Global Ad Agency for Ford get the language and images wrong!!!

In todays multicultural world you would have thought there was more cultural awareness?  However it’s still easy to get it wrong when it comes to language and cultural awareness.

JWT India, a subsidiary of global advertising agency WPP, which is a British multinational advertising and public relations company, produced hugely controversial pictures in an advertisement created as an entry in an advertising contest.

A Ford employee and two senior executives at the advertising agency in India have been sacked in the repercussions of the adverts.  The adverts included one with former Italian Prime Minister SilvioBerlusconi in a Ford Figo with gagged women in the back.  The Figo is known for its large boot capacity and the adds all featured Ford’s tagline for the car: “Leave your worries behind with Figo’s extra-large boot.” 

The adverts, which illustrated skimpily dressed and tied up women would culturally be viewed as humorous and clever advertising in most western countries by a huge segment of the population.  However they came at a particularly sensitive time for India where the country’s parliament last week approved a bill that aims to strengthen sexual assault legislation, which came in response to the horrific gang rape and death of a young Indian woman in late December 2012.

Proof of getting it wrong has a direct impact on sales!  Figures disclosed by Ford India showed vehicle sales fell by 14% in the period spanning April 2012-February 2013 to 71,954 vehicles. In comparison, sales of passenger vehicles in India grew 4.1% to about 2.43 million autos in the same period.

At Kwintessential we work closely with various companies including advertising and marketing agencies to ensure effective cultural understanding, following up with services such as multilingual copywriting, translation, transcreation and cultural assessments meaning the language and images used are appropriate.  All of these services ensure adverts, slogans, websites and marketing collateral are written and produced with the target audience in mind.  This allows for your message and brand to be protected and promoted, increasing sales!  

Please contact us for more details on how we can help you get your message right.

 

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