The Steak Was Right There. I Just Didn't Know What to Call It. Language in Marketing
Why understanding your customer's language is about much more than translation, and how getting it wrong could be costing your business sales.
This morning, I popped into one of my favourite places in Phuket. Not a beach club, not a restaurant, but a butcher's shop.
Artisan Butcher at Phuket Boat Lagoon.
It's run by a really lovely French guy called Thierry, who knows his meat, and these days I get pretty much all my meat from him.
Today's shopping list was fairly straightforward. Some pork chops, a few burgers, some saucisson (because who doesn't love a bit of French sausage?), and I fancied trying something new.
Skirt steak.
I love cooking, particularly getting a good piece of meat onto the barbecue, but I'd never actually cooked skirt steak before. So I thought I'd give it a go.
I was looking around the display, trying to find it.
Nothing.
So I asked Thierry.
"Have you got any skirt steak?"
"Of course."
"Really? Where? I can't see it."
And he pointed straight at it.
There it was. Right in front of me.
Except it wasn't called skirt steak.
It had a French name.
And that got us talking.
One Piece of Meat. Several Different Names.
In French butchery, the American-style skirt steak is commonly known as hampe.
But depending on where you come from, what you understand by skirt steak can be something slightly different.
And that got me thinking.
If Thierry hadn't been there to explain what I was looking at, I probably wouldn't have bought it.
Not because he didn't have what I wanted.
Not because it was too expensive.
Not because the quality wasn't good enough.
But simply because I didn't recognise the name.
The product was sitting right in front of me. I had the money. I wanted to buy it. But I couldn't identify it.
And that, to me, is a marketing problem.
I suggested something really simple to Thierry.
Why not put the different names for the cuts of meat on the labels? The French name, the British name, the American name, perhaps the Australian name where it's different.
Nothing complicated.
No expensive marketing campaign.
No complete rebrand.
Just a few extra words that could help someone recognise what they're looking for.
But when I looked into it a little more, I discovered that the problem was actually more complicated than I first thought.
And Here's Where It Gets Even More Confusing...
After my conversation with Thierry, I did a little digging into what skirt steak is actually called in different countries.
And it turns out it's even more complicated than I thought.
In American butchery, skirt steak generally refers to a cut from the diaphragm area of the cow. In France, this is commonly known as hampe.
Simple enough, right?
Not quite.
In Britain, what some butchers call skirt steak can actually be onglet, which Americans generally call hanger steak.
And then there's bavette, another French cut that can be associated with flank steak, flap steak or similar cuts depending on the country and butchery tradition.
So now we've got skirt steak, hampe, onglet, hanger steak, bavette, flank steak and flap steak.
Some are different names for equivalent cuts. Others are genuinely different pieces of meat.
And I'm standing in a butcher's shop in Phuket, talking to a Frenchman, using British English, while looking for a cut of beef I've probably seen an American chef cooking on YouTube.
No wonder there's confusion!
But this is where the marketing lesson gets really interesting.
Sometimes your customers are using different words for the same thing. And sometimes they're using the same words but expecting something completely different.
That's a much bigger challenge than simply translating your website into another language.
It's about understanding context.
It's about understanding culture.
And most importantly, it's about understanding what your customer actually wants.
Because if Thierry had simply sold me something labelled "skirt steak" without checking what I meant, I might have gone home with a completely different cut from the one I wanted.
He didn't just need to understand my words.
He needed to understand my intention.
And that is exactly what good marketing should do.
How Many Customers Are You Losing Because You're Using the Wrong Words?
We spend so much time worrying about logos, websites, advertising budgets, social media engagement and SEO that sometimes we forget something incredibly basic.
Are we actually using the words our customers use?
Because if we're not, we could be losing sales before we've even had the opportunity to make one.
And the really interesting thing is that this isn't just about translating from French to English or English to Thai.
You don't even need to speak a different language to have this problem.
Take Britain and America.
We have lifts. They have elevators.
We have holidays. They have vacations.
