Communication and Marketing

Communication and Marketing

BUS 343 International Marketing

Summarize the impact (both good and bad) that communication has on international marketing.

In order for a company to be successful they must have a good understanding of their targeted audience. Communications in international marketing plays a major role in effective communication. A good impact that I would say communication has on international marketing is that it can utilize digital marketing without having an actual presence in each territory as long as the company ensures language translation is accurate, legal notices are accessible and reflect all laws surrounding that specific territory. Language barriers can have a negative impact on advertisement if not communicated properly. There are different languages of different countries, and different dialects within the same country and the subtler problems of linguistic nuance, argument style, vernacular, and even accent (Cateora 500). Our text book gave a great example, Tropicana orange juice was advertised as Jugo de China in Puerto Rico but when it hit Miami it failed, because to Puerto Ricans, China is translated as orange, but to Cuban-American’s it was China the country and Cuban-American’s were not in the market for communist juice. Although the language is Spanish, the dialects are different. This can be a hinderance to any company if not careful.

Based on what you have read about communication and the target market, explain how you would correct this mistake.

It is important to understand the target market especially when it comes to communication, as explained above, there could be misinterpretation in the different languages. Take the Spanish language for example, Puerto Rican dialects are very different from Costa Rican dialect therefore when marketing a product, the company needs to ensure that any translations from English to Spanish are not offensive to both targeted audiences.

Describe the steps you would take to ensure this mistake doesn’t happen again.

Everyday words have different meanings in different cultures. Even spelling and pronunciation can cause problems (Cateora, 2015). Keeping this in mind, I would ensure that extensive research is completed by studying the different Spanish dialects within the Spanish culture of where I am marketing a product. I would make sure the marketing team has the proper tools to translate all marketing materials to the proper language.

Reference:

Cateora, Philip, John Graham, Mary Gilly. International Marketing, 17th Edition. McGraw-Hill Learning Solutions, 11/2015. VitalBook file.