International Marketing Review -
International Christmas Shopping
Click here for a list of previous International Marketing Reviews
More Christmas 2008 Links:
Sunday Blog Carnival #31 - 35 European Christmas Markets
Here is a list of links to interesting sites on the web that can help you find an international Christmas gift idea, Christmas food ideas, or recipe for a traditional Christmas meal, what’s in Christmas news and how to say Merry Christmas for multicultural holiday cards.
Welcome to the 29 November 2008 edition of the International Marketing Review.
How To Say Merry Christmas In Different Languages
First, we all need to learn how to say Merry Christmas in as many languages as possible.
Christmas Gift Ideas
In Icelandic folklore, before there was Christmas there was “Jol”. Jol was a non-religious, midwinter festival celebrated in many of the Nordic countries. When Christianity arrived in Iceland in (about) the year 1000 AD, Christmas took the place of the Jol festival. There are traditional Icelandic Yula hand painted resin figurines that are wonderful symbols of Iceland. The designs in this link are original by Brian Pilkington.
The English Christmas Hamper is usually given at Christmas time. This was originally part of the Boxing Day tradition, when a master would give their servants a box of useful items on the day after Christmas. Today, people will still give Christmas hampers to employees, family and friends.
In France, the Nativity Scene is the most popular Christmas symbol. The Crèche de Noël was introduced into France by Saint Francis of Assisi. Of course, a nice bottle of wine or Champagne is always appreciated.
In Spain the most towns and most churches will have a belen which is the nativity scene. A Spanish nativity scene can be very large and can cover massive areas. This last link is in Spanish, and you can use translate.google.com to read the entire post, but a translation of some of the data will be enough for most readers. To build this Nativity scene they used “3.300 kilo’s of Fiberglass, 300 kilo’s of paint paint, 30,000 watts of light and sound, 300 hotbeds for lighting, 6 kilometers of electric cable, 20 trailer trucks for shipment, 1,200 pictures and more than 20,000 hours of work”.
In Italy it’s tradition for children to receive colorful, long socks (la calza) full of sweets (i dolciumi) if they’ve been good, but they’re filled with coal (il carbone) actually black sugar, if they’ve been bad. Traditionally, it’s not Santa Claus but the kind witch (La Befana) who brings the gifts and sweets.
In Mexico, the highlight of the Christmas celebration is a religious procession called La Posada, in which the celebrants carry images of Mary and Jesus and go from house to house. This is reenacting Mary and Joseph searching some shelter before the birth of the baby Jesus. Santa Claus is not very popular in Mexico. Poinsettias (also called the Flame Leaf) plays an important role in Christmas celebrations.
Christmas Food Ideas
Ethiopian Christmas is known as Ganna. Ganna is celebrated on 7th of January because the orthodox Ethiopian church uses the old Julian calendar. Christmas celebrations take place in Ethiopian churches designed in three concentric circles. Candles are given to people as they enter the church. They light the candles, then walk three times around the church and stand throughout the mass, which can be three hours long.
Traditional Christmas dish includes Injera, a sourdough pancake like bread, which serves as both plate and fork along with Doro Wat, a spicy chicken stew served in baskets. Giving gifts is not a big deal in Ethiopia and children usually receive clothes as presents
In Lebanon, people plant seeds of chickpeas, wheat grains, beans and lentils in cotton wool two weeks before Christmas. By Christmas, there are usually have shoots that are then used to surround the manger in Nativity scenes. People will often visit friends on Christmas morning and are served coffee and sugared almonds. A traditional Christmas lunch is Kubbeh (also Kibbeh or kibbe) made by mixing crushed boiled wheat known as ‘burghul’ with meat, onion, salt and pepper.
Christmas In The News
Dermot Davitt presents Hong Kong International Airport launches major Christmas and New Year shopping promotion posted at The Moodie Reporter saying “Hong Kong International Airport and its retail and food & beverage partners launch a major promotion that will run until 6 January, with gifts worth HK$1 million on offer.”
Julia Werdigier presents Britain Hopes to Lure Shoppers With Weak Pound posted at New York Times saying “Last Christmas, American stores were flooded with British tourists hunting for bargains as the dollar fell to its weakest level against the pound in 26 years. This year, the situation is reversed. The pound is worth $1.54 — its lowest level in almost six years — and British retailers are hoping to lure American tourists while also enticing Britons who shopped abroad last year to stay at home.”
Father Christmas Ltd presents A Letter From Santa posted at Santa.co.uk saying “A Santa Letter is a personal communication to a child from Santa. Mailed from the North Pole on the envelope and many personal references. We are delighted to offer four grades of the world’s best selling Letter From Santa.”
Gareth Robinson presents Free money. No, really… posted at Carrentals saying “Everyday you turn on the TV, or look on the web and you’re confronted with plunging share prices, job lay offs. To lighten your mood, we’ve teamed together with Prezzybox to give away vouchers that give you £5 off when you spend £20. And, on the run up to Christmas any saving’s a good one.”
That concludes this edition of The International Marketing Review. If you have a post that you would like included in a future review, email me the link and if appropriate, I will try to include it.
Some previous issues of the International Marketing Review:
- #28 - International Christmas Shopping
- #27 - On Multicultural Matters
- #26 - On International Sales
- #25 - On Cross-Cultural Communication
- #24 - On Translations
- #23 - On Email Marketing
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Cindy King is a Cross-Cultural Marketer and International Sales Specialist, with over 25 years field experience in international business development.
Learn how you can get more international sales |
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