We have car boots. They have trunks.
We have courgettes. They have zucchini.
We have aubergines. They have eggplants.
Same products. Same ideas. Different words.
And in Australia, a barbecue becomes a barbie, flip-flops become thongs, and suddenly you've got a whole new vocabulary again.
Now imagine you're running a business in Phuket.
You've got British customers, Australians, Americans, Europeans, Thais and people from all over the world.
They're all looking for products and services.
But they're not necessarily searching for them using the same words.
And sometimes, as I discovered with my skirt steak, they might be using the same words but expecting different things.
Language in Marketing
Phuket Is a Perfect Example of This
I've worked in marketing across several countries, including France, Spain, Greece, Turkey, Antigua and now Thailand.
One of the things I've learned is that just because people understand the same language doesn't mean they interpret everything in the same way.
And Phuket makes this particularly interesting.
We're marketing to an incredibly diverse audience.
You've got Thai residents, long-term expats, international families, tourists, digital nomads and people visiting for the first time.
All with different backgrounds, experiences and expectations.
Think about the property market.
A British person might search for a "holiday villa".
An American might search for a "vacation rental".
Someone else might search for a "pool villa in Phuket".
And another person might be looking for "short-term accommodation".
They could all be looking for almost exactly the same thing.
But if you're a villa rental company, are you considering all those different search terms?
Or are you just using the words that make sense to you?
The same applies to restaurants.
One person searches for a "steakhouse".
Another searches for a "grill restaurant".
Someone else searches for "BBQ in Phuket".
And perhaps another is looking for a "good place to eat meat".
Different searches, potentially the same customer need.
And it works the other way around too.
A hotel might advertise a "luxury family room", but what does that actually mean?
To one family, it means a large room with two double beds.
To another, it means connecting rooms so the children have their own space.
To someone else, it means a separate bedroom and living area.
Same description.
Three very different expectations.
And if your marketing doesn't make that clear, you might attract the customer but disappoint them when they arrive.
That's why good marketing isn't just about getting people to find you.
It's about making sure they understand what they're buying.
The Psychology Behind the Words
This is where my interest in behavioural science and marketing psychology comes in.
People don't always make decisions based purely on what's available.
They make decisions based on what they recognise, understand and feel comfortable with.
If something is unfamiliar, it creates a little bit of friction.
A moment of uncertainty.
And sometimes that's enough to stop someone buying.
In psychology, there's a concept called processing fluency.
Put simply, information that's easier to understand often feels more familiar and can be easier to evaluate.
If I walk into a butcher and see "Skirt Steak", I know what I'm looking at.
If I see "Hampe", I might have no idea.
Now, that doesn't mean Thierry should stop using the French name. Far from it. His French heritage is part of what makes his shop interesting.
But adding the familiar name alongside it makes the product more accessible.
And perhaps adding a small explanation of the cut would be even better.
Because we've already established that simply translating the name might not be enough.
A customer might recognise the word but still misunderstand the product.
And there's a big difference between educating your customers and making them work unnecessarily hard to buy something.
Good marketing should remove friction, not create it.
Your Customers Don't Think Like You Do
One of the biggest mistakes businesses make is assuming their customers know what they know.
You understand your products.
You understand your industry.
You understand the terminology.
But your customers might not.
A hotel might promote its "F&B experiences".
A guest might simply want to know where they can get a good breakfast.
A marine tour company might advertise a "bespoke charter".
A family might be searching for a "private boat trip around Phuket".
A dog training academy might talk about "behavioural modification programmes".
A dog owner might just be asking, "How do I stop my dog pulling on the lead?"
Neither description is necessarily wrong.
But one is the language of the business.
The other is the language of the customer.
And that difference matters.
Especially when people are searching online.
This is something I see regularly in marketing.
Businesses become so familiar with their own products and services that they forget how someone outside their industry might describe them.
And sometimes the solution is ridiculously simple.
Ask your customers what they're looking for.
Listen to the words they use.
Pay attention to the questions they ask.
