Reference no: EM132650010
Case: Following the fundamentalist revolution in Iran, the new Islamic government nationalized all major companies. Among them was a razor manufacturing firm operating with a British license. The company had been using the brand name "Tiz," which means "Sharp" in the local language.
The brand name had enjoyed good customer service acceptance in Iran with its sharp image. In the mid-1980s, in response to the government's foreign currency deficit - a consequence of the war in Iraq - the company was encouraged to mount an export drive. It targeted the most obvious market, the nearest and the richest one, Qatar.
The first shipments of Tiz were made after an agency and distribution agreement was finalized with a local importer. Soon after the product launch in Quatar however, the distributor realized that the Persian brand name Tiz was creating some serious problems with customers. It was discovered that the brand name's connotation in Arabic slang referred to "buttocks" resulting in significantly low sales.
Answer the following 2 questions in paragraph form with DETAIL and EXPLANATION:
1. What would you do if you were the account manager in this situation? (the account manager is the person that is the middle person between the company and the distributor)
2. What would you suggest the company do to avoid problems like this again in the future?