Quick guide to avoid UK/French cultural confusion in your business 

If you are a UK person working or planning to work with French people, or a French person unfamiliar with UK office culture, here are a few key pointers to help you navigate some of the more frequently encountered cultural differences.

In the UK, you’re likely to assume a business meeting is about exchanging ideas, making decisions and agreeing a way forward. If the meeting comprises mixed cultures, this assumption could be a mistake and can cause a potentially damaging misunderstanding, particularly between UK and French partners! If you are French, you’ll leave a meeting having explored alternative ideas and possible outcomes, but you won’t think you’ve made a decision or agreed to anything binding.

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When did the first Tour De France take place?
The first Tour de France took place in 1903. The winner was Maurice Garin who won the race almost sixty five hours ahead of his nearest rival, with an average speed of 25.68km/h!

Why is the Yellow Jersey yellow?
The yellow jersey was first introduced in 1919. Yellow symbolised the newsprint and branding of the sporting newspaper l’Auto, who organised the Tour de France.

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Country domain names are a key component of the marketing communications mix. But one that many businesses tend to forget. Yet there are many reasons why companies wishing to export should not only consider having a website in the local language but also securing a country domain name for their brand as well.

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There is a lot to be said for email marketing activities in terms of their return on investment and abilities to deliver smoothly cross cultural messages.

At a time where many marketers are been urged to do even more with less as a way of compensating for lower turnover – something I like to refer as shortermism – it has become essential to carefully consider which marketing communications activities to use to meet the business’ objectives.

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