As an entrepreneur you’ve heard it said that you need to know your market. It’s very true because if you don’t know what your market needs you won’t be able to meet those needs. If you can’t meet those needs your market isn’t going to buy from you because you are unable to solve their problems.
You need to go beyond just being able to solve their problems, you need to know how to market to them so that they know that you have a solution to their problems. Without that we will not be able to make any real money online or offline as an entrepreneur.
Even large companies with dedicated marketing divisions can make major marketing errors without the proper market research. Perhaps you have heard of some of these famous errors. We can take these errors made by those large companies and use them to benefit our businesses.
Major Marketing Errors
When General Motors wasn’t selling any Chevy Novas in Mexico they discovered that in Spanish “Nova” means “It won’t go.” Once they changed the name of the car in Mexico they found the cars selling.
Gerber baby food was surprised that they weren’t selling any jarred baby food in Africa. When they looked into matters they discovered that due to the low literacy rates most food products in Africa have a picture of the food on the packaging label! Apparently nobody was interested in eating that cute little gerber baby!
Coors beer attempted to translate their saying “Turn it Loose” into Spanish but wound up with the translation “Suffer from diarrhea!” Clearly that was not a big seller.
Clairol started selling a curling iron called the Mist Stick in Germany where mist was slang for manure. Manure stick, anyone?
When Coca Cola translated their name into Chinese it meant, “Bite the wax tadpole” or “Female horse stuffed with wax” depending on the dialect.
When Pepsi translated their slogan “Come alive with the Pepsi Generation” it translated in Chinese to, “Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave!”
Takeaway
First of all I hope that you enjoyed reading those stories – and the funny picture! Sometimes all it takes is something as small as having a second or even third pair of eyes look something over for us before we start to market something.
Everyone makes mistakes, even the big guys! Isn’t that good to know? When we make mistakes we are not failures, we are actually in very good company!
But many mistakes can be avoided if you find out what your market wants and how they think.
Chances are that you won’t be translating anything into another language but you can still do some research to find out what they want and how they think. You can create a survey to find out. You can ask a question on your blog or your email list. You can go to a forum where your market hangs out and ask questions.
You don’t need to have a lot of money or a marketing department to do your own research and get results that will bring you success in your entrepreneurial endeavors.
To Your Success,
PS: If you enjoyed this post please share it with your friends and followers! Leave a comment to let me know what you think!
Thank you for reading! I'm Stacy, the owner of this blog. You can learn more about me here.
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Well yes, they are all funny, but I don’t think anyone of us will like it when it happens to ourselves! Thanks for sharing this with us, Stacy!
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Stacy Reply:
February 22nd, 2012 at 1:56 pm
No, it’s never funny when it happens to us. But I’m sure that they can laugh after learning from it. I can look back at some of my mistakes and have a chuckle too!
Thanks for stopping by!
Stacy
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Those are pretty funny failures! We can learn from these examples even without having committed them.
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Stacy Reply:
February 22nd, 2012 at 1:57 pm
I always prefer to learn from other’s mistakes rather than my own!
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I enjoyed this… a lot
Brightened my morning for sure. The failed Pepsi slogan translation made me giggle. It’s always a great reminder to know that the ‘big guys’ aren’t perfect either.
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Stacy Reply:
February 22nd, 2012 at 2:02 pm
Melissa,
I’m glad that bring some humor to your morning!
I got a kick out of that Pepsi translation too!
Stacy
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LOL Oh this gave me a golly good laugh of the day.
I don’t think anything is wrong with these mistakes, while they may translate poorly, I’m more than certain the company learned from it and are having a good laugh about it now. 
Morgan invites you to read… 11 Amazing Ways to Tap Into The Awesomeness That Is Flickr
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Stacy Reply:
February 22nd, 2012 at 2:04 pm
Hi Morgan,
I’m glad this gave you a good laugh!
I’m sure they learned a good lesson, that we can learn from too! 
