01.08.08
Posted in Economic Analysis, Marketing, Strategies at 4:13 am by Administrator
Mark Fuller and John Beck posit in their book “Japan’s Business Renaissance” that Japan’s economy turned a corner the early part of this decade thanks to business restructuring and increased willingness of consumers to spend. Certainly the prime example of restructuring is the automove industry with innovative leaders like Toyota (now number two worldwide) and Honda. The Japanese automakers have done well in creating new products and being at the forefront of clean technologies like hybrids and fuel efficient cars. The innovation has not paid off in stimulating greater purchases by Japanese consumers. Today the AP carried the following story:
TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s domestic auto sales fell to a 35-year low last year as the nation faced high gasoline prices, limited income growth and shrinking demand, an industry group said Monday.
Sales of new cars, trucks and buses declined 7.6 percent to 3.434 million vehicles in 2007, the Japan Automobile Dealers’ Association said in a statement. The figures do not include sales of minicars and minitrucks.
The result, which marked the fourth straight annual decline, was the lowest since 1972, when sales totaled 3.406 million vehicles.
The data showed that the world’s third-biggest auto market is slow to respond to efforts by some Japanese car makers to spark local demand by boosting their offerings of new models. Japan’s largest automaker, Toyota Motor Corp has introduced nine models since last May but estimates a 6 percent drop in its domestic sales in 2007.
The nation’s new vehicles sales in December alone fell 7.1 percent from a year ago to 236,142 vehicles, down for the first time in three months, the association said. And the outlook for the domestic market remains gloomy.
Another industry group, Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, has put its domestic sales forecast for this year at 3.427 million vehicles – excluding minivehicles – down 0.2 percent from sales for 2007.
Clearly the Japanese consumer, unlike its US consumer, is not willing to spend. The stagnant will reinforce the strategies of Japanese car makers to expand internationally and to pressure for a weaker Yen versus the dollar. In any event, Japan’s economy remains tied to export success given the weakness of internal demand.
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12.18.07
Posted in Cross Cultural, Marketing at 10:46 pm by Administrator
One mistake that is frequently made is using the same language marketing materials for different countries. Not only are there questions of differing tastes (colors, presentation styles, etc) that differ from country to country, but there are also differences in language usage. Consider the variations in English language usage from the UK to the US to Australia to India. Some words appear comical used in different contexts– “bloody” in the US refers only to blood whereas in the UK it may be mildly impolite in some circles and in Australia a word for emphasis with no particular meaning. As an Australian diplomat remarked to me “Just because we’re both speaking English, doesn’t mean we are speaking the same language.”
The same applies in other languages. Spanish usage from Mexico to Colombia to Argentina to Spain has many colloquial differences. Words that are quite acceptable in Mexico or Spain may be swear words in Argentina. There are also differences in style. When I was in Spain, Chile and El Salvador,we would get texts of demarches (formal documents requesting support for US positions) that were translated in Washington generally by linguists from Central America. I routinely asked my locally hired staff to review the document for accuracy and we often made changes to the text to reflect local style and vocabulary.
My tip for the day: Resist the temptation to use the same marketing materials from country to country. If you are making a serious foray into the market, spend the time to have a professional from the target market look at your materials, AND listen to their suggestions.
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10.29.07
Posted in Marketing at 7:57 pm by Administrator
Before you start, you’ll have to get some expert advice on if your corporate marketing approach will work in a particular country. This could be a locally-based consultant, marketing agency, contact in the industry. You as the outsider should not do this analysis unless you understand the other culture in-depth. Some questions to ask:
- are you using the appropriate marketing channels?
- are you answering a local need? – for example a water purifier in a developed market would address concerns about trace elements in the water while in a developing country the concern is about health.
- are you addressing the appropriate decision maker? – This may be very different depending on the country
- are you using appropriate colors? – the meaning of colors varies from country to country.
- English or the target-country language(s)? If you do have it translated, does it read properly?
What is your experience?
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