So you live in Asia and want to start a consumer technology company.
You’ve got the hard part sorted – making nice, innovative products that perform well and don’t cost a fortune – all you need now is a cool brand name to ensure global domination is yours.
After having a look round to see what brands are popular, you realise one company in particular is doing well … APPLE.
Apple?
Yes, you can see why it is liked … afterall the name conjures up things like freshness, cleanliness, temptation, simplicity, memorability, variety … all attributes you would like for your brand.
So off you go and register your new company name and launch to great fanfare what you believe is the coolest electronics company in the World …
Lemon!
LEMON!!!
The poor, poor bastards – they just have no idea do they …
And here is the point, cultural understanding and relevance is absolutely critical if you wish to expand into different markets/audiences and if you arrogantly ignore it [as most companies do – despite what they may say], you can end up making a World-Class-Fuck-Up like these guys – even if your product that is truly great.
Rule to planners working in multiple markets/regions … know your market, know the cultures within that market, know the coloquilisms used within the cultures of that market or risk being haunted forever!