Stacy
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These are funny but quite true. You have to be so careful when you are marketing a business. Bad press spreads much quicker than good press! Brandi – Blogging Mastermind Tribe
Keeping It Indie invites you to read… TWO CENTS: Art School
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Stacy Reply:
February 22nd, 2012 at 2:05 pm
That’s very true! I’ve even seen some companies use bad press to their advantage, it can work if done properly!
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Thanks Stacey for sharing this kind of funny blog..You should take care if your are entering in this kind of business..
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Stacy Reply:
February 22nd, 2012 at 2:05 pm
Agree, Aileen!
Stacy
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Lol! ‘Big sale on coke powder…’ You’ve really made my day with this, I think I’ll forward your post to my friends in the marketing scene:)
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Stacy Reply:
February 22nd, 2012 at 2:06 pm
Thanks for the share, Julie!
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This was great! Thanks for the laugh (and the message!)
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Stacy Reply:
February 22nd, 2012 at 2:06 pm
Thank you, Anthony!
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That’s very comical Stacy. I think we’ve all bitten the ‘wax tadpole’ once or twice. Ptoooweee!
Loved the post it gave me a laugh today when I so desperately need one!
Jayne
Jayne Kopp@personal development coach invites you to read… Serious about Starting a Business Online? Maybe You Need to Get Cracking Then!
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Stacy Reply:
February 22nd, 2012 at 2:07 pm
Hi Jayne,
Great play on words!
I wrote this post over the weekend and I definitely needed the laugh today too!
Stacy
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Lol Stacy, Thanks for the Laugh.
I can only imagine suffering from diarrhea from drinking beer. That’s gold.
I always get my bestie to proof read my stuff first, she’s awesome. To the point of saying, No don’t use capitals here it looks like you’re yelling at me.
I am so blessed.
rene@personalloans invites you to read… Personal Finance Tips Anyone Can Use
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Stacy Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 2:08 pm
Hi Rene,
A good friend will tell us the truth!
Stacy
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Hilarious Stacy!
And a good clear message that we all make mistakes and that doesn’t make us failures. Unless we decide to be a failure. We fall down, but we get up!
My Best ~Stephen
Stephen Peters@Promting your blog invites you to read… Promoting Your Blog …. Gravatar Avatar
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Stacy Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 2:09 pm
Hi Stephen,
I’m glad you enjoyed it! That’s exactly it, we learn from our mistakes and keep going!
Stacy
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Oh wow…you had me laughing out loud – seriously! – just at the coke powder image. And the Chevy Nova is a classic. I have always wondered – did they not have a single Hispanic person in the entire GM workforce? Whatever were they thinking?
David @ Canadian news invites you to read… Write when you are inspired.
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Stacy Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 2:12 pm
Hi David,
You definitely have to wonder! Though when Taco Bell came out with their chili-cheese burritos they called them “chilitos”. My friend, who’s dad grew up in Mexico, said that chilito was slang for a male body part. Sure enough the “chilito” was called the chili-cheese burrito not long afterward. You would think that Taco Bell could have figured that one out though!
I should have added that story into my post, I’d forgotten about it!
Stacy
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Hi Stacy,
Really enjoyed your mistake stories. Speaking myself 3 languages and knowing all to well what different languages and culture can do, I can only imaging how those marketing mistakes must have been disastrous in other cultures and languages.
Here I have two funny language stories for you. I am from France and my mother doesn’t speak English at all. The first time she ever came to visit me in the US was when I lived in New York.
One day we came into a store and on the door it said “no pets” except that pets in French is the exact word for “farts” so for my mother, the sign was saying “no farts”. Do I need to tell you how much she laughed?
Another funny one is the animal called “seal” in English which in French is “phoque” and it’s pronounce just like the F*** word in English, Yep!
So, we were in an Ashboro, NC
zoo one day, with my mother again, and she said out loud (of course!) in French look at the “phoques”! there were few people staring at us, how embarrassing!
But, this goes to tell you, languages don’t mix well together, so beware when you want to bring market in a foreign language and culture
Sylviane Nuccio invites you to read… Blogging = Writing? Oh, Crud, What Now?
