GlobalLINKERTM

Part I 
     Many companies come to us asking, "Can you translate our catalog 
into Japanese? Usually we have to say, “No, we can't translate it. If 
you want a company catalog or sales brochure in Japanese, it will have 
to be done from scratch." This means that a simple translation of the 
English just won't work. For optimum effectiveness, the copy has to be 
entirely rewritten from the ground up, and the design often has to be 
changed as well.

     Let's go back to the basics of marketing. "Position your product or 
service according to the needs of the market." If you simply recycle an 
English brochure created to target the American market by translating 
it into Japanese, would that meet the needs of the Japanese market? 
In most cases, it would not.

     Tag lines in particular are seldom translatable. Coca Cola's "Can't 
beat the feeling" turns into "I feel Coke" in Japanese. It's "Unique
Sensation" in Italy, and "Feeling of Life" in Chile. In German no translation 
made any sense so the English original had to do. Once, a client wanted 
to use an English tag line, "Happy Together," in Japanese. It is possible 
to translate it literally, but the resulting phrase sounds very awkward in 
Japanese. Another client wanted us to create the tag line "Best of both 
worlds" in Japanese. Again, it can be translated, but there is no corresponding 
expression in Japanese.			

     We ask our clients, "Who is your target market?" "What are their 
characteristics, values and preferences?" "What message do you want to 
convey to this target market?" It is sometimes necessary to emphasize 
different aspects of your product or service to fit the particular market
you are targeting.  

     Appealing to the heart and mind of your foreign target market sometimes 
requires a change of design. One client wanted to use the rising sun on a 
brochure intended to target Japanese corporations. But that image of Japan 
is restricted to Westerners; it's not the self-image of the Japanese. They
themselves don't really associate Japan with the rising sun.  Design and 
layout must be considered from the target market's point of view. 

Part II                               
     These principles also apply to letters and proposals.  Many believe 
you can simply translate them into a foreign language. But very often, 
that is not the way to achieve the results you desire. Japanese business 
correspondence, like American letters and proposals, are written according 
to conventional rules and with certain protocols--but these protocols can
be very different. Certain openings and endings are correct, and some 
definitely are not. Logic is laid out one way in a proposal to Americans and 
in another to Japanese, and styles of negotiation and persuasion differ too. 
(For example, when we put together our newsletters, we don't translate one 
into the other. To begin with, the content of the articles is different. Pieces 
in English are written according to logic and in a mode geared toward the 
American audience--in Japanese, in modes appropriate to the Japanese.)

     A U.S. company wanted to sell its product to a Japanese celebrity 
with whom they had no personal contact. Their letter began with this 
salutation: "Dear First Name." It closed with, "Please call us to set an 
appointment." The writers were fully aware that this individual didn't 
speak much English! In Japan, sellers don't expect a customer to make 
any effort. Why should this customer have to take the trouble to call the 
seller? If this letter had been translated literally into Japanese, it would 
have sounded much too aggressive, if not overtly rude. It should have 
been low-key, formal and introductory, with few overtones of the sales 
pitch. And of course, best of  all is the personal introduction or referral 
of a mutual acquaintance.

INTERNATIONAL MARKETING FAUX PAS

     The importance of market research is well-known, but few 
actually take that importance to heart. It doesn't have to be 
done using the expensive, extensive kind of research that 
involves surveys, focus groups and personal interviews which 
most small companies can't afford anyway. It's often enough
just to talk to potential users of your product or service to get 
an adequate idea about what the market wants.

     Market research becomes especially critical in international 
markets. Consumers' expectations, purchasing behavior and 
ways of using a particular product in another country may all 
be quite different from consumers in your own. Assumptions 
and values based on norms in your own culture often do not 
apply.

     A U.S. financial institution entered the Japanese market 
taking the same approach in Japan as in the U.S.--employing 
advertisements which targeted men to sell their financial 
products. It was a major failure. Why? Because in Japan, 
wives make most of the household financial decisions. When 
the Japanese market crashed in the late 80s, there were news 
reports of a homemaker who had invested and lost millions of 
dollars. Her husband was completely unaware she had been 
playing the stock market with his hard-earned money!