And stop assuming everyone understands your industry terminology.
What Does This Mean for SEO and AI Search?
Here's something worth thinking about.
Google doesn't automatically know what you mean just because you've used the correct technical name for your product.
Its job is to understand what people are searching for and connect them with relevant information.
And increasingly, people are searching through AI platforms such as ChatGPT, asking questions in natural, conversational language.
They're not necessarily typing formal product names.
They're asking questions.
"Where can I buy skirt steak in Phuket?"
"What's the best private boat trip for a family?"
"Where can I find a dog hotel near me?"
"What's a good villa for a family holiday in Phuket?"
If your website only speaks in technical terms, industry jargon or one particular country's vocabulary, you could be making it harder for those customers to discover you.
And here's another interesting thought.
Imagine someone searches for skirt steak in Phuket.
A butcher's website might have an entire page dedicated to hampe.
Beautiful photographs. Great prices. Excellent quality.
But nowhere does it mention skirt steak.
The customer might never find that page, even though the butcher has exactly what they're looking for.
Search engines are getting better at understanding different terms and their relationships, but you shouldn't rely entirely on them to make the connection.
The same applies to AI search.
If your website clearly explains that hampe is a French cut commonly corresponding to American skirt steak, you've provided useful context.
You've helped both the customer and the technology understand what you're selling.
This doesn't mean creating separate pages for every possible variation of a word.
And it certainly doesn't mean stuffing your website with keywords.
It means making sure your content naturally includes the different terms, questions and descriptions that real customers use.
And perhaps most importantly, it means listening to how your customers actually speak.
Because that's where some of your best keyword research comes from.
Not necessarily from an expensive SEO platform.
Sometimes it's from a five-minute conversation in a butcher's shop.
Stop Planning. Start Doing.
This whole October series from Shark 13 has been about something very simple.
Stop overcomplicating marketing.
Stop spending months planning the perfect strategy while ignoring the small things that could make a difference today.
And start doing.
So here's a simple exercise for your business.
Look at your website, your product descriptions, your menus or your service pages.
Then ask yourself:
Are we using words our customers actually understand?
Do people from different countries call our products or services something different?
Are we using industry jargon that means nothing to the average customer?
Are we answering the questions people actually ask?
Could customers be using the same words as us but expecting something different?
Could a small change in wording make it easier for someone to buy from us?
You don't need to change your entire marketing strategy.
You might just need to add a few words.
Or explain something more clearly.
Or listen a little more carefully to what your customers are asking for.
Because sometimes the biggest marketing opportunities are sitting right in front of us.
We just don't recognise them.
The Moral of the Story?
I went to the butcher to buy some meat.
I came away with pork chops, burgers, saucisson, a new cut of beef to experiment with, and another reminder of why I love marketing.
It's everywhere.
In the conversations we have.
In the words we use.
In the little misunderstandings that happen between people from different countries and cultures.
And in the opportunities businesses miss because they assume everyone sees the world the same way they do.
Thierry had exactly what I wanted.
I just didn't know what he called it.
And even more interestingly, we could both have been talking about skirt steak while picturing slightly different cuts of meat.
That's the real lesson.
Good marketing isn't just about speaking your customer's language. It's about understanding what they mean when they speak.
So before you spend more money trying to attract new customers, make sure the customers already looking for you can recognise what you're selling.
And make sure what you're selling is actually what they think they're buying.
Sometimes better marketing isn't about changing the product.
It's just about changing the words.
Or taking the time to understand what those words actually mean.
And now, I'm off to work out the best way to cook my skirt steak.
Assuming, of course, I've bought the right one.
Shark 13 Marketing – Stop Planning. Start Doing.
At Shark 13, we believe good marketing starts with understanding people, not just platforms.
Whether you're running a restaurant, resort, tourism business or local service in Phuket, the words you use matter.
Want to find out whether your marketing is actually speaking your customers' language?
Get in touch with Shark 13 for a fresh perspective on your online marketing.
Stop Planning. Start Doing.
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