Don Imus : His Costly Communication Mistake

Some in the U.S. may be tired of hearing about Don Imus, a popular radio talk show host who lost his job last week. However, his situation makes for a sobering object lesson.

It’s sometimes a challenge to demonstrate in monetary terms the negative costs of poor communication and ignorance of a business culture. The Imus event provides a rare glimpse at the financial impact resulting from communication mistakes:1

• Don Imus was so adept at marketing books on his show that the U.S. book publishing industry estimates the loss of his show will impact their industry in the hundreds of millions (US$100,000,000.00) if not billions of dollars.

• CBS received ad revenues of $20 million a year from the Imus show not to mention several millions in syndication fees from affiliated stations.

• MSNBC got hours of cheap programming daily with a huge audience.

• NBC News personalities and others including U.S. Presidential candidates were regular guests on the show where they presented their books to a national audience.

• Preferred politicians received hours of free airtime worth millions of dollars.

• This event will impact Don Imus’ other ventures; his cookbook, his company, Imus Ranch Foods, and a line of environmentally friendly household-cleaning products.

Five seconds and one irresponsible phrase will cost CBS, MSNBC, NBC News staff, book writers, politicians, the publishing industry and Don Imus himself at least US$250 million dollars. His may have been the most expensive five seconds in the history of radio.

This situation demonstrates how poor and improper communication can have devastating financial repercussions. Companies should consider how the lack of expertise about Mexico’s business culture and communication may be adversely affecting their sales and profits.

Richard Villasana
The Mexico Guru

Want to receive information on doing business in Mexico directly to your In box? Subscribe now at Marketing To Mexico.


1. Special acknowledgement to Terry Keenan and his article End of Imus Inc. Will Be a Shock to Publishing.

Don Imus - a Study in Bad Communication

In his article, Don Imus isn't the only one who ought to be ashamed, columnist Leonard Pitts Jr. wrote how Don Imus, a prominent national radio shock-jock, lost his lucrative simulcast with MSNBC and then later his show with CBS because of his "racist and sexist insults against the Rutgers University women's basketball team."1

Leonard went on to write that part of the offending expression by Imus was his use of the word “ho” meaning whore. This word has been popularized for many years by leading rappers such as Snoop Doog who is referenced in the article. Imus may have felt that after all the years of rappers using the word “ho”, this implied it was acceptable for him to use this term during a national radio broadcast. Obviously Imus was wrong.

There are many in the media asking what people will or should take away from this incident. One lesson international business people should definitely take away from this event is the warning to be vigilant about the words they use when communicating with people in another country.

People do not have to use profanity to insult someone from a different culture or country. Speaking informally to Mexican associates without first having developed the proper relations can demonstrate at the least ignorance about the Mexican business culture or worse be viewed as an insult. There may be terms that Mexicans use when speaking with each other. This in no way implies that an outsider can or ever should use the same words without offending someone.

One of the goals for businesses is to communicate their message clearly to the customer. One should always err on the side of caution and formality rather than risk insult and embarrassment. It only takes one misspoken word to cause enormous financial loss. Just ask Don Imus even though it is likely he will be back on the air waves in one form or another. For those of us doing business internationally, however, such a mistake could destroy years of hard work and investment.

Richard Villasana
The Mexico Guru

Want to receive information on doing business in Mexico directly to your In box? Subscribe now at Marketing To Mexico.


1. Special acknowledgement to Leonard Pitts Jr., columnist for The Miami Herald. His article was a source of inspiration.

Provide options for customers to communicate with your company

I was speaking with a woman earlier this week who was having difficulty reaching a business in Mexico. The company's home office is in the U.S. with an office in Tijuana, Baja California. The company's web site only provides links to send an email. No fax numbers or telephone numbers are giving.

After searching the company's web site to ensure she hadn't missed the telephone number, the woman then started searching on-line for the Mexican office number. She finally found the phone number of one of the company's U.S. offices and got the number for the Tijuana office. Obviously the woman really wanted to do business with this particular company and their office in Mexico.

How many of your potential customers would go to such lengths to do business with your company? Many companies, especially in the U.S., have decided that email is the only form of communication they want to offer to potential customers. This is a mistake internationally.

What happened to customer service? It's not customer service to force visitors and potential customers to communicate with a company by just one form. The idea behind customer service is the customer gets to choose and have it their way, not what's convenient just for the company.
Many international customers prefer to talk with someone initially rather than sending an email. For some cultures, email is seen as impersonal and a form of communication to be used only after a relation has been started.

Companies may be making all the right moves when it comes to reaching out to foreign consumers. However, if customers can't communicate with a company the way they prefer, they may simply go find a company that understands quality customer service and makes it easy for the customer to do business.

Richard Villasana
The Mexico Guru

Want to receive information on doing business in Mexico directly to your In box? Subscribe now at Marketing To Mexico.