A friend of mine went on a visit to India, Mumbai to be exact, with his son for about two weeks. As it was our habit to talk almost daily, I discovered that they were struggling with the local cuisine as they were not used to it. The situation got worse when his son was throwing up after each meal.
I suggested that he advices their hosts about the food situation and ask them to recommend anything that may come close to home. Guess what, upon doing his own research online he came across some of the world’s renowned food brands such as McDonald’s and KFC around town.
Martin Roll highlights the fact that there are several brands that have had a global footprint such as Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, BMW, LVMH, Estee Lauder, Procter & Gamble and Disney.
Through various campaigns, these have managed to operate successfully in different cultural settings. KFC also joins this list as one of the brands that have diversified itself in cross-cultural settings.
When reaching McDonald’s, my friend and his son tried to order burgers only to discover that their patties were not beef but only chicken. This is not supposed to be bemusing because back home in South Africa, chicken burgers are common in restaurants. It was a cultural shock to learn that because cows are sacred animals in India, they are not to be eaten, let alone make patties for burgers.
In Hindu mythology, cows are associated with Lord Krishna and according to the Indian Times they are considered to be sacred animals that symbolize wealth, strength and motherly love.
They are believed to be earthly representatives of the divine and nourishing Mother Goddess who represents fertility and bountifulness. This implies that if KFC uses cows as meat products, they would be tempering with both religious and ritual rights of the Hindu adherents. In a country where poverty is rife and people are divided according to a caste-system, it would make sense why a brand like KFC would want to align its brand strategy to how things are done in this country.
My friend’s experience and the socio-political and religious issues that surrounded it made me think that even though companies do everything possible to assimilate themselves into the culture they operate within, they seldom educate tourists about the shock they may encounter when experiencing their favourite brand in another culture and location.
In the past five years, I have had the privilege to teach Cultural Intelligence at a Bible College and class discussions would centre around topics such as the art of crossing cultures, culture shock, redemptive analogies, cross-cultural communication and so on.
In all my interactions with students, I had never until the time my friend and his son went to India, thought about how one’s brand experience at home may be different in another country.
I am therefore thinking that brand managers must consider the following aspects in cross-cultural brand engagement when interacting with tourists, diplomats, foreign business people and expatriates.
Lessen the impact of culture-shock
An encounter with a new culture can result in shock to most people. When you encounter a new culture, you are bound to deal with mixed emotions. You may tell yourself that you will avoid being judgmental but the more you are exposed to things you have no knowledge and understanding of, the greater the chances of you going through culture-shock.
“When a person moves to another culture, the problem is not the difficulty inherent to the host culture, but the difficulty linked to the difference between home and host countries” (Karsaklian, 2012:4).
Culture-shock by itself is not a terrible thing. It only signals that you are in a new, unfamiliar terrain. Depending on how long you are there for, you may have to adjust quickly to how things are done in a new setting. Global brands have to play a meaningful role to lessen the impact of culture-shock by offering a brand and customer experience which resembles what is familiar to the customer.
Naturally, things may not be done the same way universally because of diverse cultural behaviours and attitudes, but there are certain things that must remain standard to still give the customer an unforgettable brand experience.
Communicate branding in globally known languages
One other aspect of culture shock is the language barrier. Culture can be fully expressed through language and low-income earners such as cashiers and waiters in restaurants and eateries have mastered this communication tool. They can play a pivotal role in the easing of communication lines.
Unfortunately, in other cultures, language is not suited to accommodate the visitor. Unless one uses the services of a local interpreter, communication may be limited. This becomes worse when you get into a restaurant and the menu is written in the local language only. Yes, you may see the photos but if the language written there is not understood, that may throw your patrons off.
The KFC my friend and hisson were buying from made an effort to use English to communicate its brand strategy in its outlet. Foreigners do not always have the luxury of time when it comes to learning a new language, especially if their stay is short.
It took my friend months to learn the key local language of Madagascar when she relocated for employment, but she still couldn’t crack it when she arrived in the island.
Communicating a brand becomes a challenge when foreigners still have to navigate the use of the local language for them to get their lunch.
Educate consumers on brands in various countries
This is one important aspect. Lately brands engage in countries’ politics and issues. For example, at the height of COVID-19, KFC had to remove the ‘Finger Licken Good’ tagline from its branding to increase awareness about the virus, whereas McDonald’s had to separate its arches to encourage social distancing.
In the United States many brands began speaking out on the “Black Lives Matter” campaign and other human rights campaigns all over the world. In one of HSBC adverts, there is a tagline that speaks to doing business with a bank that understands the local culture. All these are an indication that brands can show patronage and loyalty to the country’s issues. Equally so, it is important for brands to educate those who could be visiting the country about what the country is like and how visitors must behave and interact with their favourite brand in that foreign country. Nowadays of digital and social media technologies, this should be easy to do.
Well, my friend and his son did manage to order McDonald’s and eat their favourite burgers, and still stayed on another week in Mumbai. What was your cross-cultural brand experience when you visited another country for the first time?
Reference:
Karsaklian, E 2012. Using brands to overcome culture shock. Université de la Sorbonne, Paris, France [www.anzam.org]
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