Product Adaptations - factors to be considered - Part I

The following factors have to be considered which may necessitate design changes when dapting products for foreign markets. The factors are: 

1. Environment factors: FMCG products in India have to be rugged and face the vagaries of nature and rough transport and not so good storage capacities. This has led to the introduction of liquid chocolate (8) in India. Similarly in India people drive on the left side of the road and the steering wheel is on the right hand side. Indian cars exported USA will have to be left hand drive (9) as driving in USA is on the right side of the road.

2. Product specifications: 110 volts and 220 volts (10). Exporters should be careful in exporting or importing products from other countries as these products may not work or might be severely damaged if suitable technical adaptations are not made.

3. Level of literacy: Remotes have to graphic and pictorial (11) in low level literacy countries. Level of literacy also can mean remaking and simplification of the product. The Television remote needs to have to be the commands in the local language (12).

4. Level of Income: A low priced functional color TV (13) or a functional mobile high in feature but low in price (14) is the need in poor countries. Customers demand acceptable quality and cheap products, In India 80 percent of mobile phones are priced below US $ 40.

5. Level of interest rates: Investment in high quality products and services might not be financially desirable. Banks entering into countries that have high interest rates will have to re work their portfolio and products to meet the local conditions and tastes.

6. Level of maintenance: Most countries might not have the expertise that is needed to provide the level of maintenance that is needed for the product to work optimally. The company has to produce a product that is so rugged that hardly needs any maintenance.

7. Climatic differences: Products used in plain lands and high lands have to be adapted to face the climatic conditions of coastal places and also the travel by the sea. In one case the Indian electric poles (15) had rusted by the time they reached the port of destination.

8. Isolation:  Some products have been in isolation for so long that they have developed peculiar standards. First these market have to be standardized before new products can be introduced. It is said that Indian Air force pilots getting trained in Russia would be asked to switch on and off switches of their fighter planes for many days before they were allowed to fly. Why? Russian off position of the switch would be the on position in India and vice versa (16). If this training is not given the Indian pilots would leave the plane on the tarmac with the engine in the on condition!

Product Adaptations - examples

There are many places in the world where water is not available but there are few places in the world where coca-cola is not available. So it comes across as  a surprise that Coca-cola company was caught napping when it found out that its name ‘Coca-Cola (1)' was translated in Mandarin as ‘bite the wax tadpole’. Its illustrious competitor Pepsi did not fare any better. Pepsi’s slogan ‘Come alive with the Pepsi generation (2)’ was translated as ‘brings your ancestors back from their graves’. 

Pepsi also found that its sales people had innocently put up a poster of Pepsi on a wall. The poster said ‘wish you were here (3)’.  The idea was that the poster had to be put up all the franchisee locations. But the location where the poster was put up was the local cemetery. These are cases where communication adoption has to be attempted.

An exporter had sent its baby food packets to Africa. The product did not do well at all. The reason – like all baby food products the package had a picture of a baby. This triggered the Africans. They have never seen a baby food package. They thought that package had meat of the babies and not food for the babies (4). A case of mistaken communications or mis-communication. Similarly the  Chevrolet Nova automobile was introduced in Latin America as 'no va'. Nova in spanish means 'won't go (5)'.

A lady had gone to Japan and found a local sign that was very cute and artistic. She had the sign printed on her Tee shirt and wore it. The Japanese that she met gave her suggestive giggles.Many guffawed and gave her a huge smile and a knowing leer. The lady was non plussed.  She brushed it aside as locals being overtly friendly. Her friend exclaimed in horror when she saw the T-shirt ‘Do you know what your tee shirt is saying. In Japanese it is saying Fresh milk sold me (6)!”

A product that is perfectly good for one market may have to be adapted for another. There can be many reasons for this. Physical conditions may be different. Functional requirements may vary from market to market.

In some cases cultural factors are very important. For example, Mattel Toys of USA wanted to sell their Barbie Doll in Japan. But the Japanese did not buy the American favorite doll. Later the firm introduced a modified Barbie – slightly oriental eyes and a more girlish figure (7).

There are certain items, generally ethnic products, which sell in the foreign markets, precisely because these are foreign. Indian handicrafts or handloom fabrics are examples of such products. There are also specialty items which have become so famous that they are automatically demanded by the foreign consumers, for instance, Darjeeling tea, Scotch whisky, French perfumes or Danish cheese. For such items, no change in the product itself is required for marketing in overseas, though changes in packaging may often be called for.

Many items however may require some adaptation for making the suitable to the foreign markets. Some obvious examples of product adaptation are differences in voltages (110 or 220) and right hand or left hand drive. Adaptation may pertain to size, functions, materials, design style, color, tastes and standards. Sometimes this could be done easily and at low cost but at times it may cost the company heavily.

Paying the Price - Restaurtant business

Hotels and restaurants are known for their ambiance and excellent service. It is said that the waiters at a five star hotel are always hovering in the background and would come to the guest as a soon as the guest raises his face and looks at the waiter. That is the level of service. The chefs of a five star hotel can customize the dish to the taste of the diner. 

The trickiest part of a visit to a restaurant is to order the food. The host and the guests are given the menu cards. The problem is that the guest too can see the prices. The guests get shocked with the prices and try to minimize the order so that the host does not have to pay a heavy bill.

A solution to the above problem could be very simple. The waiter finds out who is the host and gives him the menu with the prices. The guests are given the menu without the prices. They can order anything that they wish without bothering about the price.

