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Show Sunday, December J 11, - Page THE HERALD, Provo, Utah, 983 59 Business Other Customs Keep American Advertisers Busy HONG KONG fITPn cans selling their goods in Asia must never forget the old saw about "Other countries, other customs." A single innocent but ignorant advertisement can ruin the market for a product for years. It's vital, for instance, to know such trivia as: Wendy Wong and her friends would never dream of serving or guests cheese before dinner any other time. Peter Wu thinks nothing of drinking cognac at banquets, but he rarely touches whisky. A shampoo plugged as "gentle enough to use every day" is an anomaly to Eddie Chan, who like most Chinese thinks dousing the head daily will make him sick. Cultural oddities like these stump American advertisers each year as they spend millions of U.S. dollars to promote their clients' goods in stable, densely populated and increasingly affluent Asian nations. Cultural taboos, complex languages and myriad Asian customs g create stiff and barriers to foreign imports making even governmental quotas seem long-lastin- Home Buyers Soon May Be Able to Buy With Card "It's very important to get ' in- volved in the local culture' if you want to advertise American foods, clothing and other consumer items successfully in Asia, says Paul Loosley, Creative Director for J. Walter Thompson in Hong Kong. When Kraft Foods first came to Hong Kong, for example, the Chinese literally turned up their noses. "Chinese dislike dairy products Eck-hard- Poor translations can spell dias saster for an ad campaign a found to its chagrin. In Taiwan, Pepsi's "Come alive with the Pepsi generation" slogan appeared on billboards across the island as: "Pepsi will brng your Pepsi-Col- ancestors back from the dead." Pepsi canceled the campaign and started studying Chinese. When Ogilvy and Mather tried to introduce a new beer in Malaysia a few years ago, the name, "Golden Harp Superior Pilsner," was an impossible tongue twister for the average Malaysian beer drinker. Moreover, Malay has no word for harp. Ogilvy's creative staff shortened the name to "Goldie" and hired a sexy blonde model to plug the but the label on the bottle brew wasn't changed. When Malaysians went to a bar and ordered a "Goldie" all they got was a blank stare from the bartender. Ogilvy withdrew the product from the market. like milk, butter and cheese, which they say carry an offensive odor," Loosley said. Loosley, who represents Kraft, had to figure out how to entice Hong Kong's 5 million Chinese to eat cheese. "Chinese are fanatically nutrition conscious, so we invented a gang of kids called the Kraft Cheese Kids and showed them exhibiting vast energy after walloping down lots of cheese," he said. "And it worked." But while market tests indicate cheese is gaining popularity among young Chinese, "adults are still a lost cause," Loosley said. Language problems add to the knotty puzzles advertisers must untangle to break into Asian To) ers can eliminate properties that way." Cole, 49, has been in the real estate business 20 years. With headquarters in Newport Beach, Calif., he is president of Coldwell Banker Residential Affiliates Inc., the franchise arm of Coldwell d, , two-yea- Pruitt. Conservative mores in many Asian nations means ads with sex of the question. In China, long the elusive market of American dreams, strict censorship and limited access to mass media create major head aches for foreign admen dumbfounded when they learned Chinese officials scrutinize all that although Hong Kong boasts ad proposals and reject any exhibthe world's largest per capita iting "decadent bourgeoise valconsumption of brandy whisky has ues" they find offensive. barely penetrated the market. "That means nothing pretenThe answer lies deep in Chinese tious, no girls in bikinis and noth- 'tradition, Looseiysaid. "All foods and drinks make ing politically dubious," said Angela New some, manager of people feel either yin or yang (China) cool or hot," Looseiysaid. Chinese Ltd. a hot believe "a little brandy Some American products simply drink wiil improve a man's have no significant market in potency, while whisky will make so to him cool and weak-kneeAsia, advertisers say. "You can't sell Oil of Olay to speak." people who already have oily skin and think they look too young," The obstacles have't stopped said Carlos Or dona, a Dentsu-Youn- g and Rubicam agent in American agencies from expandTokyo. ing their Asian operations. At least a dozen top American firms Young and Rubicam had trouble billing Johnsons Baby Oil as a skin have opened branches in the refasoftener because Japanese gion since 1970. Several American products mous for their pristine public "never put anything in designer jeans, cigarettes, and baths bath water, not even soap," Ordo- even fast foods carry a "presnez said. tige value" that makes them uniAmerican liquor producers were versally popular. d, appeal are out NO LOAN FEE 14.25 ANNUAL PERCENTAGE RATE I I No balloon payment amortizing Second Trust Deed Loans on single family residences Other competitive programs also available. For prompt, Fully d, owner-occupie- Just a tew of the IBM's key features are: A powerful oik men 16 hit microprocessor r expandable t i (m( k ' professional and confidential service, call your convenient U.S. Thrift & Loan branch today. key deucfuhk- kotxurd Diagnostic self tester K4 Less card. "You