When working in international teams and organizing global as well as local campaigns, it is essential to always remember the significance of cultural differences. Every day in my work, I embark on virtual journeys around the world and engage with people whose cultures are incredibly diverse and unique. It’s important to understand that there is no culture superior or inferior to others. Working with representatives of some cultures might be smoother for Poles, while with others, it may be more demanding and challenging. It’s worth remembering that these differences don’t stem from anyone’s ill intentions, although they are often perceived as such.
To achieve success, it’s valuable to change one’s mindset. Cultural diversity can enrich marketing efforts and help achieve success, not only in e-business. Join me on a journey around the world to explore some cultural differences and see how they impact marketing decisions.
Navigating Cultural Differences: Lessons Learned from Entering the Japanese Market.
“We will enter the Japanese market,” announced the CEO of the company I work for.
At that time, I was working as a Google Ads specialist, and this information has made me worried.
As you know, this job mainly relies on keywords. I was aware that learning Japanese would be too ambitious for me, although I always liked challenges. However, I decided to take up this challenge and try to create the first campaigns in Japanese. Of course, to minimize the risk of errors, I used only exact match keywords, and each word was carefully verified by the Japanese country manager.
Our goal was only to conduct preliminary market research. When choosing keywords, I relied on suggestions provided by the Google Keyword Planning tool.
After conducting preliminary market analysis, participating in trade shows in Japan, and running campaigns on the Makuake crowdfunding platform, we were convinced that our product has potential despite strong competition. However, we realized that actions solely from Poland wouldn’t be sufficient.
Language, cultural, and time barriers were obvious to us, so we decided to cooperate with a Japanese PR agency to help increase awareness of our product and brand.
During one of the meetings, with a human translator present, we expressed the additional need for support in the area of internet marketing, including Google Ads, Yahoo Japan, Rakuten, Meta Ads, as well as creating a new website and conducting activities on Line messenger—the most popular communication platform in Japan. Our friendly Japanese partners promised to take care of everything. The organization took a lot of time, and when the first Google Ads campaign finally launched, we immediately realized that Japanese people had never dealt with PPC campaigns, and the same was true for Meta Ads.
Our agency was also unfamiliar with these areas, but this situation wasn’t surprising—well, they were a PR agency, after all. The result? Our results were getting worse and worse. So why did Japanese employees take on this task without knowing the subject? And what exactly went wrong? The answer is simple. We didn’t sense the signals that the Japanese were sending, wanting to refuse us. Maintaining positive relationships is paramount in the Japan. Therefore, the Japanese tried to meet all our requirements. Besides the lack of visible refusal signals for us Europeans, there was another problem. We were impatiently waiting for any responses or reports, and we perceived Japanese delays as lack of interest or even contempt. It was only after a year that we better understood this culture and the Japanese Ringi system, which is based on an extended decision-making process. In Japan, all consultations are very time-consuming and require patience from us Europeans.
However, I can finally say with satisfaction that we managed to hire a marketing specialist from Japan, who is now one of the best coworkers we have ever had the pleasure to work with. Thanks to an organized strategy, timely implementation of activities, and appropriate adaptation to the market and target groups, our company is developing systematically. We know that the brand and product are now in the hands of professionals.
Czech market insights: diverse online shopping landscape, adapt strategy for success.
Let’s move on to the Czech market. Did you know that there are five online stores per thousand inhabitants in this country, guaranteeing Czechs a very diverse range of online shopping options? The figure mentioned is record-breaking in Europe. Remember that Czechs are true bargain hunters and seekers of opinions and reviews. Therefore, in order to conquer the local market, adapt the strategy and ensure visibility on Czech platforms.
Key places where our products should be found are the Heureka and Zboží platforms. Heureka stands out due to the numerous possible forms of cooperation, and above all, their profitability. This comparison engine is particularly important for Czechs. When creating a marketing strategy, you cannot ignore it, as it determines our “to be or not to be”.
Polish brands don’t have it easy in the Czech market, but we manage to achieve sales successes there. Cultural differences often affect the course of campaigns, and there are many nuances to remember. Let me mention a certain campaign that taught us a lot.
Banner flop: ‘Made in Poland’ campaign fails in Czech market.
