Cross-Cultural Marketing

Taking a product from one market into another with a different culture can be fraught with challenges. Consider the following story:

A disappointed salesman of Coca-Cola returned from his assignment to Israel.

A friend asked, "Why weren't you successful with the Israelis?"

The salesman explained, "When I got posted, I was very confident that I would make a good sales pitch. But I had a problem. I didn't know how to speak Hebrew. So I planned to convey the message through three posters.

First poster : A man lying in the hot desert sand totally exhausted and fainting
Second poster : The man is drinking Coca-Cola
Third poster : Our man is now totally refreshed
"And then these posters were pasted all over the place."

"Terrific! That should have worked!" said the friend.

"The hell it should have!" said the salesman. "No one told me the Israelis read from right to left!"


Thanks to Alan Glassman for sharing this with me. Do you know original creator?