Age-old digital marketing tools and techniques are not satisfying the needs of cross-cultural marketing. Hence, in the given situation a good digital marketing agency or a social media marketing company in India like Skyram Technologies, is striving day and night to design marketing strategies that can resonate with the cultural tastes and preferences of the huge and varied global audience.
Let us delve into the dynamic façades of global marketing and understand how digital marketers are successfully crafting marketing strategies, considering the importance of cultural sensitivity.
Importance of Cultural Sensitivity for Global Digital Marketing
Understanding Cultural Sensitivity – Cultural sensitivity is the basic understanding, acknowledging, and respecting the cultural background of a diverse audience. Living in diverse times and catering to varied audiences, empathy towards different cultures is the key to succeeding in the digital marketing sphere. A digital marketing agency in Chennai, or India can thrive only if they can tap the global market along with the local one. This requires a deep understanding of the diverse consumer behavior, cultural nuances, and local preferences of that region. Only then will the agency succeed in crafting marketing strategies and campaigns that will connect the consumers of that place.
Benefits of culturally sensitive marketing – Today, for businesses that are operating on a global scale, the concept of one-size-fits-all will not be helpful for a successful marketing strategy. Localization in marketing is the key consideration for digital marketers to connect at a personal level with the target audiences of a particular region.
The detailed benefits of culturally sensitive marketing are as follows:
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Increases the campaign’s significance as the target audience can better connect with it.
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It helps the brand reach a greater audience and win more hearts.
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Cultural sensitivity helps the brand to avoid cultural missteps and hence saves the brand from any negative publicity or tarnishing the brand’s reputation.
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This also helps in building a positive brand image and a positive perception of the brand.
Case studies: Failed Marketing Campaigns due to Cultural Insensitivity
Cross-cultural marketing fails only due to poor understanding of different cultures and practices. A lot of brands globally have learned the hard way that in terms of global marketing, one must think beyond this cultural bubble. Cultural insensitivity and differences have in the past ruined a lot of marketing campaigns.
Examples of the following are:
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Back in the year 2001, Honda launched a new car in the Nordic countries in the name of ‘Fitta’, without knowing that ‘fitta’ was used to refer to a woman’s genitals in Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish. After suffering huge backlash, it finally changed the name to “Honda Jazz”, as we know it today.
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A UK food manufacturer, named Sharwoods, spent a huge amount of money on a campaign to introduce its new Indian ‘Bundh’ sauce range. The Punjabi-speaking community brutally criticized it claiming that the sound of the word “bundh” resembled a Punjabi word meaning “ass”.
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In Spain, when Coors Brewing Company interpreted its slogan “Turn it loose” into Spanish, it came out as: “Suffer from diarrhea.”
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Proctor and Gamble once reused a TV commercial that was a hit in Europe, which showed a woman bathing, while her husband entered the bathroom and touched her. The Japanese criticized the ad as a poor and bad-taste one, as they considered the overall gesture an encroachment on privacy and inappropriate.
The first step of communication is knowing the audience. This means knowing everything about him i.e., culture, taste, preferences, likes, dislikes, etc. In terms of global or cross-cultural marketing a comprehensive understanding of the target audience can save the brand from falling prey to such cultural missteps.
Best Practices for Culturally Sensitive Marketing
In terms of culturally sensitive marketing, certain points are to be kept in mind while conducting market research for designing the ad campaign.
These are as follows:
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Multilingual market surveys should be conducted to include the diverse audience of the region.
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Interviews with cultural experts of that region can provide insight into the culture of a place.
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Considering ethnographic studies to gain knowledge of the consumers’ behavior in their natural habitat.
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Meeting with local NGOs, and cultural organizations of the locality to make sure the research is being conducted in the right direction, or checking whether any points are missing out from the survey.
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Include the right mix of people in the survey to ensure diversity and add perspective to the information.
