Please join me in Chicago for a free marketing seminar I’ll be leading this Friday, January 9 at City Hall: 5 Easy Steps to Marketing Your Business. In this fast-paced workshop you will learn to clearly define your products or services, identify your target market and strategize how to reach it. Learn about branding and how to create…
DetailsWhile today’s economy might prevent international travel for a spell, there are plenty of inexpensive things to do to share cultural traditions, inspire curiosity and empathy and improve your intercultural communication skills. Here are just a few: 1) Hang a map of the world on your wall! Ignorance breeds indifference. Point out locations of world…
DetailsTake a look at this new ad from Volkswagen , created by Almap BBDO (Brazil) that pokes fun at diversity and inclusion as the vehicle (ha ha) for creating an intercultural, inclusive ad to reach out to multiple audiences. While many multicultural ads still seem to stereotype or tokenize cultures, this ad playfully and consciously…
DetailsMy 7 year old learned the N-word a few weeks ago, and was immediately told that it was bad, 1.) Because he would get beat up if he used it (explanation from my dad) and 2.) It was just a bad word, “Like the F-word” (explanation from me). I was left with a fear from…
DetailsWith over $600 billion in annual income/spending power at stake, advertisers more and more are embracing the importance of using images of diversity in advertising campaigns. Sometimes it’s the strategy, as advertisers purposely create several versions of an ad to target different markets (think McDonald’s) and sometimes it’s part of the story line, as with…
DetailsWith an American mom and a Brazilian dad, you’d think our child would spontaneously be a model of behavior in multicultural settings. A dinner conversation this week, however, reminded me that while setting a good example is important, a parent’s job is much more complex. You can’t assume your child will learn how to be…
DetailsCall it “How to win friends and influence people,” “Getting to Yes“, or call it cross-cultural communications, but it’s all the same thing–how to communicate to come to agreement or understanding with people who are different from you to achieve your objective. In business, no matter how you slice it, it all flows back to…
DetailsMy friend Rich wrote on his Facebook Wall that he had gained the first 5 pounds of autumn. Pretty innocuous news that you would think would go unnoticed. What ensued, however, was an unprecedented, lively conversation, involving people from across the country who didn’t even know each other, basically coming together to make fun of…
DetailsWhen looking at metrics to support training for communicating to people from different countries, it’s easy. There’s a very clear cut set of rules. You learn specific customs (e.g. don’t show the bottom of your shoe when sitting with legs crossed in Pakistan, exchange business cards with two hands in Japan, etc.); you go to…
DetailsThe first time I went to Brazil to meet my in-laws, over 20 years ago now, everyone was walking around saying “Oy.” In the yiddish of my Jewish culture, “Oy” is what all of the old people say every time they get up….”Oy, my aching back…” Oy, my sciatica…” I associated it with people in…
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