Globalization makes you rise, globalization makes you fall.

“The key to his success is also his undoing.”                                                                 – an ancient quote in China

Technology shorten the distance between person and person. It brings us globalization. While people cheer up for the “global village” ,  we, as a marketer, must also keep an  eye on potential traps brought by globalization.

Rise!

According to Daimler Investor Relations Release, in 2017, Mercedes-Benz sold approximately 2.3 million cars worldwide, increasing its unit sales by 9.9%. With growth of over 25%, China was the market with the strongest absolute growth and the largest individual market for Mercedes-Benz. 587,868 Mercedes-Benz automobiles were handed over to customers there last year. The increase of more than 25.9% helped Mercedes-Benz to post a new sales record in China. So, it can be said that China market plays an extremely important role on helping Mercedes take the lead in the global luxury car market.

Fall?

Recently, I noticed a hot topic of Mercedes-Benz spread widely in Sina Weibo. Mercedes’ seemingly benign post to its official Instagram account showed a Benz on a beach before rolling white-capped waves. It was supposed to be a normal marketing campaign. But the most ridiculous point is that they quoted the Dalai Lama, who is seen by Beijing as a separatist.

By the way, as a Chinese, I feel disgusting by just watching the photo of Dalai Lama. So I choose not to put his photo in my blog. How dare Mercedes cite his words in their social media, a public world for people from all over the world? It can’t be challenging China market. So, Mercedes-Benz must be ignoring that they are living in the age of globalization. Everything spreads through the Internet everyday. This event has already made media over-boiled. Will it lead Mercedes-Benz to fall?

Apologize.

Without any doubt, Mercedes-Benz quickly deleted the photo after the outcry and issued an apology on Sina Weibo, a China’s social media platform. They said “Although we deleted the post as soon as possible, it has hurt the feelings of people in this country. In this regard, we extend our sincerest apologies.” They also promised that they will immediately take real action to deepen their understanding of Chinese culture and values to regulate our behavior.

Their response was applauded by China’s foreign ministry, but attacked by some China’s media. People’s Daily has written an editorial attacking Mercedes after it published an apology. But will Chinese customers forgive them? Only time and data will tell.

My opinion

This crisis should have been avoided. Mercedes-Benz is such a giant company in the world. They must respect different cultures if they want to survive and succeed in this globalized age. But they didn’t show any respect this time. I feel shame on them. Like hammering a nail into a plank, even you remove the nail afterward. It will still leave a hole in the plank. Even Mercedes-Benz made an apology after they did this improper thing, it will still leave a bad influence in the mind of Chinese permanently. Their reaction of this crisis was timely but feeble. Because they only made a oral apology, but never use some actions to make up for their mistake and to promote their brand.

In digital worlds, globalization can make you rise, because there are much more opportunities and larger market. But if you care less about different cultures, globalization also can make you fall. So every action should be taken after careful consideration. As the marketing department, they should be careful with these controversies when they are making the campaign before the campaign launches. On the contrary, PR department should pay close attention to the public reaction after the campaign launches. With cooperation, the company will operate stably.