Three years ago, we conducted a banner campaign online under the slogan “Made in Poland”. The banner featured the Polish flag and clearly indicated that it was a product from Poland. Unfortunately, the results of this campaign in the Czech Republic were very poor. We had to suspend the activities immediately, and change the title to “Made in Europe”, although this campaign also didn’t bring impressive results comparable to those we achieved in other countries.
Why did this happen? Czechs prefer Czech products, and those from Poland don’t always meet with approval. Of course, over time, this situation may change, and we are already observing a slight improvement in this regard, but you still need to be very careful with creations and exposure to other cultures in the local market.
Although Google search engine holds 80% of the Czech online market share, Seznam search engine is still a significant player, controlling about 15% of the market. Therefore, we shouldn’t ignore this tool in our activities. Czechs will certainly use the Seznam search engine to find the best deals, so if our brand isn’t there, you may lose the trust of customers. It is also worth knowing that Seznam has its own PPC platform – Sklik, which can effectively generate conversions.
If you work in an international company conducting operations in the Czech market, remember not to expose elements of other cultures on banners. If you do, you are likely to encounter sarcastic comments or negative reviews from potential customers. Czechs don’t embrace foreign cultures with open arms, and this should neither upset nor surprise us. They are a separate nation, culturally unique, and it isn’t for us marketers to judge whether this is good or bad. Instead, look for opportunities for accurate and interesting campaigns in this diversity. At the same time, it is worth noting that the Czech market offers platforms that cannot be found anywhere else, which can bring immense satisfaction when working on it.
Unlocking Romania’s market: cultural insights and e-commerce nuances.
The next stop on our map is Romania. As a tourist, this country fascinates me; as a marketer, it additionally surprises me. Romanians are very attached to their culture and often diverge from global trends. In Romania, the leading e-commerce platform is Emag, which sets the Black Friday date two weeks before the global deadline. If you run your own e-commerce business, you must navigate through the complex settings of this platform, and the key to success in the Romanian market is to ensure fast delivery. Romanian e-shop owners are aware of the heavy burden on courier companies during Black Friday and that customers expect orders to be delivered before the national holiday, which falls on November 30th and December 1st. If Black Friday were to take place on the global deadline, fulfilling the promise of rapid deliveries wouldn’t be possible.
Romania also has a national holiday called Mărțișor, similar to the Bulgarian holiday Baba Marta – Баба Марта. Both these holidays are excellent opportunities to increase e-commerce sales, provided that our communication is tailored to these occasions and includes cultural symbols of Romania. Both Romanians and Bulgarians will appreciate such an approach.
Navigating Portugal’s digital landscape: Influencers, trust, and Kuanto Kusta.
The last country on our map is Portugal. The Portuguese have inherited an openness to other cultures from the history of their conquests. In business matters, the local market resembles the USA rather than Europe in its operation. Here, contacts and relationships matter more than the European approach to business. Portuguese place a strong emphasis on relationships, which play a crucial role in their business activities. Therefore, if you want to succeed in online business, you must be prepared for hard work.
In Portugal, the number of online buyers remains below the European average, making digital activities challenging. Influencers in Portugal don’t promote brands just for money. Additionally, they must trust the selected brands and believe that they are promoting something valuable. Portuguese internet creators will gladly promote brands in which they believe and are enthusiastic about.
It is also important to be present on the largest price comparison engine – Kuanto Kusta. Customers trust this tool and are more willing to buy products if they find them on this platform.
Summarizing this brief journey through cultural differences and their impact on our actions in international online campaigns, I conclude that understanding them and incorporating them into marketing plans is a key element of success for international companies. Each country and culture has its unique characteristics, expectations, and preferences that must be taken into account in marketing strategies. A good practice, which is practiced at Vasco Electronics, is hiring a country manager for each serviced market. This employee will guide the company through cultural intricacies and prevent cultural faux pas that could negatively impact the brand’s reception and forever negate the efforts and aspirations for success.
The full article in Polish version is available on NowyMarketing.pl, a media patron of DIMAQ. If you’d like to learn more about SEO or other hot topics in the marketing industry, feel free to browse other articles on New Marketing.
Anna Dobosz – global digital marketing manager at Vasco Electronics.
A travel enthusiast with a passion for exploring cultures, she has been immersed in digital marketing for 12 years. Currently, she works at Vasco Electronics, a Polish company that produces electronic translators, aiding in breaking down language barriers worldwide. She is coordinating digital marketing efforts across over 17 countries, thus cultural diversity is an integral part of her daily work routine.