At the WOMMA Summit held recently, they hosted a discussion of the global differences in spreading WoM. I have included the extract of the article below, with a link to the 1000heads website (through clicking the image). The challenges in SA make us a unique country, compared to anywhere else in the world and our learning's are that you cannot replicate an international strategy locally as there are some very fundamental differences between us and the rest of the world. I haven't given this enough thought, but off the top of my head here are some of our defining differences - let me know yours.
1. African Value's - The impact of African culture in both township and super premium markets.
2. Digital Mobility - Lack of Internet penetration versus saturation of mobile and the subsequent limited engagement with the web.
3. The Trust Paradox - Complete distrust in advertising and establishments versus absolute loyalty to 'passed down' (brands/ politics/ leaders).
4. The Rainbow's Separate Colors - The distinct segregation of communities and cultures who do not blend.
5. Love of Language - 11 National Languages, conversations that mix up to 5 languages at once and slang that constantly gives new meanings to brands/ things.
6. The thirst for Brand Association - as per all developing nations, brands mean more to us than they should.
7. The Instability of Tomorrow -across all demographics, tomorrow is not easy to depend on - making our decisions today more complicated.
8. A passion for a better country - From the corrupt politicans to the humble nurse helping her community, no matter who you are, what connects everyone is SA, is our passion to make this country a better place.
What else? Let me know your thoughts...
The Article
The idea for the session came from my experiences last year - I saw several excellent case studies from the likes of Tropicana and Mom Central but also realised that the very ‘American’ approach just would not wash with many European consumers.
1000heads creates pan-global campaigns for clients such as Nokia, Canon and SKINS and we have offices in London, New York, Sydney, Berlin and Paris, so we’re particularly sensitive to international WOM variations. Particularly in the UK, there is fierce protection of individual independence, reluctance to be allied officially with a brand, and suspicion of over-partisanship, so gung-ho, brand-heavy strategies would not be as welcome, or as influential, as they are in the States.
So this year, I assembled an eclectic team - Global Head of Digital for Nokia Craig Hepburn, dynamite Australian social media consultant Jo Jacobs, WOM Japan member Shige Ota and consumer psychologist and WOM economics specialist Professor Barak Libai from Tel Aviv University - to consider such questions as:
* How willing is your region/culture to evangelise about brands?
* How does the economic and technical infrastructure of the region shape WOM opportunities?
* How and how extensively is social media used in your region?
* What are some of the conversational triggers and taboos that affect brand engagement in your region?
To be honest, it’s amazing that these questions aren’t tackled more often, and the energy of the debate reflected the audience’s interest.
Among other insights, Barak explained the differing communication patterns of countries as determined by their collectivism or individualism; Shige emphasised how the anonymity of Japanese social media culture impacts on their brand conversation; Jo noted that Australians as a nation rebel against vulgar or overt brand association; and Craig described the challenges of promoting Nokia in its native country Finland, where sisu - the concept of strong, uncomplaining silence - is a cultural ideal.
One point that emerged was how important the basic challenges of differing infrastructures, governments and languages can be. In much of Australia broadband is so expensive that sophisticated augmented experiences just wouldn’t work. The censorship in the far East leads to more specialised social communities with localised spheres of influence. The fact is that if you want to transfer a US campaign globally, it takes people on the ground in each country dedicated to adapting and updating engagement in a way that works for their region.
An interesting question from the floor highlighted the different attitudes towards alcohol that affect marketing from drinks brands; but we also discovered that, similarly, brands using seasonal hooks to stimulate WOM such as Halloween or Thanksgiving ignore the subtle commonalities and contrasts these celebrations have across the world.
There was an overall conclusion that this debate needed to be continued in a much more visible way in the industry, with more shared learnings and challenges; we could have stayed in that room all day! As attendees pointed out, companies love toolkits or guidelines they can roll out across markets, but although some degree of consistent narrative is important, this simply won’t work with word of mouth.
On a positive note, there are real opportunities for marketers willing to explore and work with the differences. I for one find them one of the most fascinating and rewarding challenges of working with WOM.
