If you have or are planning global market development, become the observer and see your company from the ground up. What does your product look like to the person on the street in Hong Kong, in Budapest, in Quito, in Brisbane, in Calgary?

How does it fit into the local environment? How does it stack up in presentation, in substance to local products?

It’s worth learning how colors, shapes, symbols and words are interpreted in each market, each culture.

We just did a project for a multinational consumer products firm that uses the word “spirit” in its branding. Translated into 40+ languages, what was extraordinary was how different the word is used, translated, interpreted. It was those cultures with comparable roots that interpreted the word similarly; for others it was almost a static concept. Spirit without a sense of energy and vitality would be inconceivable for an English-language speaker. But in Slovak it was translated as “principle”.

More surprising yet was how many languages-- Czech, Dutch, German, Italian, Korean, Norwegian, Serbian--referred to “spirit” in English as a tag, and did not translate it since the local marketing people could not connect the meaning of “spirit” to the product.

When Coca-Cola became ubiquitous, truly the most well known product worldwide, they chose to refer to their market reach as “we are the world”. That worked; and it worked because it was an active, inclusive term that referred to their consumers around the world, not their product alone.

People consume products. The products need to land on their turf. So how do you do it?

The difference between “spirit” and “we are the world” offers a true life Petri dish.

What is your language saying about your product around the world? A survey may be in order; and then some head scratching may follow. The homework will be well worth it.