i is for international.

Being in a foreign country is exhilarating. I loved my experience but there were times when I got a little bit homesick. Seeing international brands, ads, and companies was comforting and it made me feel like I had a little bit of home with me. International marketing was abundant and I was interested in seeing the differences. South America offered the options of Burger King, Cinemark, OfiShop (Office Depot), Chili’s, T.G.I. Friday’s, McDonalds, Pepsi, and Coca-Cola.

There were billboards for McDonalds, Pepsi, and Coca-Cola. Surprisingly, there was a lot of advertising for the movie The Lorax. Even in the outskirts of Trujillo they had posters on poles. There was also a store that was selling juice boxes that contained images and advertisements for the movie. I also stumbled upon ads for cologne with Justin Timberlake and makeup ads with Emma Watson.

McDonalds is huge anywhere you go. I typically don’t eat there, ever. However, on the trip I ended up eating there five different times because of time and convenience and because there was nothing else decent in the airport. I did notice that out of the five times I ate there I only saw a dollar menu one time. They also have a smaller menu.

                                                                                                                            


Peru had t-shirts that were similar to the brands of Puma or Adidas but they were altered to incorporate something from the country.

  

                   

One of the most interesting things that I saw was on a package of cigarettes. While in a shop I saw that the cigarette packages had pictures on them that warned the buyer that the cigarettes will create various forms of cancer. While mildly disturbing, I found the idea ingenious. I hope that maybe the U.S. will incorporate the idea and help prevent the results of smoking. 

a is for american.

Fun fact: Americans stick out. Badly. We walked around in our large group, talking in English, and confirming the stereotype that we are indeed LOUD. Because of this we are targets for merchants, restaurants, and thieves. I fear that some of this will be reiteration but hopefully the majority will be original.

There were many different ways that we were promoted to on our trip. One of the major ways was through word of mouth. We got information from our directors, hotel staff, people on the street, and SEED interns. We asked for directions, opinions, and lots of places to eat. The hotel in Cusco directed us to a laundry place that was extremely far away and one of the faculty in Trujillo recommended an amazing chicken restaurant that I ate at four times.

People will appeal to our nature to spend and to spend a lot. Again, there were many people who would usher us into their restaurants with empty promises. There was an experience that I had in Cusco that took advantage of my nature. Cusco is filled with culture and color. While walking near the cathedral I was approached by two girls. They were the epitome of a stereotypical Peruvian complete with the dark eyes and colorful apparel. They held lambs in their arms. I never stood a chance. My heart was taken advantage of as they asked if I wanted a picture. Of course I did! Afterwards, they didn’t ask for money, just a donation to build a new school for children. They stared up at me with those dark eyes and I ended up giving them ten soles. 

g is for goods.

I feel like I could talk about the shopping on this trip forever. There were many different types of shopping experiences. In Argentina, they have a tourist area called Florida Street that is filled with hundreds of shops and restaurants. There are different types of shops though. There are higher end shops and then there are more dowdy shops that are willing to barter with you. A lot of the shops have business cards that they will give you so that you can come back.

In Brazil the majority of our shopping was done in markets. The two main types of shopping are through shops or markets but there are also street vendors. You can definitely tell the class of the area by the shopping. If you shop in the tourist area of Buenos Aires then everything is very expensive. If you find yourself off the beaten path then the shopping is more geared toward the countries poorer population as opposed to tourists.

The exchange rates definitely affect your shopping experiences. There is a lot of math involved. Cusco, Peru was the cheapest shopping area we experienced. Across the street from our hotel there was a huge building filled with booth after booth filled with various goods. The streets were lined with shops and vendors. The art that I purchased was from a young man named Juan. The art vendors would wait outside of our hotel and try and sell to us when we emerged. Sometimes you would stop and look to be polite and they would try and charge you for looking if you didn’t buy anything! 

c is for consumer.

As I have said in past posts, we had the opportunity to visit many businesses. It was really interesting to see the differences between business in South America and business in the United States. One aspect that is same is the importance of consumers. Customers and stakeholders are an important part of any business and it was fascinating to see how they addressed those needs.

We visited the business of Arcor which is a candy confectionary business. Not only did we get to sample the product but I remember that we discussed the impact of the economy on their production. I was really impressed to hear how they took their consumers into account when making decisions regarding the production of certain products.

