The word to say when you miscommunicate in another language<\/p><\/div>\n

Communicating Across Cultures<\/h2>\n

An oft repeated story faults Chevrolet in marketing the Chevy Nova in Latin America because “no va” means “does not go” in Spanish. The only problem with this classic international business blunder is that it’s just not true.<\/p>\n

That doesn’t mean there haven’t been plenty of companies who made big mistakes when taking their marketing messages across cultures. Some prime examples:<\/p>\n

\n
• <\/strong>The now-defunct Braniff Airlines targeted ads to the Hispanic market in 1987, only to discover that their campaign took off in an entirely different direction. In the campaign, Braniff used the slogan \u201cVuela en cuero\u201d (fly in leather) to promote its luxurious new leather seats, but over the radio the phrase was too easily confused with \u201cVuela en cueros,\u201d which is Spanish slang for “fly naked.”<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
  \n
  • When Colgate launched their “Cue” toothpaste brand in France, the brand managers clearly hadn’t dug deep enough into French culture. As they soon discovered, “Cue” was also the name of one of France’s most notorious porn magazines. That, in turn, became Colgate’s cue to discontinue the brand.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Good reminders that developing cultural sensitivity means doing some homework if you want to make the grade!<\/p>\n

    Read about missteps in international shoe marketing in this article by Adam Wooten<\/a>. <\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

    Increase your understanding of different cultures at PocketCultures<\/a>, and explore cross-cultural etiquette with this guide from Culture Crossing<\/a>.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

    Comment<\/a>\u00a0on this post below, or inspire insight with your own\u00a0OIC Moment\u00a0<\/em>here<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

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