Adapting the brand to local cultures will help companies establish a stronger foothold in overseas markets

With the 6,500 languages spoken worldwide, businesses face the gargantuan task of translating their products and services in their quest to globalize. While no business would realistically expect to target markets speaking all of those languages, viable marketplaces exist around the world that do warrant the effort.

Many businesses communicate in English as it is known for being the world’s lingua franca—a one-size-fits-all solution for international communications. Though it is considered to be a global language, 75 per cent of the world’s population does not speak English at all, and of the remaining 25 per cent, only 6 per cent are native English speakers, according to the Sheffield Hallam University.

This means that 94 per cent of the world’s population potentially will not understand your beautifully crafted English message. The language barrier is likely to disassociate a huge segment of the population from your brand or business as they presume that your product or service is not designed for them. Therefore, I think we can agree, translation is crucial to reaching target markets around the world. But translation is not enough.

Translation and localisation

To engage a global audience, businesses need to adapt their products and services while considering all of the factors that determine an audience’s relationship to the brand; they need to consider the subtle differences between cultures, philosophies, religions , and customs.

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People hail from different narratives and contexts, norms and values, and will respond differently to products and advertisements designed for others . There is no one-size-fits-all offer, product, or service that will work across all countries—even ones which share a common language. This underlines the importance of localization.

Localisation goes beyond just translating one language to another, and considers that there are other key factors, such as culture and laws that play a major role in adapting to new markets. A generic, globalization-via-translation approach could unwittingly offend customers from other locales simply by using inappropriate colors, imagery, or wording.

Customer engagement and conversion in new markets

Cultural and language conflicts can debilitate market acceptance of your product. Localisation can help break down these barriers. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that people respond better to and engage more with campaigns and advertisements that are communicated in their mother tongue. People buy from the brands they can relate to. In fact, Common Sense Advisory reports that 84 per cent of international customers are more likely to buy from brands that communicate in their native language.

McDonald’s is an excellent example of a company that has successfully translated and localized, offering culturally considered catering and services across the globe. Take a look at how they localized, their website by adapting the original US advertisements to suit the Thai market. The Thai site features Southeast Asian cartoon characters and loud displays of color with an emphasis on gold, which permeates Suvarnabhumi, an auspicious name from Sanskrit meaning, ‘Land of Gold,’ apt for modern-day Thailand.

And it didn’t stop there. The brand has successfully expanded globally by accurately localizing their food offerings by adapting to local cultures and religious beliefs. Their menus, from Japan to Dubai, Hong Kong, and the USA, are all uniquely tailored to different, target populations and demographics; they know that Japan’s wasabi nugget sauce may not be appreciated by the Emiratis in Dubai, just as Indians would never consider eating a traditional Big Mac.

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Apple is another example. The tech giant is a wildly favorite global brand and is now making its manuals in region-specific languages to suit their target markets. The company has also made steps to make some apps unavailable in particular countries where they are unsuitable.

However, that doesn’t mean that Apple is thriving in all markets. Its success is being measured by the quality of their localization, too. Siri, one of the key features of Apple’s iProducts line, struggles to understand or recognize certain Indian accents, partly due to the large variety of dialects used. The company was able to translate the communication but the localization efforts are not enough for the local market to connect to the brand. While its competitors from China, Oppo and Vivo, have had some success in India, Apple is falling behind .

Why should startups consider localisation?

Localisation is no longer an “option” for startups expanding outside their country’s borders—it is a must if a company wishes to fuel the brand’s relevance and survive in the global marketplace. Investors are not only interested in ground-breaking products and ideas, but are seeking startups that can be scaled globally or, at the very least, regionally.

According to Ronen Mense, CEO and Managing Director in the APAC region for Appsflyer, “You need to localise to monetise.” The money will not materialise if you are not able to sell and adapt to potential new markets.

Many startups implement a single-country strategy. Yet, considering that funding comes from both local and overseas investors, startups need to adopt a global vision, securing themselves a competitive position in a worldwide market and a spot on international investors’ radars. This doesn’t mean that businesses should have different language variations from day one of development, but they should be prepared, from day one, to localise with relative ease.

Machine learning and automated processes

The use of machine learning has significantly improved translation quality and sped up the process of translation. Using machine learning technology to facilitate language translation can help to capture nuances that are not easily caught by traditional machine translation and eliminate repetitive tasks that are usually completed by humans, thereby drastically reducing human error. Supported by human post-editing, the use of machine learning in translation significantly speeds up the process, making translation an affordable and viable marketing tool for businesses of any size.

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Though machine translation is the quickest and most cost-effective way to translate content, a vast knowledge in language use is still essential to be able to communicate effectively—and subtly. Successful brands use language technologies and localisation agencies. These agencies offer the added benefit of humans who can make careful consideration of linguistic, cultural, and technical contexts to adapt concepts and communications to new marketplaces.

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