What Would The Global You Do?
Scott Farrell, president of global corporate communications at Golin, visited our chapter on Oct. 28 for an interactive presentation. As a leader at one of the agency world’s top corporate communications practices, Farrell has directed corporate reputation campaigns in more than 30 countries. During our meeting, he spoke about becoming more globally aware to ensure success when working internationally.
Farrell was part of the team that launched a campaign called ‘The Human Element’ for Dow Chemical Company in 2006. While the campaign was successful in America, other countries did not have a positive view of the campaign. These countries felt their culture and norms were being underrepresented. For example, people in China voiced concerns about the black box in the human element campaign surrounding the campaign photo. In China, a black box around a photo represents death. Learning from the mistakes the agency made, Farrell and his team listened to the voices of those not represented and adapted their campaign. The end result was successful.
Farrell and his team learned an applicable lesson for the field of global communications: We must know how to operate seamlessly across borders and be aware of cultural discrepancies between nations in order to ensure effective relations.
Vietnam, Philippines and Nigeria are rising actors on the world stage. Farrell explained that the U.S. economy is predicted to fall by 16%, and China and India will take off between now and 2050. These are cultures we are not exposed to as frequently, but that doesn’t mean we won’t be in our future careers. Farrell said as new countries become world leaders, communicators must know how to appeal to various cultures, norms and values.
After Farrell’s initial presentation, everyone took a survey with 19 questions about what they would do in a hypothetical scenario that occurs internationally in global communications. Farrell or one of his colleagues were involved in each of the scenarios. For instance, Farrell explained that he and his colleagues were in China holding a meeting about crises, and they originally placed name tags for those in attendance on each table. They learned through this mistake that people do not want name tags in China for fear of their identity being known.
Some key takeaways during his interactive activity were:
Asking what to expect during your time abroad is crucial. This could involve clothing, mannerisms, timeliness, etc.
Going outside of your comfort zone, experiencing other cultures and being sure to ask questions when working internationally are all keys to success in global communications.
In his closing remark, Farrell said, “the way you do it and think isn’t always the right way. You have to put on your global hat.” In the field of global communications, those who are culturally aware and can operate smoothly across borders will be among the most successful PR practitioners.
Written by Aubree Stelogeannis
Photo by Paola Ojeda-Villegas