Big Company, Small Brain?
From Michele Miller over at WonderBranding - Lost in Translation. Seems AOL crashed and burned in Latin America, due to a combination of hubris and a lack of boring ol’ research and planning re little things like differences in countries’ telecomm industries and structures. Along with everything else - its motto translated as ” the best because we’re the biggest.” Talk about “ugly Americans.” Yikes! Reminds me of Coca-Cola’s earliest forays into China - it translated into “Suck the Wax Taxpole” Yummmm…And, one of my personal favorites - Frank Perdue’s “It takes a tough man to produce a tender chicken” had some problems in Spanish-speaking markets - turned into “It takes a sexually aroused man to make a chicken affectionate.” Oh dear.
Lessons to be remembered by all of us - big or small. What works for one target won’t for another…and the “boring stuff” - like telephone service fees in this case - is critical.
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