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Stacy Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 2:15 pm
Hi Sylviane,
Those are both funny! Sometimes language translations can be hilarious! One time a friend of mine who didn’t speak much spanish told someone in Mexico that she was “embarasado” which means pregnant! She was definitely embarrassed after that!
Stacy
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Stacy, I really enjoyed the articles points about making mistakes. That is how we learn and as you said even the big boys make them. I also wrote an article related to yours about niche marketing if you want to check it out. http://wp.me/p1Hk3R-66
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Stacy Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 2:17 pm
Thanks for sharing!
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Kristoffer Thompson Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 2:21 pm
Thanks for your replying to my email Stacy. I Immediately implemented what you told me. – Kris
Kristoffer Thompson invites you to read… Increase Sales: Why Sales “Slip Through The Cracks” & What To Do About It
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Stacy Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 2:51 pm
I’m glad that it helped, Kristoffer!
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Oh I love this article. What I took away from it is that, other than the market research, we also need to know how to market to our prospective customers so that they know we have what they want.
Thanks for laugh Stacy!
Janus@design a blog invites you to read… 4 Essential Steps To Make Your WordPress Site More Magnetic
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Stacy Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 2:45 pm
Janus,
That’s an excellent point! Thank you!
Stacy
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Haha! I guess the moral of the story is watch what you say. P.S The General motors story was FUUNNYYY!!
Joseph@Allentown Nightlife invites you to read… Ringer’s Roost
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Stacy Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 2:47 pm
That can definitely be one of the takeaways!
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Hey Stacy,
This post is hilarious ! I agree with Joseph, we just got to watch what we say..
thanks for sharing this post with us Stacy
Easther invites you to read… Speed Up Operating System, Protect Your Data And Enjoy Surfing
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Stacy Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 2:48 pm
Yes, we do!
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For good marketing results always do marketing according to the mental approach of the audience.
Maja@fantastic sams invites you to read… Choice of Hair Color
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Stacy Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 2:49 pm
Yes, we always need to think about how our market thinks!
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Amusing marketing mishaps like these tend to be all to abundant, especially from people who should know better!
Translation isn’t always just from language to language. This is absolutely crucial to understand your market.
Things can very easily get lost in translation going from your mind to the page, or from a younger generation to an older one(and vice versa).
The internet is a world wide domain, so many of our blogs are also crossing culture barriers.
As long as we take the time to understand our target market, and seek directly to them, on THEIR terms, we can’t miss!
Thanks Stacy! This was a humorous reminder of a much needed lesson
Micah invites you to read… The 3 Simplest Ways To Get Traffic To Your Blog (guaranteed to work)
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Stacy Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 3:01 pm
Micah,
Those are great examples of other ways that our message can get lost in translation!
Stacy
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Hilarious and so spot on! How many times we don’t pay attention to the messages we are sending out. Thanks for the funny reminder! I’ll be thinking about these for a WHILE!
Martha Giffen invites you to read… Finding Blog Content That Rocks!
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Stacy Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 3:07 pm
Martha,
I’m glad that you enjoyed this! I think that stories like these are memorable and that’s part of what helps us to learn from them – we don’t forget about them as soon as we close the window!
Stacy
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I like these Stacy, coke for sale
Way to keep us laughing.
Michael Belk invites you to read… Why are you still talking? Start listening.
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Stacy Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 3:07 pm
Thanks, Michael! I’m glad that you enjoyed it!
Stacy
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These are all awesome suggestions of how slogans and brands don’t always translate from one language to another. Communication messages often do not translate from one culture to another. I spend a lot of my time trying to adapt various health messages in different languages and for various cultures and often I experience these odd experiences, like the ones that you mentioned. They are quite funny though.
Kristen @ stress and health online invites you to read… Sleepless in New Delhi: The Stress of Jet Lag
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Stacy Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 3:09 pm
Hi Kristen,
I’m sure that you do spend quite a bit of time on it, a slight error in translation can make a huge difference!
