Business had better do some market research first to sell their products internationally, which is a lesson that learned by many companies, including some large American corporations have learnt the hard way.
Names can sometimes be the problem. When General Motors introduced its Chevy Nova into Latin America, it overlooked the fact that Nova in Spanish means "It doesn"t go". Obviously, the Chevy Nova never went anywhere in Latin America.
The slogan, on the other hand, is sometimes something that does work. No company knows this better than Pepsi-Cola, with its "Come alive with Pepsi!" campaign which was highly successful in the United States, and Pepsi translated its slogan literally for its international campaign. As it turned out, Pepsi was pleading with Germans to "Come out of the grave" and telling the Chinese that "Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave".
The problem also involves picture and packaging. A smiling, round-checked baby has helped sell countless jars of Gerber baby food. So when Gerber marketed its products in Africa, it kept the picture of the baby on the jar. But Gerber did never realize that in many African countries, the picture on the jar shows what is inside the jar.
Even cultural and religious factors can be involved. Thom McAn shoes have a Thorn McAn "signature" inside. To the Arabs, this signature looked like Arabic script for the word Allah, so some people felt the company was insulting God"s name by having people walk on it. Why didn"t the Arabs like Thorn McAn shoes
A.They worshiped their God. B.They didn"t like the name Thorn McAn. C.They didn"t like the shoes with a brand name. D.Because they misunderstood the signature.