Natura is a cosmetics company in Brazil. They are similar to Avon. A lot of Natura’s employees are also customers. I was impressed with how Natura treats their employees. Not only do they get delicious lunches but they also have an expansive day care system so that women can have the opportunity to work. Natura focuses on giving their customers the best product that they can create.

Promperu is a Peruvian company that focuses on tourism for Peru. Tourists are the consumer and their job is to convince us to travel to Peru. One of the tactics that they used is bringing celebrities into the country and then using that publicity. Also, they try and inform potential tourists about all the opportunities that the country holds. I appreciated the honesty that this company displayed both in its presentation and in its own marketing endeavors. 

b is for bartering.

Bartering in South America was an experience, to say the least. I struggled quite a bit because I didn’t speak Spanish and every transaction required the help of one of friends. There is definitely a pricing difference between bartering and non-bartering situations. You really get a hard look at the standard of living that they experience. In some situations, I found myself giving up on bartering just so that they could have a little extra. I mean, I had the money so why not?

Bartering will almost always get you cheaper prices than a shop. We learned various tactics to use in bartering situations. A lot of the time we offered them deals where we bought more than one item. I noticed that they were more willing to lower the individual price when they knew that there would be more sales. Also, if you make an offer and they refuse you can try walking away. Every vendor is different. I encountered some that would have you name the price and then there were some that would stand firm no matter what.

I was really impressed by the quality of the products. While some were a bit dingy, there were many that had a lot of talent expressed in the goods. The art that they sell are original pieces and there was a woman who carved figurines out of matchsticks. There was also lots of leather, metal work, and hand woven work. Regardless of my purchasing decision, I would always compliment them on their work.

At the end of the day, it’s hard to barter because you know that you are the only thing that stands between that person and your money. You know that they may not have sold anything that day and that they may have children at home that rely on their income. 

t is for tourist.

When you travel it is really easy to get sucked into things that target tourists. Particularly shopping. The people are masters at manipulating tourists and trying to squeeze more money out of us. This is extremely noticeable at places like Machu Picchu and the Cristo Redentor.

At the Christ the Redeemer statue there were shops and small eateries that tourists could stop at. I noticed that the shops and food items were very overpriced, which was to be expected. Fortunately, I knew that the items they were trying to sell sold for a quarter of that price at the market near the beach. The problem is that there are tourists that will actually pay those prices just because it’s “authentic.”

When it comes to the bathroom and food, they have a huge advantage because tourists are lazy. We will pay for the convenience of a drink at the top of a mountain because it’s hot and we don’t want to wait until we get to the bottom of the mountain.

At Machu Picchu they try and get as much money as possible and because they’re on top of a mountain, they can. They even go to the extreme of charging money for the bathroom. At the beach, vendors will come around and try and sell you overpriced goods and take advantage of your supposed naiveté.

I think that it is a very interesting marketing aspect that they charge more in tourist areas. This even occurred in the more touristy areas of the different cities. 

p is for purchasing.

My buyer behavior varied a lot over the course of this trip. I noticed that at the beginning of the trip I tried really hard to try and conserve my money. I knew that I had a limited amount of funds in my bank account and so I did my best to budget for the various locations on the trip. It was hard because I wanted to be very cavalier in my spending because I was in a foreign country. My thought process was, “when am I ever going to be back here?” I also wanted to purchase certain items for my family. I did a lot of my budgeting with food so that I could have more money for souvenirs and it was very easy to eat for a small amount of money.

I noticed that as the trip went on I was a lot freer with my money because I had budgeted so well at the beginning and I had extra money. We started out in Argentina and then we went to Brazil and ended in Peru. I knew that Argentina and Brazil were going to be more expensive than Peru so that also affected my purchases. It was easier to shop in markets where you had the opportunity to barter. When you barter it makes you feel like you are getting a deal, even if you’re not. Also, in smaller markets it is easier to be affected by the emotional aspect of purchasing. When you see really poor people and they have their small children, it breaks your heart and makes me less willing to barter. 

d is for deception.

