Global brands who just speak Westish won´t connect - Wundermann at Cannes Lion

The highlight from Cannes Lion Monday must have been the Wunderman workshop presenting how the world is no longer Western dominated, but that the emerging markets are now where the focus should be. Simon Silvester pointed out that global brands who wish to connect with Indians, Chinese or Brazilians need to re-think marketing, packaging and attitudes. You can´t simply translate your campaign for the Uk market and think it will resonate with a different culture.

He explains: "As the West slows, the fortunes of five billion people from Brazil, Russia, India, Indonesia, China and Africa are rising rapidly. They’re a decade younger than Westerners. Most of them have mobile phones. Those mobile phones are rapidly becoming smartphones. People are using them to access the internet, share their experiences, make decisions at point of purchase and directly transact."

"Whilst they are successful, these big global brands all share something in common. Nearly all were invented by Westerners for Westerners during the boom in brand creation from the 1950s to the 1980s. They were designed for people today earning typically $40,000 a year. But they are now being sold to customers on $3,000 a year. It’s quite a leap. The consumer they were designed for looks nothing like the global consumer of today."

Read and watch, and download the report:

http://www.canneslions.com/lions/videos.cfm?media_id=1378#start

http://wunderman.com/ideas/how-to-dominate-the-world