The Importance of Cross-cultural Awareness

In this episode of the Business Beyond Borders podcast, we talk with Luca Postiglione, international marketing expert and founder of Lupo Marketing.

Luca grew up in Florence, Italy, and has spent time living and working around the globe, in the US, UK, Europe and now Australia. He has a passion for the luxury sector, and ran his own luxury goods company for several years, selling artisan-made furniture, jewellery and home decor to high net worth individuals around the world.

He talks about the cultural differences he observed while working with Italians, Americans and British, and the importance of cross-cultural awareness while doing business internationally. He discusses the need for market research when starting an international business in any sector, and how he went about it with his own luxury goods company

Luca emphasises that much of what he has learnt in his international business career has been through making mistakes, and that it’s not just the small operators who make mistakes when operating internationally. He gives several examples of multinational corporations who have failed in their international ventures, and how you can avoid these types of mistakes by ensuring that you understand the cultural context in which you operate.

Luca now runs his own marketing firm, Lupo Marketing, specialising in digital and traditional marketing for small and medium businesses. Based in Sydney, he still works with clients around the globe and is an example of how in this day and age, a small business can indeed be global without having to make large investments or spend all their time travelling overseas.