In 2009, Hjörtur Smárason walked into a McDonald’s restaurant in Iceland and ordered what turned out to be the last hamburger and fries ever served in the country. The global fast food giant that maintains almost 40,000 restaurants in more than 100 countries had failed and decided to leave the island state in the middle […]
Caterpillar, a leading American manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, has been in China since the 1980s when it launched technology transfer agreements with Chinese manufacturers. Later, it opened manufacturing facilities, distribution centers, and corporate offices in more than a dozen cities around the country, employing a local workforce of about 20,000. One would think […]
In 2009, American toy company Mattel opened a gigantic, 36,000 square-foot “House of Barbie” in Shanghai, China. The company had invested over $30 million in the House of Barbie in celebration of the American iconic doll’s 50th anniversary. The six-story building housed the world’s largest collection of Barbie dolls, and also featured a fashion runway, a […]
Bad translations have long been the humor well that keeps on giving in International Business. Just think of German car maker Audi’s relatively recent rollout of the E-tron (French for excrement) brand for their electric cars. Nike is certainly no stranger to translation issues as it has blundered among Arabic speakers and devout muslims as […]
Today, coffee and donut chain Dunkin’ Donuts (DD), part of Inspire Brands that also owns Baskin Robbins, Arby’s, Sonic and others, has more than 3,200 restaurants in approximately 40 countries. It took a long time to develop such an impressive global presence, and success didn’t come easy. DD’s internationalization began 1964. Shortly after he had […]
Without a doubt, Germans are a beer-loving people. With more than 100 liters of beer consumption per capita annually, more than 1,500 breweries, and more than 6,000 beer brands, the market is closely eyed by foreign brands, and many have tried to capture a piece of the pie (or should I say, a sip from […]
Some may remember that in 2014, Red Bull, the Austria-based manufacturer of the world’s leading energy drink, had settled a more or less frivolous lawsuit in the US that alleged that the company had cheated its consumers with its slogan that the drink would “give them wings” (or, in other words, improve their athletic or […]
Adapting to different cultural environments is tricky business. In 2012, various Swedish media outlets ran an article titled “IKEA raderade kvinnorna” (engl. “IKEA erases women”). What had happened? One of the central elements in IKEA’s marketing strategy is its voluminous catalog that covers everything from comfy sofas to simple kitchen gadgets. In its attempt to […]
In 1997, Nike was going through a public relations nightmare. The Council on American Islamic Relations had spotted a suspicious logo, stitched on to the heel of Nike’s new sneaker, the Air Bakin’. When read from right to left, as is the practice in Arabic, the logo that was intended to look like flames bore a […]
Once again, this is not the most recent case, but it still is a good one. It serves as a perfect illustration for the fact that phenomenal success in one country doesn’t necessarily guarantee success in another. Quite to the contrary, success can be blinding and make companies ignorant of subtle – and sometimes even […]
When San Francisco-based US fashion retailer The Gap launched its “City T-shirt” series, it probably had high hopes that the China edition would please a vast consumer base across China. Attention did indeed come quickly, but not necessarily the kind that The Gap was hoping for. Within hours, Chinese social media users had posted photos […]
In February 2018, Chinese company Meituan became the world’s fourth most valuable startup. Meituan, now valued at $30 billion, originally started as a group purchasing platform, similar to Groupon, which had its stab at the Chinese market. Yes, Groupon. Let’s turn the clock back for a moment. In mid 2011, American publication Forbes asked, “Can […]