Stacy
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Hi Stacy, these really makes my day. Aside from the fact that they are helpful, you really bring out a twist out of this. Thanks
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Stacy Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 3:09 pm
I’m glad that you enjoyed this, Herbert!
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Stacy,
These are awesome and we can certainly learn a lot from big companies. in fact when I coach my clients I’m often telling them how to look at typical media critically. From the popular TV shows to the magazines that have been around for decades…these people have built a thriving business and know a few things.
They know how to attract and keep customers. Have you looked at the layout of a magazine article? perfect for bloggers. Or TV shows…have you counted the length of time with those 3-4 video clips that precede the story?
We can take lots of clues from big companies. Thank you for the light hearted lesson!
Ken Pickard
The Network Dad
Ken Pickard invites you to read… 10 Quick Tips To Increase Your Productivity: Take The Quiz
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Stacy Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 3:10 pm
Hi Ken,
That’s great advice! It reminds me of when I went through the ProBlogger’s month long challenge. One of the days was focused on that exact activity!
Stacy
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Hi Stacy
This post made me smile. As part of my business I use email marketing and sometimes catch myself using UK slang (the American’s love it
). Then I realise I’m sending emails to people from all over the world so I need to be mindful of that. Still I’m pretty sure somewhere along the line I’ve slipped up with a translation boo boo lol.
We need some bright spark to create an all in one translator. One which could check words and phrases for multiple countries simultaneously at the push of a button. Reckon that would be possible?
Mena @ Weight Loss Tips and Reviews invites you to read… How to Get Rid of Cellulite on Legs: 5 Facts About Real Cellulite Reduction
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Stacy Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 3:11 pm
Hi Mena,
That’s a great point! I don’t often stop to think about slang when I write. I know that my readers are from all over and that is something that I need to be aware of!
Stacy
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Stacy, there are great stories, where did you get them from? I want to read more. It just goes to show how effective marketing can be with the proper localization (or in this case the opposite).
Linda invites you to read… PDF Search
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Stacy Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 3:12 pm
Hi Linda,
You can google “funny marketing errors” or something similar!
Stacy
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Wow… these are big companies who you would think have marketing divisions that wouldn’t make these mistakes! I was very amused by these, I’m sure there are many more… a blogger can make an awesome site on these marketing errors alone, if not, at least they would make great case studies in business school
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Stacy Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 3:18 pm
Yes, they would!
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Hi Stacy,
Awesome and very funny. I think it is a great idea to have someone look over your marketing campaign before launch. My Mentor Pam Hendrickson calls it “testing!” and says test everything.
So many things to think about the reason why planning is such an important phase in content creation and marketing.
Best,
Joe
JosephJYoung invites you to read… The Debt Free Christian Video 4: Needs Vs. Wants
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Stacy Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 3:19 pm
Hi Joe,
It’s very important to have a second set of eyes! We can easily miss something that would be obvious to an outsider!
Stacy
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Aloha Stacy, gosh at times we don’t think of whole picture and take it for what it is, but after reading your post we should have a broader out look in what we do. I enjoyed the follow-ups on some of these companies and what they discovered with a little changes with big results. Mahalo, Lani
Lani invites you to read… Url Shortener, Could It Be A Benefit Or A Drawback?
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Stacy Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 3:23 pm
Hi Lani,
I agree!
Thanks for sharing!
Stacy
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Hey Stacy,
I especially love the one from Coca Cola: “Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave!”. If I drink a Coca Cola my grandpa will come home again. How cool is that 
Wonderful post. It lighten up my day
These little accidents are part of the game. We all have few of them from time to time. I love what Stephen said above: there are not failures, unless if we call them so.
Beautiful point in the end: questions, surveys, email broadcats-all these are valid ways to communicate and find out what your audience needs/wants the most.
Thanks for sharing Stacy. Gotta spread the word!
All the best,
Radu
Radu invites you to read… Blog Content Ideas: 40 Simple Ways To Never Run Dry
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Stacy Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 3:25 pm
Hi Radu,
Thankfully there are so many ways to find out what our audience wants! It’s amazing how often they don’t want what we think they do!
