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PUBLIC RELATIONS ACROSS CULTURES: BUILDING
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATION BRIDGES
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By N. Paune
The Public Relations (PR) industry is responsible for creating and
maintaining relationships between clients and customers. Through areas

such as brand management, advertising, media relations and crisis
management, PR practitioners seek to foster interest, trust and belief in a
product or company. PR practitioners are aware of how best to carry this
out when dealing within their own nations and cultures, however, when

dealing with a foreign audience it is critical that cross cultural
differences are recognised. By way of illustrating the impact cross
cultural awareness can have on the success or failure of a PR campaign a

brief example can be cited: Pepsodent tried to sell its toothpaste in
Southeast Asia by emphasizing that it "whitens your teeth." They found
out that the local natives chew betel nuts to blacken their teeth because

they found it attractive. Had the PR company behind this campaign
analysed the cross cultural issues related to Pepsodent's product, the
failure of this PR campaign could have been avoided. Cross cultural

differences can make or break a PR campaign. It is therefore crucial that
PR practitioners dealing with PR campaigns that incorporate a cross
cultural element analyse likely cross cultural differences. A few key
areas shall be highlighted in order to help PR practitioners begin to

consider how culture may affect future projects.
Language and Culture
In order for a PR campaign to be successful 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
failure. For example, when Ford launched the 'Pinto' in Brazil they were

puzzled as to why sales were dead. Fortunately they found out that
Brazilians did not 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

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Paune N. Public Relations across Cultures: Building International Communication
Bridges / N. Paune. – Available at:http://aboutpublicrelations.net/ucpayne.htm