Here is s new twist. How should foreign firms market to the USA? What major differences might they see here? These are 4 thoughts for foreign firms to think about in the American Market:
Time is money
The idea of spending time, wasting time, borrowing time, buying and selling time is uniquely American. Foreign firms often get frustrated when they experience US firms in great rush and when inadequate time is budgeted for appointments.
Information is a corporate asset
A Japanese business executive may get very confused when he is told to enter his personal customer information into a CRM program controlled by some CTO who he’s never met. Asians may not want to share all of their sales proposals and cost figures on a blog or a Google document. US firms feel that information belongs to the company.
Business is Business
In most countries, “business is personal.” The “let’s get down to business” attitude of many US firms can put Asians and Europeans off. Americans spend little time on relationship building, even though an American executive may feel she’s asked the requisite questions: “are you married, do you have any children, where do you live?”
American Marketing savvy
The US sees itself as the world’s greatest marketer. No country has the global brands that the USA has. Starbucks, Coca Cola, McDonalds, YouTube, Itunes and Facebook are all American phenomena. We may not brag about the highest quality products, but we do brag about how well we market them. Foreign firms who are not sensitive to will be seen as inferior.