Knowing

Tradewinds

Knowing your market

A LEADING Japanese whom I got to know when I was worki in Japan was involved, among ma other things, in overseas land develfl ment, and I was often impressed by t amount of money he was prepared] sink into a scheme without any hope

a quick profit.

On one occasion the money he v\ spending on a development was ob ously so big that I asked him how justified it commercially. He said he h no problems with it the developme would begin to return a profit in 20 yea This I found fascinating, not because years is a long wait, but because he w then aged 86!

As I got to know him I learnt 1 religion had a strong influence on 1 business philosophy. Although he c( tainly didn’t expect reincarnation won enable him to return and enjoy 1 profits, he took a longer, more phil sophical view of life. Time was relativ and in the order of things, 20 years w not so long.

When I worked in Africa I used have my car maintained by a Sil mechanic, who was very good but who estimate of when the job would ! finished was very unreliable. If I told hi I wanted it that afternoon he woui assure me there was no problem b I never ever got it when he promised I eventually realised he was telling n what I wanted to hear because he didr like to pass on the unpalatable truth thi I had no hope of getting the repairs th; afternoon.

Bill

Mccabe

[t was rather an unfortunate way of ming a service business, but I knew i well enough to learn he was merely ctising, in his own way, a strong gious philosophy he had of being isiderate to others. It was part of him. ivery religion includes a personal code ethics, or philosophy, about how icrents should live their daily lives, I my experience is that we are not ays aware of how many people really live and work by that code in their iness dealings as well as in everything Vhile experience of different religions [ cultures is usually something people e to acquire for themselves, in some igs we can benefit from good specialist ice without having to learn the hard For instance, I frequently stress in >e columns the South Pacific Trade nmission can make specialist advice ilable to island business people to 3 them resolve just about any prob , but export marketing, which in /es being conscious of different re ms and cultures, responds to help

n specialists particularly.

lompetent designers of marketing erials, such as packaging, will, for mple, advise on the significance of mrs in religious symbolism. This can e an important influence on sales in e areas. That black signifies death in it religions and white is the symbol of t, purity and joy, is well known; but, ourse, white signifies charity; green, symbol of nature, will represent the e of eternal life, and blue, the symbol heaven, will signify truth. Among cultures and religions this can

significant.

he rule is that nothing should be keted in a culture which an exporter

anfamiliar with without planning

ice, for there are many hidden traps. r as once involved with Eta brand ducts, which we planned to introduce he Japanese market and did. But r weren’t sold under that name, ause research showed us in Japan it connotations of class that would ic it unsuitable. ometimes any importer with strong ;s in the country will be able to tell straight away whether your product kely to be unacceptable in the local ket. Often, though, products may d deeper research and perhaps some marketing. f you are in doubt or need advice, tact us.