It's A Wrap

What packaging details win foreign customers' hearts--and what's sure to turn them off? Here are a few tips:

• Asia: Packages with a Western look and feel or an "imported" look, those with shrink-wrap, and packages with handles are winners. Don't use dove imagery--in Japan, doves symbolize death.

• Europe: Think upscale. With highly sophisticated local brands and fewer chains, imports must stand out as
  super-elegant.

• Latin America: Warm, bright colors sell; culturally, Latin American consumers are more emotional than literal. Don't use black in Brazil--it symbolizes death.

• Canada: In general, what works in the United States usually works in Canada.

This article was originally published in the March 1997 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: It's A Wrap.