Language and Culture

In order for a PR campaign to be 3) ……. abroad, an appreciation of the target language and its cultural nuances is necessary. The PR and advertising industries are littered with examples of poor translations and a lack of cross cultural understanding leading to PR 4) …….. For example, when Ford launched the “Pinto” in Brazil they were puzzled as to why sales were dead. Fortunately they found out that Brazilians didn’t want to be seen driving a car meaning “small male genitals” and promptly changed the name.

Translation of documents, slogans and literature must be checked and double checked for meanings and cross cultural nuances. This should not only take place between languages but also within languages. Even in English there are cross cultural differences in meanings. For example, the airline UAL headlined an article about Paul Hogan, star of Crocodile Dundee, with “Paul Hogan Camps it up” which unfortunately in the UK and Australia is slang for “flaunting homosexuality”.

The Spoken Word

Areas where the spoken word is used in PR, such as press conferences or interviews, should be prepared for within a cross cultural framework. In short, speaking styles and the content used differs across cultures.

British and American communication styles are described as “explicit” meaning messages are conveyed solely through words. Correlating background information is deemed and divulged, ambiguity is avoided and spoken words have literal meaning. In many other cultures, communication is “implicit”. The message listeners are likely to interpret is based on factors such as who is speaking, the context and non-verbal cues. Spoken words do not fully 5) ……. the whole story as listeners are expected to read between the lines.

With relation to content, speakers must be aware of the cross cultural differences in humour, metaphors, aphorisms and anecdotes. In addition, references to topics such as politics and/or religion can be a very sensitive issue in other cultures. When the spoken word is used 6) ……. must be incorporated in order to help the speaker appeal to and with the audience.