuss the question.

Suggested answers
Brand extension
Examples: Lucozade / Lucozade Sport; Coke/Diet Coke; Virigin Airlines/Virgin
Meagastores
Advantages: core brand can reinforce the extension; if customers trust the core
brand the perceived risk is lowered and consumers may be more willing to try the
new product; the chance of gaining distribution and trial increases; advertising,
selling, promotional costs and packaging are all reduced.
Disadvantages: can dilute overall brand image e.g. failure of Coca Cola’s
attempted launch of ‘New Coke’ in 1985 which alienated existing customers due
to emotional attachment to core brand; over-extension of the brand can damage
core brand associations

Brand repositioning
Examples: Lucozade (health drink/sports drink)
Advantages: helps overcome a negative brand image or falling sales; increases
market coverage and can appeal to new customers or segments; can be used to
respond to competitor positioning
Disadvantages: can dilute brand’s meaning and alienate existing customers

Global branding
Examples: Nike; Coca Cola
Advantages: increased brand awareness across markets; cost savings
(advertising; promotions, packaging, etc.); consistent brand image
Disadvantages: cultural differences across markets mean that global brand may
not have the same meaning and may not fit with local needs or tastes; attitude to
‘foreign’ brands versus strong local brands; may need to modify some aspect of
the marketing mix to meet local needs

Local/national branding
Examples: Snickers (a chocolate bar which until 1990 was known as Marathon
in the UK and Eire but which was later rebranded with the international brand
name, Snickers); Thums Up Cola in India
Advantages: attitude towards ‘foreign’ brands and consumer desire to support
local manufacturers (‘buy British’ campaigns); can be closely tailored to suit
individual cultures and requirements; can create closer relationship and loyalty
with local consumers
Disadvantages: brand awareness limited to one market or territory; loss of
economies of scale as local brand may not export easily to other markets
Rebranding
Examples: Diet Coke/Coke light; British Steel/Corus/Tata Steel
Advantages: can help overcome negative publicity; change image to suit a local
culture; update an image to appeal to new customers; allows a company to move
away from allying itself too closely to the cultural identity of one limited market –
eg the rebranding of British Steel.
Disadvantages: potential loss of established customers’ trust and loyalty

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 UNIT 4 International customer communications

Part 3 Do local brands have a future?

a Students work in pairs to discuss each of the points.

Suggested answers
● the writer is probably either European or American (the views of young people
are important and he or she sees Asian cultures as quite different from his or
her own.)
● the writer discusses global issues but he or she does so from a Western

perspective

b Students read the article and identify the missing parts of the text (a–f).

Answers
1 b   ​2 f   ​3 c   ​
4 d   ​5 e   ​
6 a

c Students discuss the questions in small groups before reporting back to the class.

Extension activities
1 Students look at the blog entry http://www.mb-blog.com/index.php/2010/04/04/
do-local-brands-have-a-future/ and read the comments other visitors have posted.
In small groups, students discuss which of these entries they agree / disagree
with and then post their own comment on the blog.

2 For further discussion or debating activities, read out (or dictate) the following
statements and then ask students to say which they agree and disagree with. In
small groups they then discuss and debate their ideas.
a Cross-cultural awareness and adaptation of product and message to the needs of
local markets is the key to successful international marketing
b The company of the future will be a global organization that views the world as one
market to which it sells a global product (a view expressed by Theodore Levitt, The
Globalization of Markets)
c Digital marketing is leading to the disappearance of traditional borders. ‘Think
global, think local’ is no longer relevant in today’s digital world, where all
campaigns are now global.

Part 4
In groups students select an appropriate brand strategy for this scenario from
those listed in Part 2, and devise a promotional campaign to support the chosen
strategy. Groups should note down their ideas and be prepared to present their
ideas to the rest of the class.

To extend the activity, ask students to carry out a brief PESTEL analysis for
their chosen export market using online sources such as OECD (organisation for
Economic Cooperation and Development) www.oecd.org or local Chambers of
Commerce sites. With multilingual groups, write the list of nationalities in the
class on the board. Working in pairs, students select one of those markets as
their export market and interview each other to inform their PESTEL analysis.

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