Bridging the cultural gap! - Editorial

It is no longer just a social responsibility to focus on the minority community. It is ah imperative!

If you are in business in America, marketing to the multi-ethnic minority consumers is a given; these markets are substantial. And, in fact, in the next decade the Hispanic population will number 30 million, while the number of Asian Americans is expected to grow to almost 20 million. African-Americans, who now number more than 1 million, will triple their numbers by the year 2010.

Bridging the cultural gap in business involves more than language barriers. For example, in Asian business concerns, friendship must come first before business deals are made.

Another problem we face is in translation. English ads and slogans don't mean anything when translated literally into Chinese. And some English words are insulting in the Spanish translation.

Even numbers can be culturally offending. In Chinese, the number 'four' is the number of death. Asians view aggressive American business people suspiciously. The Chinese character for 'money' has four strokes. They say you should never try to chase money, since you have only two legs and it has four. You have to let the money chase you!

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