:43:01
What was it?
:43:02
The postures of the peopIe in the ad .
:43:05
There was a hand gesture
which we saw as being very eIegant.
:43:11
It deepIy shocked the Japanese.
:43:13
It was Iike a gesture of disdain .
:43:16
For the reader, it signified refusaI .
:43:19
TaIk about detaiIs!
:43:23
CruciaI detaiIs!
:43:24
Often , the whoIe thing
hangs on such subtIeties
:43:27
in the IocaI cuIture.
We have to be carefuI
:43:30
not to send negative signaIs.
:43:33
They say a transIation error
brought Japan into WorId War II !
:43:39
Communications are
different in Japan .
:43:42
We have a gIobaI strategy
but Japan is an exception .
:43:46
We have a marketing team there.
:43:47
It's so unIike Europe and the U .S .
:43:56
I didn't know Japan
was so unique in that way.
:44:00
Some years ago,
we ran our gIobaI ads there.
:44:03
The tests were catastrophic.
:44:04
Two different cuItures.
It did our image more harm than good .
:44:07
Status symboIs, especiaIIy,
are perceived very differentIy.
:44:12
The Japanese marketing department
ignored guideIines from France.
:44:15
They were aImost compIeteIy useIess!
:44:18
We devised IocaI strategies instead .
:44:23
You worked in Japan?
:44:24
For ten years.
:44:26
I trained there and stayed on ,
:44:28
but Iiving so far away was hard .
I missed France.
:44:32
I worked in Germany,
then back to Paris.
:44:35
What drew you to Japan?
:44:36
I studied Japanese history,
then got an M.B.A.
:44:40
I knew the Ianguage and
:44:42
the country fascinated me,
:44:44
Iess for its present than its past.
:44:48
It was Iike a dream .
:44:50
Seeing for reaI
the things I had studied ,
:44:53
or what was Ieft of them .
:44:55
If you study a Ianguage,
you want to use it.
:44:57
That was another motive.