A wag from the hotel industry came out with a interesting tidbit. According to him this practice is already prevailing in France. He provided a very interesting twist in the tail. In France when a couple comes to a restaurant they are given two different menus. The lady is given the menu with double the price and the man is given the menu with the real prices. The lady is very impressed with the money that the man spent on her!

New innovations are being tried out in the restaurant business. A British restaurant for the first time has allowed its clients to have the meal and allowed them to fix the price for the meal that they consumed. Contrary to popular belief that the clients will not pay a proper price, the clients paid little more than 10% than the regular price. That is the reward for being innovative.

The way of thinking about customers too has changed. The BART railway system is the life line of travel in and around the Bay area of California. The cafeterias that dot the BART railway stations have tuned their services to the arrival and departures of the BART services. The cafeterias keep showing the train timings. The impending arrival of the next service is loudly announced. This activates the travelers who finish off their coffee and rush to the platform. That is value added service to the customer!

Jokes on Indian advertisements and Brands

Bombay Dyeing?: One day a friend of mine questioned me “why is Bombay dying”. I launched into a class of sociology. I spoke about over population, the limited land mass and unchecked development. My bewildered friend snarled at me “because Gwalior is shooting”. The joke was on me Bombay Dyeing is a textile company in India and so is Gwalior suiting. He was punning on the fact that sales of Bombay Dyeing are down and those of Gwalior suiting are going up.  

Palmolive da Jawoob Nahi: A visitor to an echo cliff was conducting an experiment. He shouted Sakura and the echo came back Konica. Encouraged with the response he said Binaca and the echo came back – Cibaca (Konica and Cibaca are the changed names of the original brands Sakura and Binaca). The visibly excited visitor said “Palmolive”. There was no response. Why? One needs to know the advertisement of Palmolive to know the answer. 

Palmolive at that time was airing a commercial that featured the Indian cricket’s greatest player Kapil Dev. After using the shaving cream Kapil says in Punjabi “Palmolive da Jawoob Nani”. It means no answer to Palmolive. That is way the echo cliff dare not respond to the word Palmolive.

You just can’t beat a Bajaj: Once there was a boxing tournament being held. All the corporate honchos were facing up to each other. To every one’s surprise quite old Rahul Bajaj was scoring telling victories over his fit and young CEOs. One spectator not believing his eyes asked his neighbor as what could be the reason. “You just can’t beat a Bajaj” was the answer. Bajaj Automobile at that time was using the punch line ‘you just can’t beat a Bajaj’. 

Brooke Bond:  James Bond once proposed to Brooke Shields the film star. Even though James Bond was rich, handsome and sexy, Brooke Shields refused to marry James Bond. Why? she did not want to be called Brooke Bond (the brand of Coffee and Tea in India). 

Hindustan Lever:  What will you call a person who is leaving India forever? Hindustan Lever (Leaver). And what would you call a person who leaves India, but doesn't travel much?  Hindustan Lever Ltd. 

Cricket advertisements that caught the Eye (Part - II)

Weather report:  one of the most exciting things on the television is when the dapper Ravi Shastri explain the pitch and the weather condition. Thus it is not surprising that the weather report is a plug for Berger paints – the paint that claims that it can withstand any type of extreme weather conditions.

Slow motion replays: BPL (British Physical Laboratories) sponsored this feature. Whenever the ball is shown in slow motion the logo of BPL rotates in a ball. Whenever the slow motion or the super slow mo is on, it is a plug for BPL – in pursuit of excellence. The field chosen, audio-visual equipment.

Toyota: The innovative campaign was noticed by the author on the channel nine of Australia. All the spectators in the stadium are given banners with the logo of Toyota (the logo resembles the earth but for the uninitiated it looks like the letter O). The spectators are encouraged to write their caption on the banner. As the graffiti is funny it gets the attention of the television cameras. Toyota gets free mileage. The cost incurred is a piddling amount spent in the supply of banner and writing material.

Today pens: This campaign was inspired by the Toyota campaign. Today Pens has used the same strategy. The cricket world cup of 1999 was awash with the banners of today’s pens. The banners which the spectators warped around themselves had the colors of the Indian flag (of course with the Ashoka Charka missing). The wording can be anything as long as the message starts or ends or with the word Today. One that comes to the mind immediately is India will win – Today.

4, 6, 9: Pepsi and many other companies used this clever ploy. The placard that the spectators wave to the cameras has the company and brand names printed on them. A company can get lots of free airtime. Of course Pepsi stood the strategy on its head by its commercial. The Pepsi commercial had a delighted Shah Rukh Khan waving a placard which says 6. Delighted at a very good shot Shah Rukh Khan reverses the card and 6 becomes 9. Ye Dil Maange More.

Pepsi over: As soon as the over is completed the sign or the crawlie appears at the bottom of the screen “Pepsi over”. It can interpreted that the company is saying your stock of Pepsi is exhausted. It could also be inferred that Pepsi is sponsoring that particular over and that as the over is up it is time for a Pepsi. Akin to a break being Pepsi break or a break could be a Kit-Kat break.

Hit the board: the concept again came from Australia. The idea is to hit the advertising board placed at the boundary line and get money. In India MRF tyres used this concept.  There was a prize for any player who could hit the board placed at the boundary line. Adequate publicity was given for the scheme and it was mentioned by the commentators.