Cultures versus Colours & the Perceptions of the Products (Brands)

Culture can be defined as the concepts, values and tangible items such as tools, buildings and foods that make up a particular society. Culture is passed on from one generation to another and is a kind of blueprint for the tolerable demeanor in a particular society. When products are introduced into one nation from another, recognition is far more likely if there are similarities between the two countries.

The connotations linked with body motions, greetings, colours, numbers, and shapes, sizes and symbols have different connotations in different cultures. For example, the use of colour has different connotations in different cultures as highlighted in a table 1.0 below. In many parts of Europe, black has negative overtones, whereas in the Middle East it has positive connotations.

It is vital to study and observe how the perception of the particular different cultures and their perception on colours can unify or boast your brand image positively or instead give negative effects to your brand. Hence, the cultural differences have distinct implications for products development, personal selling, advertising, packaging and pricing. Knowing another country’s customs play a role in a social interaction. For example, in Italy it is unacceptable for a salesman to call on a woman if her husband is not at home.

 

Colour in association in the UK and Taiwan

Table 1.0

Colour	UK Association	Taiwan Association
Green	Inexpensive, reliable, light and good tasting	Inexpensive, reliable, light and good
	old, quiet, traditional, trustworthy.	tasting.
	and safe.	Quiet, calm, male and old.
	Life, calm, tenderness, health and happiness	Safe, trustworthy, unadventurous and
	Environment. Natural, pure and fresh.	stable.
	Ireland and Italy to some extend.	Environment, life, tender, pure, fresh,
		natural.
		Ireland, and to some extend UK.
Red	Expansive, premium, high quality and good	High quality, expensive and good tasting.
	tasting.	Warm, female, loud, playful, and
	Young, warm, fun, loud, playful and happy.	adventurous.
	Dangerous, adventurous, luxurious and	Love, passion, danger and aggression
	exciting.	Life, excitement and happiness
	Life, love, passion, power and aggression.	US, and to some extent Italy
	China, and the US to some extend
Blue	Heavy reliable, high quality and expensive.	Heavy, reliable, high quality and expensive
	Male, mature, quiet, subdued, calm and	Male, old, quiet, serious
	thoughtful	Calm, dignified, trustworthy
	Serious, trustworthy, dependable, dignified	Sadness, depression and to some extend
	and sad	power
	US and UK to a limited extend
Black	Expensive, high quality, high tech and	High quality, high tech, premium and
	premium products.	expensive
	Old, heavy and reliable objects	Old, male, quiet and heavy
	Mysterious, luxurious, sophisticated, and	Mysterious, sophisticated and serious
	dangerous	Death, sadness, depression, power, fear
	Death, dignity, power and aggression	aggression
		Strongly, associated with China
Yellow	High quality, expensive, reliable, light and	New, expensive, light and good-tasting
	good-tasting	Young, warm, loud, playful and adventurous
	Pert, fresh and playful	Life, love, happiness and power
	Luxury, sophisticated and dangerous	Strong, associated with China
	Death, dignity, power and aggression
Purple	Expensive, luxurious and good-tasting	High Quality, premium and expensive
	Warm, and to some extend female	Warm, female, old and quiet
	Sophisticated and mysterious	Love, passion, luxury, sophisticated, and
	Death, dignity, passion and power	mystery
	France and to some extend Japan	Serious, sadness, dignity, power and
		aggression
		France, and to some extend Japan

 

 Source: Marketing Management, Vol. 15, pp.449-462.

 Copyright @Westburn Publishers L., 1995.

Perception of Key Brands in the UK and Taiwan

Brand:Pepsi

In UK : Male, muscular, young, sexy and energetic. Wild, fun and sporty. Associated with beach settings. Not very healthy - sugar and caffeine. Challenges to Coca-Cola and the status quo.

In Taiwan : Male, muscular, young, energetic, sporty and attractive. Fun, sexy, loud, wild and a little crazy. Accociated with beach, the sun and the Spice Girls. Good tasting and refreshes. Intensely compentitive with regards to Coca-Cola.    

Brand: Marlboro

In UK : Original brand is masculine, American and red. Cool, sexy, wild, adventurous and strong. Rough but with a lot of style. Associated with cowboys, the desert and music. Unhealthy and anti-social - cancer, smoke and smells. Marlboro Lights are less damaging and more popular. Associated with pubs, music, youth and the the colour gold.

In Taiwan : Masculine, American and red. Cool, strong, young, adventurous and exciting. Powerful and stylish. Associated with cowboys, the desert and music.

Brand: Kodak

IN UK : Masculine, nature, inteligent, creative and well respected. Warm, friendly and colourful. High quality, and colourful, high technology, and very professionl. Associated with happy times, sunshine, happiness, fun, colourfulness and the colour yellow. Safe, reliable, trustworthy, affordable and popular.

