Global is the new Local: Relevance of cultural localization in the new age media

The often quoted mantra in the new globalised era is "Think Global Act Local". It is also advocated that marketers should incorporate the local cultures into consideration before planning their communication.

However, some of the recent trends and especially the marketing communication practices of large and new entrants have pointed to something else. Brands are not approaching each market with a localized offering. The explosion of television & online media seem to have made uniformity a new market reality. National television channels, international news and happenings, Youtube videos, Facebook comments and constant tweets make people realize that they are a part of a greater cause, a bigger geography and therefore a bigger identity. Thus an "emotional uniformity" seeps into their thinking.

We are now becoming global citizens. The pain and aspiration of an African kid is now as real to us as a guy in Delhi or Bangalore. Real time media has played its part in bringing people from across the continent closer. We can now relate to their emotions, pains, pleasures and even needs. This gives the companies an edge in communication, where they need not localize everything. Because what is global is also in effect local.

Localisation : Tapping a Diversity called India

OK. First a no-brainer. India is a vast market. It is the most unique and uncomparable country in the entire world. But what is not a no-brainer is that it can drive a marketer crazy. Take any aspect: religion, caste, language, clothing, food habits, et al. It opens the marketer to opportunities and challenges right from the beginning. As many MNC marketers have learnt from bitter experiences, India rewards those who speak its language. Oops...LanguageSSS!!! Yes, there is no single language that India can claim to represent ( inspite of Hindi) just like there is no single religion, climate or food et al.

The marketing implication of this occured to me at my previous company Crystal Hues Ltd. The company cliams to be the only Public Ltd. company in the area of multi-lingual communication services. It provides translation services for any Indian and International language through a well-networked and trained professional translators. Reputed companies localise their copies basically made in English language into Indian and even International languages other than English.

These localised campaigns help companies reach a wider mass. Actually localisation as a concept is not new, though it has received a boost after globalisation. The concept of localisation has been used by reputed companies to make a dent into the Indian market after their glossy and polished English products, services and communique either fail to impress or the steam runs out after acquiring a few sophisticated customers. Take the instance of the Chinese noodles or Pizza. The noodles became popular only after the chefs realised that the Indian pallette will not eat this bland one and added Indian spices. Chinese noodles is now just a misnomer. The same is the case with Pizza.

Even the communication became localised. Be it the yester-year heroes who start dancing hearing the McDonald's Happy Price menu or the recent Nokia ad where the granny calls the emergency battery using her mobile. This was not the case a few days back. During my days at the localisation company, during client acquisition, I realised that many were not aware of this and many felt it as unnecessary. However companies that were on an expansion mode and thought of reaching to masses beyond cities started embracing these services.

Govt. regulations have also forced companies to write their names etc in local languages or they may become the target of language fanatics. However companies have seen dramatic results by localising their products and also the marketing communication.

Going ahead, the localisation market will only grow and hopefully compensate partially for the lack of efforts of the Govt. departments that claim to protect local language and culture: the true celebration of India's diversity albeit in corporate style.

Advertising Delivery: The Blue Star Fiasco

Have you seen the ad of Blue Star airconditioner? The ad seems to have stemmed from a very good research of consumers in the offices where they experience different temperatures at different places in the same office. The ad further illustrates the point by showing an eskimo in one cubicle and a camel guy in another.

The ad is absolutely fantastic. The ad agency and the research agency both have done an excellent job. It is infact so fantastic that it sets great expectations from your existing vendor of airconditioner. And it actually did in our office. Our office A/c which had been giving troubles since ages was slowly becoming a dumping yard of employee abuses. People literally wear jackets, sweaters and shawls in one part and fan themselves with paper on the other.

In a one-off meeting the problem was brought to the attention of the Management. The Management claimed that it was indeed using the best service provider in airconditioning. And then it came as a shock to all of us that it was infact Blue Star that was providing us the service. And inspite of repeated complaints and repairs, the problems remained unresolved.

The Blue Star is a case in point to illustrate that the ad message and the actual delivery may vary often to the amusement and irritation of the consumers.

But there is more to the eye than meets. The research might have indicated that people face different temperatures in the same office. But this itself is not a sufficient ground to justify the kind of marketing communication that came about. It is essential that in such revelations about the consumer, the Marketing consult their Technical counterpart and check on the possibility of eliminating a gap that has been identified. They ideally should have checked whether they can take care of such problems and live up to the message of the communication.

This is not the first time that such a variation is noticed between the communication and the actual delivery. And that is all the more reason to avoid an over-appeasing ad.