     Here's a good one. A marketer of penile enlargement surgery 
wanted to market this service in Japan and the rest of Asia. He 
planned to place an ad in nationwide Japanese newspapers and 
wanted our help. I asked him, "Are you sure there is demand in 
Japan?"  He said, "Oh yeah, this technique was originally 
developed in Hong Kong." (Is Hong Kong in Japan, or is Japan 
in Hong Kong??!) He was also thinking about placing an ad in 
a golf magazine. He said, "We have an office in Hawaii. I know 
all the Japanese men go to Hawaii to play golf." So I asked, 
"What age group are you targeting?" and other questions to find 
out what his market was. He said he wanted to start with the local
Southern California market and asked if there was a local Japanese 
newspaper. I said, "There is a bilingual paper targeting 
Japanese-Americans and several Japanese language ones targeting 
Japanese from Japan." The demography of the readers is very 
different. Again, "Who are you targeting?" "The ad has to be in 
English." "Then it would have to go in the bilingual one, but its 
readers tend to be older, so I don't think that's the right one for you."

     In Japan, this type of service is never advertised in national 
newspapers. Such ads would be found only in third-rate, sleazy 
magazines and in a few sports newspapers. But before deciding 
which media to advertise in, he should determine whether there 
is demand for his service. Market research might avoid the waste 
of millions of dollars (or yen) spent on advertisements for a service 
without a market.

NO QUICK FIXES FOR EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

     Have you ever been to one of these bogus seminars--"How to 
do business with Japanese"(or Chinese, Russians, Brazilians, whatever)? 
Often, the core of their teaching is instruction on how to bow, how 
to exchange business cards, and other quick-fix cultural do's and 
don'ts. Are these things important? I have lived and worked in a 
foreign country for ten years, and have been involved in international 
business even longer than that. I have visited almost 20 countries 
and have worked with people from all over the world. My answer is 
"No."

     Suppose you visit your client in Japan. Would your Japanese 
clients expect you to bow? Would they be upset if you didn't hand 
out your business card just as they do? Absolutely not. They don't 
expect you to conduct yourself as a Japanese. They expect you to 
shake hands with them. They expect you to act like an American, 
so don't disappoint them! Of course, the fact that you took the time 
to learn will be appreciated, but don't get hung up on superficial 
and insignificant cultural do's and don'ts.  In my experience, as long 
as you behave in a fashion considered well-mannered in your own 
country, you will be fine most of the time. I致e encountered 
bad-mannered Japanese outside of Japan, but they are bad-mannered 
even according to Japanese standards!

     Even if you should violate a cultural code, if you are also 
willing to correct yourself and learn about the culture, you are 
likely to be forgiven. More than one American guest has stepped 
into my Osaka condo wearing shoes. Was I offended? No! I simply 
asked them to take off their shoes, and they did. I wouldn't be 
offended unless my guests refused, calling it a stupid custom. 
The most important rule in intercultural encounters is to be 
open-minded. Respect other cultures and don't impose your values. 
And remember that even when you comport yourself perfectly, 
with impeccable manners, if deep inside you look down on a country 
and its culture, it will show. 

ENTREPRENEURS AROUND THE WORLD

     Our series Entrepreneurs Around the World, published in Venture 
Link, a Japanese entrepreneurial magazine, has continued now for 
over a year, and features a new entrepreneur every month. We have 
covered 14 countries: the U.S., Hong Kong, Korea, Australia, Colombia, 
China, Indonesia, Mexico, France, Thailand, the Philippines, Canada 
and Taiwan. The industries range from a health spa and an international 
produce distributor to a market research agency for multinationals, 
from a health drink manufacturer to a trash hauling company and an
Internet publisher.

     Do you know of an entrepreneur in countries beside those listed 
above? If so, please let us know. Why not promote your friends, 
relatives and business associates?

     Venture Link is published in Japanese in Japan and has 
110,000 readers, most of whom are business owners. This is 
a great opportunity to gain wide publicity among Japanese 
business owners.

AMERICAN ENTREPRENEURS

     We do a special feature on U.S. small businesses for Venture 
Link from time to time. If you think you own a unique business, or 
your sales are exploding because of something unique that you do, 
you may want to let us know about it!