can see it coming," says Jerry Cole, president of a real estate franchise arm of Sears, eye-balli- also can guarantee that a time-teste- d American campaign will fall flat in Asia. Ogilvy couldn't bill "Tang" as a breakfast beverage since "in Hong Kong there's no such thing as a morning glass of juice," said Dick Pruitt, Ogilvy's Creative director. Instead, the firm built a winning campaign around the after-schosnack. Maxwell House found that it took more than a smiling husiand to sell their coffee in Taiwan, where "tea breaks" are the national pastime. "We introducetLMaxwell House by hiring a popular Taiwanese star who was famous for trend-settin- g and got him to try something new," Pruitt said. "It was a glorious success," and people bought enough coffee to convince Ogilvy to sign a r contract with the actor, said inm pansonnicompuTGR tie irs QT COffiPUTGRLflnD ROUJ. LAS VEGAS, Nev. (UPI) -Prospective home owners soon will be able to shop for a house via satellite and buy it with a credit Roebuck and Co.'s financial network. "Buyers also will view houses via satellite TV someday. They will sit at home and look at available properties from coast to coast. It will no't be a substitute for the house, but buy- Radically different lifestlves "Ad copy reads like jumbo if it's translated literally," said Joseph Wong, an advertising t. executive with Kenyon and mild. than 150 per mo. Come on in. Vt'e want to show you the IBM Personal Computer. It's one of the most popular computers on the market, and with good reason. This computer offers virtually everything you need for your business or your home. With it you'll have access to a complete software library. Come in and see it. lit U.S.ThriftsLqan Make friends with the future?1 Today. American Fork Brigham Gty 752-066- Logan Moab East 1300 South Orem, UT 84057 (801) 224-053- 259-51- 84 8 Jordan subsidiary of institution. U.S. A Banker. Two years ago Sears, Roebuck and Co. acquired Coldwell Banker, i l 566-874- Subject to aooroval of credit and collateral. Dean, Witter Reynolds, one of Wall Street's largest brokerage firms, and also has taken over other financial subsidiaries. Since then, the campaign has been on to make Sears Roebuck a one-sto- p store whether the consumer is shopping for a house, financial investments, insurance, loans or commodities. Cole heads the push to bring in- dependent real estate firms in population centers of 500,000 or less under the franchise umbrella by 9. Aian annth. just ma7S pSrCo';aSe0,,his 1 merchant5 SAVE I9WardS830 back select' $5-$- 10 Sears price A'ari mail-i- n rebate After rebate .... on these ga!nes -1 o ForAtari52C0 Reg. $3999 Now 29.99 For Atari 5200 Reg. $39.99 Now 29.99 For Atari 5200 Reg. $3999 Now 34.99 4C0..99 AM." rC. x.T ..a uvi credit cards coming." He said currently 15 or 20 percent of the 120,000 real estate d offices in the nation were with a major firm which provided small realtors marketing techniques, advertising programs and corporate expertise. In return the franchising company receives an ongoing service fee of about 5 of the affiliate's gross Eercent Cole predicted within five years four major companies would control 50 percent of the real estate business in the United States. He referred to such real estate franchise firms as Coldwell, Century 21, Merrill Lynch, Realty Wor'd, ERA and possibly Shearson American Express. system erareafn0, and rebate coupon and This December the number increases to 133 and in 12 more months an estimated. 293 financial centers will be operating in Sears Roebuck Stores. shopping at "It will be one-sto- p can buy a Sears . consumers house, get a mortgage, escrow and title services and even a Sears home buyer discount," said Cole. Sears is offering a 10 to 25 percent discount on regularly priced merchandise to homeowners who buy and finance houses through the Sears financial network. "Buying houses by credit card In some form is coming," said Cole. "If a consumer is tied in with Coldwell Banker, has 'an account with Dean Witter and banks through All States Savings and Loan, there is a credit line. So with a credit card device one could tap that equity. It is real. I can't quote the exact form it will take but you can see house pur- chases $30 RFRatc Atari 2600 video aom "ere's another 7 o ropolitan areas. Sears, with its 40 million credit card holders, opened financial centers including real estate in eight of its 852 stores last year. . ' vm aM frtiii V 1 1 1 . For Atari 5200 Reg. ri $33-- Now 34.99 For Atari 2600 Reg. $3499 Now 29.99 !t"u For Atari Reg. $34-9- Now 29.99 " , wji&n . t Mill . fran-chis'e- S and X l For Atari 2600 a 9 reat Reg. $34.33 Now 29.9S WE SERVfCE WHAT WE SELL. NATIONWIDE T "X" SERVICE DEPT. Satisfaction guaranteed or your money back 7 377.8010 Sat 9:30 am to 7:00 pm 9:30 am to 9 pm Uosed Sundays Mon-F- ri 207 North 100 Wo.f, Provo i 798-983- FoTAtafi2666 Reg. $34.99 Now Aft 2 8 Bancorp, a $6 billion financial full-servi- of Coldwell Banker Residential Affiliates Inc. In the last 19 months he signed up 362 franchises and anticipates 1,500 by 1987. In addition to franchises, Cole said within five years Cold-we- ll Banker would have 1,000 companoffices in major mety-owned 359-926- 3 the nation's largest real estate company. About the same time, Sears also acquired d, ' 637-735- 2 West 224-260- 2 Orem 6 Price Salt Lake City Spanish Fork 8 2 723-721- Carillon Square 287 756-525- For Atari 2600 Reg. $3499 Now |