In Taiwan : Masculine, intelligent, innovative and cretive. High quality, expensive and professional. Modern, colourful and hugely popular. Associated with technology.

Barack Obama’s Authentic Dream and Personal Brand

      

                                                   By  Dr. Hubert K. Rampersad

 

Having an authentic dream and a related personal brand is a very important asset in today’s online, virtual, and individual age. This is the key to personal success. It is the positioning strategy behind the world's most successful people, like Barack Obama. It’s therefore important to be your own brand based on your authentic dream. This will help you to actively grow and distinguish yourself. Remember what Walt Disney said; “If you can dream it, you can do it”.

Barack Obama’s dream is—Bring about real change, change that we can believe in. His passion for change is the pillar of his authentic Personal Brand. Parts of his speeches:  “America is a land of big dreamers and big hopes. It is this hope that has sustained us through revolution and civil war, depression and world war, a struggle for civil and social rights and the brink of nuclear crisis. And it is because our dreamers dreamed that we have emerged from each challenge more united, more prosperous, and more admired than before…….The true test of the American ideal is whether we’re able to recognize our failings and then rise together to meet the challenges of our time. Whether we allow ourselves to be shaped by events and history, or whether we act to shape them. Whether chance of birth or circumstance decides life’s big winners and losers, or whether we build a community where, at the very least, everyone has a chance to work hard, get ahead, and reach their dreams….Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek…. I don't want to settle for anything less than real change, fundamental change - change we need - change that we can believe in. It's change that I've been fighting for over two decades ago. Because those dreams - American dreams - are worth fighting for”.

Barack Obama:

·         identified and leveraged his authentic, relevant, meaningful, inspiring, enduring, ambitious dream and hope 

·         responses to his dream/hope with love and passion and adds value to others 

·         knows what make him unique, special, different and outstanding 

·         recognized and identified his genius and expanded his limits based on this 

·         succeeded by living according to his dream and doing related work he loves  

·         has faith in himself and the courage to pursue his dream and hope, and based on this delivered peak performances and is exceptional 

 

Remember this (Rampersad, 2008):

 

Dream it, hope it, believe it, fix it in your mind, visualize it, accept it, respond to it with love, passion, and integrity, give your peak performance to it and you will achieve it

Barack Obama is a man of peace, love, integrity, and vision, who is fighting for change. We admire him because of his genius, achievements, success, and added value to others. Anyone can deliver peak performances and be successful in life, because all of us have the genius within us to do so. Success is not something that will come automatically or something that the world will define for you. It’s what you define in your ambitious dream (hope) and in the way you pursue this dream. Remember what Marva Collins said; ‘Success doesn’t come to you …you go to it’. You must have a dream in life, follow your heart and love what you do, if you expect exceptional success. You will surely have it, since people who ask for it, wish it, dream it, hope it, fix it in their mind, visualize it, feel it, allow it, give your peak performance to it, respond to it with love, passion and integrity, attract success. Obama has proven that if someone has a clear authentic dream, responds to it with love and passion, has the courage to pursue this dream, has faith in him/herself, and lives according to their dream, this dream will guide that person’s life and will result in purposeful and resolute actions. He took the responsibility to identify his dreams and hope, and to respond to them with love and passion. Stop complaining and do not blame others for your failures. Take the initiative and the responsibility to develop, implement, and cultivate your authentic dream and hope as well, and keep it at the forefront of your mind each day. You should have faith in yourself. Also remember this (Rampersad, 2008):

no dream + no hope +no faith + no self-knowledge + no thinking + no mindset change + no integrity + no passion + no trust + no love = NO SUSTAINABLE CHANGE

Love is an important element in this equation. It is about loving yourself (self-love), loving others, and loving what you do. You should love yourself in at least equal measure to others or things. This can be found in most religions: “to love others as you love yourself”. Remember what Abraham Maslow said: “We can only respect others when we respect ourselves. We can only give, when we give to ourselves. We can only love, when we love ourselves”. Without knowing who you are (self-knowledge), it’s very difficult to love yourself and others. You need to make a positive emotional connection with yourself and find yourself interesting first, otherwise others you will not make a positive emotional connection with you and will not find you interesting. With an authentic Personal Brand (based on your dream), your strongest characteristics, attributes, and values can separate you from the crowd. Without this, you look just like everyone else.

This article is based on Dr. Hubert Rampersad’s new book Authentic Personal Branding:  A new blueprint for building and aligning a powerful leadership brand' (Information Age Publishing, USA; Pearson Malaysia; 2008 ).

 

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