Stacy
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I love the funny stories, but the best part of your blog is that we all make mistakes of all sorts. Since we do this, we don’t need to be so hard on ourselves when we do. Humor helps.
Ann invites you to read… 3 Caregiver Tips By J. Dietrich Stroeh
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Stacy Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 3:26 pm
That’s exactly it, Ann!
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Haha,
Stacy great post, hilarious! I’ve heard about the marketing mistakes of these large companies but never had any issues myself. Market research is key, but if you aren’t making any mistakes, you aren’t taking enough action (or risks).
Thank’s
~ Ragnar
Ragnar Crowley invites you to read… A Complete Avant Home Business Review
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Stacy Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 3:27 pm
That’s very true, Ragnar!
Stacy
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Hi Stacy,
The marketing errors from the big guys were quite funny. It just goes to show that everyone needs to do research before launching a new product or marketing campaign.
Thanks for this entertaining post.
Jamella invites you to read… If you had 24 hours to yourself, what would you do?
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Stacy Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 3:28 pm
Hi Jamella,
Definitely!
If they make mistakes then we can expect to as well, no reason to feel bad about it!
Stacy
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Hi Stacy,
These are really funny, at least to us. I don’t know of any way to prevent these mistakes. I suppose big companies could hire local people to do their ad campaigns, but most of us would be unable to do that. We’d just have to hope some uncontrollably laughing friend would tell us about it. Oh well, laughter is good, too.
Lou
Lou Barba@shortstorykitchen.co invites you to read… It’s Hard to Say Goodbye to Loneliness
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Stacy Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 3:29 pm
Hi Lou,
I think that in most cases just having someone else look over our marketing efforts would make a big difference! Two heads are better than one!
Stacy
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Stacy,
I like the Pepsi one best. If you ask me, I’m surprised that wasn’t a success. Maybe until they realized it didn’t work.
I’ve not heard those before, but there was an HSBC advert here in the UK about similar marketing errors. They weren’t as funny as yours.
Fin invites you to read… Forming New Habits: The Challenge
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Stacy Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 3:30 pm
Hi Fin,
That’s definitely false advertising!
Stacy
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Stacy,
What great advice in any situation to understand with whom you are communicating. In a business you may not only offend people, make a fool of yourself, but ultimately turn people off for good. If you are lucky they will laugh and forgive you, but it would be far less headache if you just hired one more editor before publishing…If you continually make these mistakes your reputation is at steak. And that is a hard thing to repair.
Rebecca Reddy invites you to read… Hungry As A Bear
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Stacy Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 3:31 pm
Rebecca,
That’s an important point, we need to be careful to protect our reputation!
Stacy
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Good fun Stacey!! Never, ever use Google translate since you may end up with the kind of translations you mentioned.
We all make mistakes and they are esssential for our development and learning.
But there’s s limit and your suggestions for avoiding such blunders are good!
Catarina Alexon invites you to read… Is Joseph Stieglitz right calling European austerity a suicide pact?
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Stacy Reply:
February 28th, 2012 at 3:39 pm
That’s good to know, Catarina! Thanks for the tip about google translate!
Stacy
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Hi Stacy,
These stories are way funny
Can you imagine how disgusted the chinese would have been?
Very good advice! Always know your audience. Ask questions and ask questions until you know what they want and how they want it.
Thanks for the good laugh
Tosin
Tosin|Home-based business coach invites you to read… MLSP Success Stories: Nicole Cooper
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Stacy Reply:
March 7th, 2012 at 2:06 pm
Hi Tosin,
I can imagine they would have been quite disgusted!
Stacy
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I like this post, enjoyed this one thanks for putting up.
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Stacy Reply:
March 7th, 2012 at 2:23 pm
I’m glad that you enjoyed it, Stan.
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Hi Stacy,
Nice post/Blog, I’m on learn SEO/IM, thanks for sharing.Thanks ya, Erni
[Reply]
Stacy Reply:
March 7th, 2012 at 3:16 pm
Thank you for stopping by, I’m glad you enjoyed the post!
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