End of the First Quarter 

It's time for Mothers Day again! Last year I wrote pretty extensively about its origins and how the women who created it never expected it to be the marketing dream it has become for retailers. But think about how many jobs--not to mention new products and businesses--it has generated! Pretty impressive.

Many of us are also coming to the end of organizational "seasons," which generally take a hiatus in July and August. Time to start planning for September! As the song says, "Time keeps on slipping, slipping, slipping into the future!"

The Big Blue Marble Is Getting Smaller 

Yesterday, I had lunch with a fellow communicator I met in Poland about 18 months ago. He is in New York, partly on holiday (that's vacation, in American), and partly to explore career opportunities here. It reminded me of how cosmopolitan young people are these days, and how they truly consider the entire world to be open and available to them. It also reminded me of how much American culture is accessible across the globe.

During our lunch, we talked about American films and television shows, and I was surprised at how familiar my guest was, coming from Eastern Europe, with the references that are second nature to me. It is certainly true that the demise of Communism in Europe, and the consequent end of Russia's hegemony over Eastern Europe, has brought that part of the world into market-based economies and Western culture. The real consequence of this sea change is that communicators can speak a common language, world wide. It makes it that much easier to create global images when cultural references can resonate in far-flung places. It gives new meaning to the long-held thesis that global marketers must "think globally and act locally." 

I am not suggesting that the world has acquired some homogenized  culture and that there are no differences from one part of the world to another. However, I do believe that references are more widely recognized that ever before. No doubt, the Internet has a lot to do with that, but so does globally-marketed entertainment and fashion.

What should marketers of consumer products and services do when they want to expand to other countries?

• First, make sure your language is correct. There are famous malapropisms like the Chevy Nova, which in Spanish-speaking countries infers that the car doesn't work ("No va").
• Then, make sure that longstanding cultural norms or religious tenets are acknowledged and addressed.
• If you want to use references to iconic pop culture (e.g., Snooky or Real Housewives), make sure there is a reasonable awareness level in the area in question.
• Frame your references in a way that will resonate.

Are They The Same?

We recently completed a study for a financial services company. One of the things about which they were very curious was why some people change from one provider to another while others stay with the same one. An obvious hypothesis is that "customer service" is an important factor in selecting financial service providers like banks and credit unions, and either staying or going someplace else.

One finding is that, indeed, customer service is important to people but it is a very broad term, so we needed to drill down. What came out of that is an understanding that surface behaviors such as smiling greeters and free coffee doesn't fool anyone. Customer service is not a synonym for being customer -focused. The former includes the more surface behaviors and niceties, but being customer-focused makes people say, "They really care about me and my financial needs." The latter is what people remember, and what keeps them loyal. It may include any of the following:

• Flexible products and services to meet individual needs
• Low or no administrative fees
• Involvement with the community
• Development of ongoing relationships between customers and bankers
• Helping customers manage their finances better in order to avoid problems
• Alerting customers to better rates or problems