<p><em>"To see like Vegans, think like Vegans." -- S.R. Hadden to Ellie Arroway, in movie </em>Contact<em>.</em></p> <p>The explosion of global marketplace has been seen as mostly American-led. The sights of Starbucks in China, Popeye's in South Korea and McDonald's in Japan falsely make us believe that the rest of the world is becoming just like Americans and think like Americans.</p> <p>Not so long ago, global marketing was a sole province of the big business. Today, small- and micro-enterprises are also in the position to expand to different cultures, both abroad and in the ethnic minorities communities at home, Creative professionals in particular must develop a high degree of cultural competency in this regard, as the sense of aethetics vary greatly from one cultural group to another, and what is typically acceptable in a mainstream Anglo-American audience could potentially be a major gaffe that can destroy your client's business and yours.</p> <p>Here are a few things to consider:</p> <ul> <li>Colors. Some people consider American use of colors overly ghastly and unsophisticated. In many cultures certain colors also have good connotations (red is a color of good luck in China, but in Japan, one should never write a person's name in red as it signifies a deceased person).</li> <li>Shapes and numbers. A well-known example is number 4, which sounds the same as "death" in both Japanese and Chinese. Many cultures attribute certain quality to specific shapes, and that may not be exactly the same as how we may perceive those shapes. During the winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, a U.S. network TV station received hundreds of complaints. Why? The station was broadcasting from a yard in front of the famous Zenkoji Temple and thus a large "swastika" was seen in the background. In fact, it was a "manji," a Buddhist symbol of the eternal Dharma that governs the nature.</li> <li>How a word may sound to the target audience. Does a word used in branding sound like something weird, obscene or funny in the languages of the target community? Does it have a different meaning or connotation? Sometimes the audience may find a typical Anglo-American tradename too wordy (especially if it has prepositions or definite articles) and difficult to say because of unfamiliar phonemes not found in their languages. </li> <li>How does a religious tradition inform the audience's sense of aesthetics? Often this point is missed by many people, but it is important. Even though much of the world has become very secular today, because religious traditions have formed the foundation of almost every culture (and conversely, cultural temperaments informed the development of religions) looking at your audience's religious traditions and observances provide a very useful key to their sense of art, beauty, sensibility and what is acceptable.</li> </ul> <p>The best measure you can take is to familiarize yourself with the cultures of the audience through books or surfing the Internet (even if you don't understand the language, spending a couple of hours looking at their web portals and mass media sites such as TV and magazines would help greatly), and most importantly, keep the dialogues open with your clients.</p> <p>A successful branding is a product of vibrant conversations between the designer, the client and the client's customer base. While what I have discussed in this article provides a good reminder to learn about different cultures of the diverse market you may be serving, it is also important not to make generalized assumptions about anyone. This is particularly important when you work with a minority group within a larger minority group.</p> 2009-08-07T16:39:48Z -7.3363 357 5840 true 18 20917 gearing-yourself-for-a-multicultural-audience 2 2009-08-12T15:14:48Z 2009-08-12T22:15:03Z

Today, micro- and small-enterprises are in a much better position to serve a diverse, global customer base thanks to a robust cultural exchange aided by social media. Yet, a successful business must remain culturally competent to build rapport.

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