Global Marketing Management, 6th Edition

HAPTER OVERVIEW

1. MEANING OF CULTURE
2. ELEMENTS OF CULTURE
3. CROSS-CULTURAL COMPARISONS
4. ADAPTING TO CULTURES
5. CULTURE AND THE MARKETING MIX

In the Western hemisphere, people have a long tradition of engaging in outdoor leisure activities. However, it was not until 1995 that the first outdoor product store opened in China. The North Face, a leading U.S.-based supplier of outdoor sports gear and apparel products, entered the Chinese market in 2007. When it first arrived, the firm had to surmount several obstacles. Differences in body shapes, styles, and tastes meant that products needed to be adapted for Chinese consumers. However, Chinese outdoor activists also differ from their Western counterparts in terms of their mindset. For instance, in China the sense of community and group outdoor activities is much more important than in the West, where people tend to focus on individual achievements and activities. In collaboration with its advertising agency, North Face developed a series of campaigns to foster outdoor leisure activities. The “Go Wild” campaign which the firm ran in 2012 invited city dwellers to break free from their stressful urban lifestyle by engaging in thrilling experiences in the great outdoors. The campaign centered on an online documentary series consisting of four short ...