Globally Speaking

When it launched 25 years ago, coffee brand Tim Hortons did better than competitors in Quebec because it localized most of its content to make it more relevant to the market. On its coffee cups, the brand used to display the Toronto cityscape in anglophone Canada, which was replaced with Montreal for its Quebec launch. Similarly, a client in the US would like to see large streets in his advertising videos. A Parisian, on the other hand, would be more impacted by a landscape with narrow streets. In this latest episode of the Globally Speaking Podcast, Marine Esquenet is joined by Richard Cronin, Localization lead at Google, to discuss how a brand as famous and offering as many diverse services as Google can help its clients make the right decisions and navigate through the complexities of growing internationally. Also find out what Richard has to say about the impact of the transition to AI on Google, on the industry in general, and on the new media Google has to work with.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that brands with a physical presence will always be trusted more than companies that only offer an online store. Things are now changing. According to our latest research, 58% of global consumers now trust global brands with a localized online presence equally to those with a physical presence. That’s an incredible opportunity when you think about it – over half of consumers are willing to trust you, if you get your customer experience right. Globally Speaking is joined by the ‘CX Leader of the Year’, James Scutt -Principal XM Catalyst at Qualtrics XM Institute and recognized as one of Europe's leading Experience Management experts - who offers his unique perspective on how brands can open up global opportunities by simply getting their customer’s experience right, showing empathy and focusing on the human touch. He also highlights the common CX pitfalls of businesses, giving examples of where they’ve gone wrong and how they’ve won their customers’ trust back.

A third of the world's websites are in English. And yet only 5% of Internet users speak English as their mother tongue. How can you, as a business, ensure that you are speaking to users in their own language and impacting their customer journey in a culturally relevant way? In this episode, Marine Esquenet talks to Zhongjun GE, head of the localization team at ByteDance, who explains how China-based companies approach their localization strategies and what the most common pitfalls are for them when embarking on the internationalization journey. He also shares three main localization trends emerging in China when it comes to engaging with international audiences.

In France, the Big Mac, McDonald's favourite burger, has the same name as in English and doesn't have a translation. In Hong Kong, it has been given a name that no current machine translation could fathom: Gui Mo Ba, which could be translated as ‘the invincible juggernaut’. Why? Because one size doesn’t fit all when it comes to translating according to cultures. That’s when transcreation works its magic for brands, slogans and marketing content. Listen to transcreation specialist Sheryl Sze, who’s worked with major brands such as Sotheby’s and Deliveroo. Sheryl outlines how technology and humans can work together to achieve the right equilibrium – and why, it’s optimal that transcreation is included at the early stages of content development.

How does a well know, household brand ensure that it consistently projects a strong brand image on the global stage? You might think you need to translate your all your content – particularly your product names – into local languages. But not always. Take Ikea as an example. The company’s products are listed in Swedish across many of its foreign language websites, including France, UK and Spain. In this episode of Globally Speaking we speak to Anna Golubeva, Translation Specialist from Ikea’s translation team, about the approach they take to engaging with international audiences, the role of language and how – despite not translating all their content – they’re still able to unlock global understanding.

You’re not alone if you take pride in your culture. But do you feel that brands understand your culture, context and deeply personal preferences? A recent survey revealed that nine in ten consumers feel that brands must show their understanding and appreciation of national identity and culture – but only 23% feel brands understand are actually doing so. Given our reliance on digital – isn’t it about time that brands make the effort to demonstrate they understand us? We speak to Michael Brennan, Ingenious8, about his research report, ‘Unlocked 2023: In Understanding We Trust’, which questioned 6,500 customers across 13 countries about their global customer experiences. Michael delves into the findings, key themes emerging from the research and explains why now is the time for brands to invest in their underlying technology and services in order to deliver on their customer experience promises.

It’s human nature to want to connect with family, friends and colleagues. This sentiment appears to extend to brands: 64% of consumers want brands to connect with them, according to research. But, to connect with consumers you need to build trust, communicate clearly and consistently – in their own language – and across their device of choice. When you have millions of customers, how can you ensure that you’re connecting with them individually in a way that builds trust? Here we speak to Paul McCabe, VP of Customer Experience at Roland Corporation’s, about the power of language and its role in customer excellence. Paul also discusses his company’s journey, from being completely dependent on human translation to building a machine-led localization service that delivers on the expectation that the customer experience should always align with the brand.

Your international explanation plans are ready. You’ve identified your target markets. Your team is ready to start engaging with customers. But how well do you know those markets? Japan, for instance, might seem like a prosperous country with plenty of opportunity. But will your remote-controlled garage doors take off? Most likely not – most of the population live in apartments. This crude example shows that, despite an optimistic outlook, a target market could prove to be a huge risk. In this episode, Maria Schnell, RWS’s Chief Language Officer, explains why it’s critical for companies to fully understand – on a deep level – the culture and context of their audiences. And why these two pillars need to be part of the foundations of any growth strategy. She will also give examples where clients have seemingly overlooked the basics, and what can be done to ensure that companies always put culture and context at the centre of their customer engagement strategy.

Today’s fast-moving, hyper-connected world means that customers demand relevant content, meaningful communication, accurate information, instant access, and consistent and personalised experiences. And they want of this own language, 24/7, and on any device. In short, they want to understand you – and they want you to understand them. But how can companies unlock this level of understanding? Let’s break it down. Firstly, you need to have a relationship with your customer to unlock understanding. But you can’t build a relationship without trust. And you can’t build trust without communicating. This means that the language used across your communications needs to meet three criteria. This episode will explore the three criteria required to unlock global understanding:  * Culture: A deep understanding you only get from humans  * Content: Tech to understand data, channels, formats. Need to adopt a data-led marketing approach  * Consistency: Provide same experience, language, terms etc across any channel customers choose

In this episode of Globally Speaking, Andrew Thomas connects with Vangelis Lympouridis, a specialist in Innovation by Design, Design Thinking, Immersive Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality (XR) technologies, for a fascinating discussion around cosmolocalization and the metaverse. Listen to Andrew and Vangelis introduce the concepts of the metaverse and the emerging technologies that impact the localization industry, including cosmolocalization.