Translation vs Localization
Translation and localization are often used synonymously in the world of digital marketing, but the big difference is given below:
Translation is the interpretation of a message from one language to another. Localization in the personalization of translation, makes the message connect with the target consumers to the extent that the consumers start to believe that the message has been created for them.
The Value of Local Market Insights:
The local market survey provides digital marketers with a deep understanding of the customer behavior of that locality along with the prevailing market trends and cultural shades. A good digital marketing company in Chennai will therefore consider leveraging the local market insights before designing an ad campaign.
Case studies showcasing effective use of local insights:
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KFC’s campaign “#madeforsharing” – In the market of South Africa, KFC presented limited-edition buckets highlighting the artwork of celebrated illustrator, Karabo Poppy. This stimulated consumers to take selfies and post “#madeforsharing” on social media.
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Netflix – The popularity of Netflix is primarily because it customized content keeping in mind the geographical location of its consumers.
Ethical Marketing in a Culturally Diverse World:
Ethical marketing is the process of marketing by adhering to marketing ethics and social responsibility. The best digital marketing company in Chennai or India like Skyram Technologies will follow the marketing ethics while designing an ad campaign for the global market.
The considerations that a good social media marketing company in India will keep in mind to balance between business goals and respect for cultural diversity are as follows:
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Respect the values a culture holds.
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Conduct deep research before adopting elements from a culture.
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Research your competitors’ behavior in the market.
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Pay more attention to inclusive representation so that no community, group, or person among the audience doesn’t feel left out or hurt.
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A good digital marketing agency in Kolkata will consciously avoid stereotyping a particular group, ethnicity, community, gender, age, sex or profession to avoid hurting sentiments or creating biases of that particular group or community of consumers.
Success Stories: Global Campaigns Done Right
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Nike’s “Better World” Campaign – One of the most successful campaigns, Nike celebrated the exquisiteness of diversity, highlighting athletes from various backgrounds and cultures.
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Coca-Cola’s “Share a Coke” Campaign – This campaign of Coca-Cola was successful because it designed the soda bottles and cans by providing personalized names with names of various cultures. It instantly connected with the consumers’ emotions attached to the respective cultures and the campaign became a hit in no time.
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“Love is Welcome Here” Campaign of Airbnb – This campaign was successful because it tried to give out the message that every person was special and was welcomed by Airbnb irrespective of their cast, creed, religion, color, sex, etc.
These campaigns throw light on the fact that a deep understanding of cultural nuances and their conscious application can make cross-cultural or global campaigns a hit.
The Future of Culturally Sensitive Digital Marketing:
The future holds interesting innovations in the field of culturally sensitive digital marketing. Some of these are interactive and immersive experiences, hyper-personalization, AI for Localization, etc.
Utilizing Digital Marketing Tools with Cultural Sensitivity:
Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Media Marketing (SMM), and Pay-Per-Click (PPC) are important digital marketing tools that help in the success of a marketing strategy. Using these tools with cultural sensitivity is the main challenge of a good social media marketing company in India. For instance, in terms of SEO, it is crucial to use keywords that aptly ensure that the used words don’t hurt the cultural sentiments of the locals. Likewise, in terms of SMM, creating content that resonates with the audience is key. In terms of PPC ads, it is important not to use cultural appropriation or stereotypes in designing the ads.
Conclusion
It is proven that social media has become an influential tool in the aspect of reaching international audiences, creating tailored content, and engaging in live conversations. By merging the principles of cultural sensitivity with social media’s reach, businesses can design successful global marketing strategies. The interconnected world today needs to revamp its digital marketing strategies by employing AI and Data Analytics to bring about a synthesis in international marketing strategies and social media.
This dynamic partnership will enable businesses to reach international markets and build an eternal relationship with the target audience. Our digital marketing experts at Skyram Technologies, the best-known social media marketing company in India are famed for designing marketing strategies that celebrate the cultural diversities of the world by leveraging the potential of AI, social media channels, and other important digital marketing tools. Contact us to harness our potential in making your brand a global brand.
