120 CHAPTER 5 EXTERNALCONSIDERATIONSINMARKETING
UnderstandingOtherCulturesAroundtheWorld
Adjustingtoculturaldifferences isperhapsthemostdifficultta skfacingmarketingcom-
municatorswhooperateinothercoun;nes.Beforeenteringa foreignmarket, a company
must decide towhatexteetitiswillingtocustomizeitsmarketingeffortstoaccommodate
eachforeignmarket.Naturally,theworethecompanystandardizesits effort,thelesstrou-
bleit incursandthegreater:heas::;tmedprofitability.Butissomecustomizationinevitable?
MoreissaidaboutthisinalaterchapterForecastsoftheFuture
Thereareliterallyhundredsofcompaniesandforecasterswhoclaimtohavea handleon
thefuture.Onethathas(Ieexcellenttrackrecordis RoperStarsh ,a researchfirmthathas
beenlookingattrendsforover 50 years.The 2000 RoperReportidentifiedfourconcepts
thathelpmarketersunderstandAmericansinthenewmillennium:^9- "HighPace/High Peace:Americans'high-speedlifestylescreatenewgoalsand
needs":SiliconValleyma:ketersoftentalkabouta phenomenoncalled"high
tech-hightouch"; themoretechnologybecomes partof people'slives(tech),the
more theneedforpersonalinteraction(touch).Wethinka similar,possiblymore
powerfulphenomenon,isunfoldingtodayintoday'sfrenetic , high-speedworld
ofdriveforsuccess, "Internettime,""24/7"business, andmultitaskedlifestyles.
As t hepaceoflife is pickingup(highpace),thereis growingdesire/demandfor
peace. Theshiftto"HighPacelHighPeace" is evidentinthemarketplace. Increas-
ingly,brandsseemtobe"high-pace"(efficiency-oriented,intensebrandslikethe
InternetbrokerE- Trade; personalitieslikeMicros'Jftchiefandbestsellingauthor
BillGates)or "high-peace"(relaxing, spa-pacebrallds likeBananaRepublic,
CanyonRanch;personalitieslikespiritualleaderandbe stsellingauthortheDalai
Lama.TheshiftisreflectedinRoperdataaswell).Americansareworkingharder
thanevertogetab~ad.Workisspillingintoallcornersof life:a record39%of
American~saytheyoftenspendleisuretimeonwork,a three-fold increasefrom
thebeginningofthedecade.Newtechnologiesaremakingit possibleto beever
moreproductive.Americansgenerallyrecognizethathardworkisthepricefor
gettingahead.Atthesametime,thereisa growingyearningforpeace.Mostagree
ti'aithebest leisuretimeisthetimealone. Butdeclining~umbersaregettingsuch
timetorest, relax,andrenew.More,instead,arefeelingstressedou:..Thisten-
sion oetweenhighpaceandhighpeaceshowsnoSigl:thatit willgoaway.Atthe
sametime,datasuggestL1atthereareopportunitie~formarketerstobecomea
bridgetogetpeopletoboththeirhi gh pace andhighpeacegoals. - "Kinnections: Themovementtoconnectionintechnology, relationships, and
brands" :Theincreasingpaceoflife;snottheonlycharacteristicofAme'icasince
thetumofthenewcentury.Empoweredbynewtechnology,thestrongeconomy,
anda growingcommandofself-relianceandotherskills,Americanshavebegun
toreachoutandtakethenextsieptoextendtheirsenseofconnection.1na whole
hostofareas-fromcommunicationsandcomputingtoattitudestowardsfamily
anocommunity--connectionsareup.Theseconnectionsaredifferentfromthe
past.Theycanbefastchanginganddynamic(kinetic).Andtheyappeartobepart
of a desirefora greatersenseofassociation(kinship).Themovementtoconnections,
thus,isactuallya movetoward"kinnections."Theresultsarereflectedin thedata.
Communicationstechnologiesaretakingoff.Thisismostevidentintheexplo-
sivegrowthofcellularcommunications.Butit isahoapparentin thecomputer