Thomas Sumter - Week 3 Essay-Managerial Analysis-Nov.12th

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Feb 20, 2024

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A Seat at the Dinner Table: Lamb & Religious Inclusion Thomas A. Sumter, MPH Tsumter1012@gmail.com Global Perspectives for International Business Dr. Edward Haberek Due: November 13 th , 2023

Introduction: Meat & Livestock Australia is an independent company that sets meat and livestock management standards in Australian and international markets. Recently, the company approached us to provide professional insights on their new culturally sensitive marketing approach to increase lamb meat sales. Considering and understanding the importance of cultural differences among their potential target consumer base is essential to growing their current products and getting a leg up on their competition in regional markets (Hunt, 2019). Cultural differences can vary within a country(regional) but also specific demographic groups and subgroups (black women vs black men, parents vs childless adults, Christians vs Atheists) (Payne, 2020) . I will evaluate this company's international marketing approach, particularly their new "Lamb The Meat More People Can Eat You Never Lamb Alone" ad, and prepare a professional, organized, detailed report with recommendations. Advertisement (Ad) Analysis: The company's marketing team believes that their ad effectively delivered their message to their consumers, centered around diversity, inclusion, peace, unity, and respect for all cultures, specifically religious differences. However, this thorough analysis of the ad reveals some concerns that need to be addressed and a few reasons the ad could work. Strengths: The strengths of the "Lamb The Meat More People Can Eat You Never Lamb Alone" ad are that it was bold and catchy from the beginning. The ad promotes lamb meat as a diet option available to everyone. Furthermore, the ad pairs that standard meat option with a social gathering dinner setting that most everyone can relate to (Maxkil, 2017). In many cultures, eating together or "breaking bread" together is one of the universal ways of connecting and bringing people

together, whether it is family, friends, or strangers. Overall, the Ad is visually appealing, funny with many relatable, easy-to-understand jokes, and is not offensive to any religious deity. In addition, it is historically accurate based on beliefs of the varying religions (i.e., Muhammad not idolized, present). The ad overall was easy to remember for many great reasons. Weaknesses: With that said, there were some notable weaknesses I came across. First, the biggest weakness is that the ad appealed almost exclusively to a more liberal-thinking, younger crowd of believers/religious observers. These followers of respective religions are more open to light- hearted, fun, joking references to their respective religions/deities. Conservative followers of those same belief systems typically would be outraged or even insulted by the promotion of their religions/deities in this manner. Thus, they risk alienating a large part of their target base depending on their region/country. Next, while mostly accurate, the ad needed to be fully researched thoroughly. The Hindu deity presented is Ganesha, presented as eating lamb and drinking wine. However, Hindu culture is predominantly vegetarian and preaches Vegetarian abstaining from alcohol as a lifestyle. This oversight will alienate and insult many Indian/Hindu followers. Finally, while being titled after lamb, the ad does not offer further details about lamb or why it is relevant beyond stating "the meat we can all eat." This marketing campaign must include further information from the company on why lamb is relevant to the conversation. Otherwise, on the surface, it is created with the assumption that we will all understand the importance of lamb in this conversation and why it matters as a meat we all can eat. Minute details like this, while innocent in intention, could be detrimental to a brand.

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Opportunities: Stemming from the weaknesses mentioned above, I came up with a few opportunities to go along with this ad. While the ad is tremendous and connects the brand to millions of potential consumers, the market opportunities and oversight could also cause the brand to be banned from specific markets. First, the opportunity is here to present Lamb meat to new markets and consumers who may eat lamb less than other food products. There is an opportunity to grow social interactions and community building around this new dining experience. There is an opportunity to connect people of different ethnic and religious cultural backgrounds over the love of a new food. There is also the opportunity to teach their market about different religious groups that are different from their respective belief systems. The company's opportunity to bridge the conversations of diversity, inclusion, and religious tolerance is eloquently done here. Risks: As much as this idea has many opportunities, there are also many risks to consider. First, as discussed, the risk of not correcting the reference to Ganesha hurts their brand substantially. Indians comprise 19% (1.5 Billion) of the global population, with 80% to 85% of that 1.5 Billion being Hindu. Thus, their ad, as it stands, risks insulting 1.2 Billion people. The cultural insensitivity associated with the ad is significant enough that even individuals outside of the Hindu following may still shy away from their brand out of solidarity. This phenomenon, known as cultural solidarity, is when one marginalized group or culture supports the efforts of another group/culture that was insulted/infringed upon (Payne, 2020). This phenomenon is often seen in Civil Rights movements/protests when multiple groups come together to support each other's Civil Rights requests/movements. Furthermore, this ad risks insulting or treating a severe/taboo topic, such as Religious beliefs, as something too light.

Recommendations: Firstly, while focusing on diversity and unity, this ad fails in some areas to fully acknowledge and respect the cultural significance of lamb meat in specific communities. It does a great job of bringing the conversation of mutual religious tolerance to the forefront but needs to highlight why the lamb is significant. In some respect, this must be shown in the ad somehow. The ad shows people of different cultures coming together to eat lamb meat, but it overlooks that some cultures do not eat lamb for religious or cultural reasons. Secondly, the ad's humor may not be well-received in some cultures or conservative communities within the same religious groups. While well received by younger followers, this type of humor may not be as openly supported by older or even more conservative worshipping followers. Understanding this will be necessary for their marketing goals and target populations. I recommend using this ad in more liberal-leaning areas for tolerance for this type of humor. Conclusion: Meat & Livestock Australia needs to consider these concerns and adjust its marketing strategy to increase sales and reach a wider audience. Meat & Livestock Lamb has the potential to be a successful marketing campaign. However, it is essential to address cultural sensitivity concerns to ensure that the ad is well-received by all communities and to avoid any negative impact on sales (Lumen Learning, 2016) .

References 1. Hunt, J. (2019, February 12). Cultural influences on marketing strategies . Small Business - Chron.com. https://smallbusiness.chron.com/cultural-influences-marketing-strategies- 26121.html 2. Lumen Learning. (2016, season-01). Cultural factors shaping the Global Marketing environment | Principles of Marketing . https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-marketing-spring2016/chapter/reading-cultural- factors-shaping-the-global-marketing-environment/ 3. Maxkil. (2017, January 14). 2017 Australia Day Lamb Ad video Full version [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGdj1TwBU1w 4. Payne, W. (2020, May 8). Chapter 3: Culture as a Social Construct . Pressbooks. https://uark.pressbooks.pub/humanbehaviorandthesocialenvironment2/chapter/3-culture-as- as-social-construct/

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Thomas Sumter - Week 3 Essay-Managerial Analysis-Nov.12th

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