THE LANGUAGE CHALLENGE
　　Language is the primary way in which producers and distributors communicate with consumers. Those involved with personal selling will find that speaking the local language isnt optional but a requirement for success. Besides just being able to get the basic information across to the customer, a salesperson also communicates the companys dedication to the marketplace. All salespeople face an uphill battle when trying to promote a product, but those without the requisite language skills may find that the hill is almost vertical.
　　Language skills will also come into play when advertising and promotional collateral （brochures, manuals, business cards） are translated. A poorly worded document or mistranslated slogan can sink a sales effort before it even starts. （Wanting to assure their Belgian target audience of the sturdiness of their vehicles, General Motors marketeers once translated their slogan of "Body by Fisher" into Flemish. The resulting translation read more like "Corpse by Fisher" with embarrassing results. One could question whether, even if it had been properly translated, the slogan would have had the desired effect on the Belgian consumers.） The choice of brand names （see Chapter 9） will also rely heavily on how the translation or logo design will play in the new market.
　　Prior to distribution, all translated advertising and promotional materials should be reviewed numerous times by native speakers to uncover potential problems. All administrative and sales personnel who will be Working regularly in the target market must have a degree of fluency that will permit their marketing skills to be effective over the long-term.
　　THE CULTURE CHALLENGE
　　Understanding the target culture is a continuing difficulty, even for major global market players. Pundits may be claiming that the world is becoming more and more homogenized, but theres only scant evidence of it in marketing. Cultural challenges are perceptual, and perception changes regularly. Having a firm understanding of what a culture was like a decade ago is of practically no use today. Cultural research must be continually updated if advertising and promotions are to work.
　　Even cultures that have had a long-term relationship with each other can have difficulty communicating. For instance, though the Paris-based House of Chanel has been a name brand in the United States for many decades, they were unable to reach the American market with an ad that was hugely successful in Europe. The now-famous Egoiste fragrance ad-featuring women screaming out the brand name from the windows of a Riviera hotel-made very little sense to the U.S. consumer. The ad was just "too French" for the United States and demonstrates a lack of market research. Another Chanel advertising campaign, this one for the Coco line, featured scantily clad European pop star Vanessa Paradis swinging on a trapeze inside of a birdcage. This ad was quite successful, even though few in the U.S. market knew who Ms. Paradis was. In this case, the sexual nature of the advertisement crossed the cultural line. The same ad, however, would have been banned in much of Asia and the Middle East.