One thing that I cannot stand is being ripped off. I found that in South America they love to rip off tourists, particularly Americans. They think that we are too stupid to know any differently, especially when you don’t speak Spanish. There were MANY examples of this on my trip. In Trujillo, Peru they have these suckers that they call maracuya. We call them passion fruit. Many small vendors carry these suckers and we visited them often. The suckers typically cost fifty centavos which is half of a sole. Towards the end of the trip I was on a mission to find as many of these suckers as I could so that I could bring them home. I made the mistake of buying from a vendor in the town square. I picked up the suckers before I asked the price, assuming they were the standard fifty centavos. After I had my goods I tried paying the standard fifty centavos and the woman decided that she would charge me one sole for each sucker. I was too tired to argue but I was upset that the woman had the audacity to overcharge me.

Taxi drivers are also guilty of this. In Peru the cabs don’t have meters and you negotiate the price before you leave. We were grossly overcharged on our way to the beach and were not informed until later. When we arrived at the beach we set out to rent wet suits, boards, and a lesson. We agreed to pay thirty soles and when we went to pay we were charged thirty three.

Again, in Argentina at a tango show a photographer took pictures of our tables and before we left we all received a copy in a nice folder. We all assumed they were free. On our way he informed us they were fifty pesos each. A lot of us purchased them because we had already claimed them as our own. 

The most upsetting overcharging took place at a meat restaurant in Argentina. They lured our group in with promises of free items. Not only did we not receive the items, when we went to pay they decided to charge us an extra seventeen pesos per person! It was a ruthless marketing tactic. When we inquired as to the reason for the charge they explained it was for sitting at the table and they had to do the laundry for the tables. No one else in the restaurant received such a charge. We were extremely angry and the rest of the trip we always asked about hidden charges before we sat or ate the “complimentary bread.”

s is for swag.

In marketing we learned that S.W.A.G. stands for Stuff We All Get. As this was a business study abroad, we had many business visits. We were able to tour or have presentations from Arcor, Natura, Buenaventura, and Promperu. The majority of the visits provided us with food and drinks and some of them offered us SWAG. We received hats, pens, t-shirts, mugs, bags, and notebooks. It was interesting to connect this aspect of marketing to our business visits.

It was fascinating to pay attention to the marketing differences in the different countries. At the beginning of the trip, everything was very overwhelming. In Argentina, one of the main differences was their use of sex appeal. I found that there was a very strong focus on it. Some of it was very crude but you could definitely tell that they put an emphasis on beautiful people, particularly women. They also put an emphasis on a classy society, especially in fashion. The richer people in Buenos Aires dress very well. I paid attention to the shops and their display cases. There were a large amount of display cases that held very expensive women’s clothing or suits for men. So many suits! You could tell that the higher class have to meet certain expectations.

 In the larger cities like Rio de Janeiro, Lima, and Buenos Aires there were a lot of billboards and large advertisements. However, I had the opportunity to see the smaller aspect of marketing. For our loan evaluation, our group had to travel to the area of Chicama which is about an hour outside of Trujillo, Peru. While we walked the town, we interviewed various bodegas for our research. One bodega used a marketing tactic where they would advertise on a sign that put out front. It was very simple but an interesting view of the marketing in larger cities versus smaller towns.

Another fun fact? There are undergarment shops everywhere. They have no shame. Victoria’s Secret has been exposed in South America more than once.  

f is for food.

One of the best parts of this trip was the food. From fresh coconut to fried guinea pig, South America had a lot to offer. Similar to the United States, many food establishments had various deals. There was a small market in Cusco, Peru that offered a soup, entrée, and drink for fifteen soles which is approximately six U.S. dollars. The difference is that you can barter the price of the food depending on where you eat. I thought that was a really interesting difference.

Another marketing tactic that they used to their advantage was the persuasion of human contact. A lot of the higher end restaurants will have people that stand in front and try to persuade people (as they walk by) to eat at the restaurant. The people, typically men, will entice you with free appetizers or spirits which is a good way to get big groups to eat at their restaurant. 

One of the problems in South America is that the service is nowhere near the caliber of the United States so it requires a lot of patience. In Trujillo, Peru some friends and I had a misunderstanding at a chicken restaurant. The guys ordered a plate that included a free Pepsi (as you can see in the picture). As we sat and waited for our food, the combination of hunger and exhaustion took its toll. The guys in the group started complaining about how in the United States if the food was this late it would be complimentary. Already frustrated, disaster struck when the waiter tried to charge us for the Pepsi’s that were supposed to be included. If we had been required to pay this would have been a case of false advertising. Fortunately, they did not charge us for the drinks.