Lost In Translation

How much of a global village are we? When it comes to finding your tribe and where you think they are, sometimes they’re less obvious than you think?

Knowing how culture works and why people do what they do is key to any business strategy. The closer you get to it, the more it makes sense. This month, I’m celebrating a decade of living in Germany. As part of this journey, I’ve become friends with people through the @germany_iam project, based around the idea that a single voice cannot represent a country. Inspired by the @Sweden, the idea is that by sharing peoples’ experiences and lives with the world, the goal is to inform, educate and connect Germany to the world and the world with Germany. Each week a different moderator becomes the new voice for the channel on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.Not only have I curated the channel, but I’ve sort of found my tribe. It’s still work in progress, but it’s a small group of business professionals and creatives in Germany who have insights on most places and industries in the world you’ve heard of. And some you haven’t.

One is Marty, a global nomad like me, who uses his experience in the world village to help firms make sense of – and harness the power of – culture for The Culture Factor Group. Marty and I are scribes and spent some hours talking about how it’s our job to look at brand data and consumer insights, and turn what might at first appear at to be localised chaos or disorder into effective cultural dynamics that help people thrive in diverse environments.

It got me thinking. When was the last time you looked at your company’s data, and then asked, ‘how we can use the advantage?’ Globally we spend billions on ‘new’ market analysis but in reality, most of it is already in your system, but out of plain sight. If you look closely, you can find answers to why consumers in the Far East look at premium differently to those in North America, or why are Germans so process driven. You might also discover that while Australia is always assigned with Asia Pac, it should be more aligned with the UK.

How do we talk to everyone in our global village? Why does the single message we have not resonate?

Most of the time market researchers automatically take the path of least resistance and use marketing-based identity segmentation – demographics, needs, priorities, or common interests – and ignore cultural value preferences. The number of times I've sat with a client who've taken this route and failed as they expect one size to fit all is countless as - usually - they don't have boots on the ground feeding back real-world experiences. Live.

After 10 years of living and working as a Brit in Germany and elsewhere in Europe, the answer is to use the power of cultural storytelling. Knowing how a culture works, and its social context puts you in a stronger position as you have a more stable orientation point before employing a cross-border PR or marketing strategy, that is as close to your audience as possible.

For this, you need expert free thinkers who are embedded or ingrained in this way of life and can tell your story in a way others understand that’s more than just a translation, that gets lost in the numbers churn. If you want to learn more from Marty, he's speaking at hashtag#TheCultureFactor Conference 2024 on Friday, November 8, on how he leverages statistical tools from The Culture Factor Group, to help clients like Unilever derive powerful, practical knowledge from their mountains of consumer data. And provoke them to check for blind spots among their own consumers.