Trade as an Agent of Positive Change - Viva La Revolution!

One of my favorite recurring themes on this blog has been the argument that robust and free international trade can do more to bring about positive political, social and economic change where such change is needed than all the diplomatic maneuvering or well intentioned do-gooder boycotts could ever accomplish.

Along these lines, I would call your attention to a post last week on the China Law Blog entitled "US Consumers Changing China?".  The post discusses an article by Nathan Gardels that appeared in the LA Times under the headline "China's New Revolutionaries: U.S. Consumers".   I won't rehash it all here since Dan Harris does his usual excellent job of getting at the salient point.  I will repeat here the following quote from Gardels' article which I think gets at the heart of it:

Americans won't hesitate to cut the import lifeline and shift away from Chinese products that might poison their children or kill their pets.

Unlike organized labor or human rights groups, consumers don't have to mobilize to effect change; they only have to stop spending.  And their bargaining agents -- Wal-Mart, Target, Toys R Us -- have immensely more clout than the AFL-CIO or Amnesty International in fostering change in China.

Viva la multinational corporation! And, more to the point, their customers voting with their dollars in the open market for goods and services.

Comments

[Patrick Maley]

Hi Craig
Thought you might be interested in an educational series that deals with Global Trade Management. We originally had prospects sign up to view it (of which there were hundreds!) but now using social media outlets to give it a wider audience. It's purely educational and does not contain a pitch for RedPrairie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy_EzpqYDHA
Thanks!
Patrick

[Craig Maginness]

Patrick:

I don't usually publish comments that are promotional in nature, particularly when they are so hopelssly unconnected to the topic of the post on which they purport to comment. But I've made an exception here.

I watched the You Tube video on global trade management. The 8 minute video itself was not all that informative, but I do think its a phenomenally good example of using new web tools such as You Tube to promote seemingly objective buzz through an on-line community. I'd be fascinated to hear more about how well this works for your company.

Of course it raises some interesting side questions. The clip is posted as coming from "ColoradoGirl24". To the company's credit, they are up front in having ColoradoGirl24, Wendy Heim, 36, from the U.S. introduce the clip as RedPrairie's director of marketing. (Is this the Wendy Heim formerly of Catalyst International Marketing?) A cheesier effort might have tried to create the impression that some individual was simply so interested in global trade management as to post this video for kicks.

The staging is interesting. Just a few guys sitting around talking global trade over coffee (or what appears to be coffee -- 2 of the cups actually appear to be empty and no one touches any of them. Probably cold coffee put there as a prop at the last minute by some clever marketing videographer).

It's unfortunate that the coffee clatch is limited to white males -- as if women and people of more diverse backgrounds have nothing important to add to this conversation on international trade. International business inherently requires bringing a diverse group to the table. The subtle staging messages in this video don't convince me that RedPrairie is up to that task.

Bottom line -- people should watch this clip not because they'll learn anything important about trade management or because they'll become sold on your company's capabiliies, but because it may just be an indicator that You Tube could be used as another avenue in the high tech world to promote international business. And that is one of my interests.

Craig

[Adrian Gonzalez]

Craig,

Just a quick comment on your reply regarding the RedPrairie video. I was one of the roundtable speakers. The color of a person's skin is not indicative of the diversity they bring to a conversation. I am first generation American of Cuban descent. Spanish was my first language and I speak it proudly today. I've visited Cuba a couple of times, witnessing first hand the failure of their economic system (if you can call it that), and I've been to China and various other places around the world for business. It would be fair to critique the comments I made in the video, but would you find my comments more informative if I looked "more Hispanic" in your eyes or if spoke with a foreign accent? I would hope not.

[Craig Maginness]

Adrian:

Fair point -- thanks. My comments, however, were expressly not about the content of the video but about the uses of the video as a commercial promotion of Red Prairie's services. In this regard, appearances create the truth in the eyes of the receiver of the marketing message. In that context, whatever actual diversity of background you and the other participants brought to the conversation, the visual appearance was still four white guys sitting around the table talking global trade management.

My point is simply that while making use of a visual marketing tool such as a YouTube video, if RedPrairie is interested in creating an impression of being a company that brings diversity to the table, inviting a couple of their talented women and people of color to that table would be a smart idea. If RedPrairie is not interested in the visceral impacts of visual marketing, then maybe the YouTube video is not the best way to display the company's assets.