This paper's main argument is that 'ethnic' and other forms of specific target marketing offer an opportunity for marketing efforts to be precise, relevant and coherent to suit various consumer search behavior patterns. Personal care products address the most potentially sensitive differences between individuals (highly visible differences as well as more subtle ones). We will show how marketing strategies can gain in consistency and success thanks to the demands of very specific target groups and the ensuing opportunity for empathy marketing.
Ubiquity means "presence everywhere or in many places, especially simultaneously" (Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary), a quality attributed to gods. Global business today demands ubiquity of its players. Theoretically, we can get dose to achieving this by using communications technology and modern means of travel. Practically, however, we are only human and must live with dampened illusions. The good news is that there are ways to make human attempts at ubiquity sustainable. The qualitative typology of international business executives that follows highlights some of the most successful and satisfying attitudes and habits of those who have turned ubiquity into an art.
The purpose of this paper is to contribute to better cross- cultural communication. In order to achieve this, we have selected concepts put forth by anthropologists, sociologists and specialists in international management which shed light on some of the issues that companies find the most conflictual in their day-to-day experience with intercultural relationships. First, we give a definition of culture and how it affects us and the way we work. Next, we examine some of the main differences in the way Northern and Southern Europeans work. Finally, we offer some suggestions for dealing with cross-cultural situations and creating synergies.
Each of us has developed her own form of expertise separately, in resonance with the main product areas she works for, i.e. functional products for Barbara and fine fragrances for Olwen. Recently, we have come to feel that the market demands a closer linkage of function and fantasy as a means of allowing the use of yet more scented products. This makes it important for our clients to be able to use methodologies which can address both areas and offer recommendations for the selection and finalization of ail of the elements of the marketing mix.
One year and a half before SAMSARAs launch, the French perfume house GUERLAIN asked us to study the project and give information upon which to base strategic choices. We custom-tailored a two-step qualitative investigation, the first about the ideal scent among six which were being developed and the second on the coherency of all the elements of the marketing mix, both without any mention of the brand for purposes of confidentiality. We call our approach "high touch" because it is a precise, very structured yet intuitive one which takes into account the subjectivity of the consumers relationship to scents. It is a dynamic developmental method which places a marketing project in its ever-changing environment and takes hypotheses about the future into account, contrarily to static assessment approaches.
Our research, carried out in the US in 1984 one year before its launch in France, was to determine whether the POISON project was an ugly duckling made of conflicting elements or a winner with a future on the American market, in which case we were to identify the most promising scent among competing submissions. The method we used is a precise, highly structured, intensive and creative one. Our approach is a fine-tuned version of what ESOMAR refers to as "new qualitative" research, designed specifically for up-market fragrance projects. It is an appropriate counterpart to Dior's innovative conceptual marketing. This most carefully designed and implemented method is based on: - extremely precise recruitment criteria and over-recruitment by 100% to allow for face-to-face screening by the group moderator; - multiple angles of investigation: individual and group situations, rational and emotional reactions; - minute examination of likes, dislikes and imagery in light of each respondent's personal frame of reference and vocabulary rather than imposing a benchmark; - interpretation beyond face-value reactions; - predominance in analysis of coherence over preference Our analysis allowed us to conclude that beyond violent face-value rejection of the name and the concept there was a fascination by the universal archetype of alchemy, which was strongly and clearly expressed by the name, the box and the bottle, and that among the scents tested, the least-liked one was preferable because, among other indicators of potential success, its imagery was compatible with the POISON concept.
As more qualitative approaches become available, through imports and innovation, and as persuasive qualitative agencies tend to brilliantly argue for their specific methods, there seems to be a need for some clarification. The view that a given method may be universally superior is too simplistic. Based on our international experience and discussions with users as well as practitioners, we offer a typology of qualitative methodologies with the aspiration to prove that each one of them has the right to live within its area of expertise. We show how each of the methods, "cognitive", "motivation- al", "cultural/holistic", and "interactive/creative" is culturally determined. Only after describing these methods comparatively do we examine the multiple dimensions of marketing research objectives, referring them all along to the typology. This investigation of research objectives is a way of breaking from set patterns and adopting a fresher outlook. As a contribution to intercultural communications, we end this presentation with a list of English and French terms used in qualitative research.
Strong brand personalities seem to need deep roots into local culture, whereas multi-cultural ambitions rule out names with only specific geographically limited meanings. As names are expected today to concentrate much of the projected positioning, we wish to show how close brand research comes to concept research, and how advanced qualitative methodologies give invaluable information. Indeed our definition of the term "qualitative" is a broad one, as it encompasses creativity and even, to a certain extent, some aspects of design. In this sense, qualitative research not only analyses names and consumer discourse through semantics, psychology and sociology. It also proposes solutions through creativity techniques and helps strategic branding decision-making by bringing brands visually to life. Cultural qualitative and creative expertise carried out by a multi- lingual multi-cultural team, atune to universal themes such as archetypes, leads to brands that convey meanings relevant to diverse cultures.