When in Quebec do what the French do?

The Cleo case brings to light the mistake of taking to market a product that you may assume to do well, without actually studying the target market itself.  I just concluded a class that took me to an in-country experience in China and I was able to witness firsthand how diverse markets across borders can be.

The Cleo case showcased several mistakes by management ranging from the type of strategy to the failure to partner with retailers.  But what I did wanna focus on was the mistake of Colgate Canada to assume that works for France would work in Quebec as well.  Going back to my class that took me to China, which was entitled transnational management.  Basically we studied cases wherein successful U.S. juggernauts had attempted to leverage their expertise and transplant their success overseas to countries like China.  Big companies like Walmart ran into all sorts of trouble, attempting to bring the business model lock stock and barrel to the mainland or far east.  The big lesson of the day is that we truly need to learn who we are selling to, understand what makes them tick before we attempt to sell them anything. 

The end results can be disastrous as we fail to sell the consumers what they really want or in the manner that they are looking for our product.  I feel that Colgate had assumed wrongly that since Quebec has ties to France, that the business model that had been a winner in France would fly in Canadian markets as well.  Now the French connection may of course have been tapped, but Colgate would have benefited from adapting the French model to the nuances of the Canadian market.