UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN DENMARK FACULTY OF BUSINESS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES Marketing Across Cultures Read the instructions and questions carefully below, before watching the videos

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN DENMARK

FACULTY OF BUSINESS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

Marketing Across Cultures

Read the instructions and questions carefully below, before watching the videos. The videos will be uploaded to blackboard, if youtube goes down. Your report should be max 6 pages long, including references. For written assignments formalities:

https://mitsdu.dk/en/mit_studie/kandidat/candmerc_odense/eksamen/formalia

Be aware that all the questions carry equal weight. Please answer each question separately, and indicate which question you are answering. Happy New Year and GOOD LUCK :) 

The Case: “Carhatt”

Carhatt is a brand  that was founded in 1889, to make manual labor clothes. It is based in Dearborn, Michigan, USA and is still owned by descendants of its original founder. In the USA, on one hand it has appealed to a conservative-voting blue-collar base; on the other hand, it has become adopted by hip-hop and skate-boarder cultures and has become a part of “streetwear.” You can read the following article for more on the history of and the contradictions embodied by the brand: https://www.esquire.com/style/mens-fashion/a56175/carhartt-american-workwear.

Carhartt has a number of promotional videos on its youtube channel. The videos “Canvas of my Life” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zL7SobTAnuQ)  and “All Hail the Carhartt Woman” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8B0E1VvnwM) will be the basis for your analysis in this exam.

1. What are some cultural categories and principles that are expressed in the “Canvas of my Life” video? Can you identify how these categories and principles imbue meaning to the products/services that the company provides? Reflect on the role of various actors and intermediaries in producing and circulating these meanings. 

2. Evaluate the company Carhatt in terms of cultural strategy. How would you compare it to the strategies and trajectories of other iconic brands that we covered in class, for ex., Jack Daniels or Nike?

3. Evaluate videos “Canvas of my LIfe”  and “All Hail the Carhartt Woman” in terms of gendered representations. Do you think Carhatt appeals to a particular model of masculinity and feminity? What kind of relation might these representations have to the strategy you evaluated in number 2? Can you compare this to gendered representations in two of the other brands or campaigns we have covered in class (could be the ones in q2 or other?) 

Given your answer for the previous parts, reflect on how Carhatt’s strategy, as evidenced in these two videos, translates to other contexts  around the world, by choosing a non-North American market context that you are familiar with (could be of your “home” country or region, or a country/region where you have lived and are familiar with the local culture and value-taste structures). What might explain Carhatt’s popularity or lack of popularity in this context? What might be barriers and shortcomings for using the campaign videos that you refer to in this exam, to market this brand outside of North America?