How do brands with global reach integrate themselves into new markets with local appeal? While the potential promise of millions of new customers is reason enough to explore opportunities internationally, finding a sweet spot in those markets can be a real challenge.
While some companies find their business model happens to be fortuitously timed with an emerging economy, others have to identify clever ways to introduce themselves as a brand with a feel for the culture. In this post, we’ll look at three brands that have discovered profitable ways to introduce themselves to international customers.
Have banks embraced the digital revolution? Not sufficiently, according to a recent article by McKinsey. While we may be wowed by the way our smartphone cameras can be used to make digital deposits, the future of the global, digital bank will depend on far more than front-end magic.
Disruption comes to all, and the global financial services sector is at a turning point. Where will massive cost-savings be realized? Will banks make moves to protect traditional annuity streams from third-party start-ups? How are mobile solutions in emerging economies making inroads over traditional banking? What lessons can banks learn from the localization and translation moves made by major new media giants in the past five years?
In this article, we’ll take a look at McKinsey’s findings and explore the answers to these questions.
Technology has completely transformed the face of international travel. Whether it's booking a flight, finding a stellar ramen house near the hotel or fitting in some easy sightseeing between meetings, there's now an app for our every travel need. In this blog post, we'll share a few of our favorites.
When you’re looking for millions of new customers in international markets, a country’s population size can be a major contributing factor in your growth projections. But in the world of eCommerce, complex forces can often undermine the common sense wisdom of “go where the people are.” Compare India and China. China is an eCommerce juggernaut, while India does but a fraction of China’s online shopping.
Key indicators suggest that may be about to change. Could India be on track for an eCommerce rocket ride? Investors think so. In this post, we’ll take a look at the sea of changes which may turn India into the world’s next eCommerce powerhouse.
A U.S. brand launch in a new international market faces a unique challenge when it comes to earning trust and establishing mindshare. Selling local means sounding local, and the leap from English to a foreign language is one in-country competitor brands don’t have to manage.
An increasing number of companies are using global brand evaluation services to help inform their global launch strategy. In this post, we’ll talk a bit about why translation and localization are crucial components of international brand positioning, and the types of questions global brand evaluation services help answer.
With World Cup 2014 underway, the world’s attention turns once more to the pageantry of competition in Brazil. A country once believed to be an unstoppable force in terms of economic growth, new realities have made the game in Brazil more complicated. There have been a few injuries—hobbled exports to China and inflationary hamstrings among them—but within the uncertainty opportunities remain.
Standby for the corner kick. Brazil is preparing to take the pitch and get the game underway again.
Looking for a competitive advantage when it comes to generating buzz for your company in the media? The press release is an overlooked tool, especially when you adopt a global mindset. While U.S. companies often restrict their releases to English-speaking North America, an enterprising number of firms are harnessing the power of press releases translated for international journalists.
In this post we’ll discuss why the press release is still alive and well, and how translating your news for the world can open up global opportunities.
We’re looking at a mobile-first global population through the 21st century. If you’re holding back on app translation and localization, you’re ceding profitable ground to existing competitors and companies who may be keen on making off with your idea. How do you defend yourself? Begin by exploring where to go first and how to leverage localized app store optimization to make sure you’re visible when you launch.
In this article we’ll talk about the opportunity and how to navigate the matrix of factors that inform a solid global app strategy.
Startups going global and American brands preparing for their first international launch are all eager to make their best first impression. When something goes wrong, the source of the problem can usually be traced to misconceptions about translation. Even large-scale, mission-critical projects are susceptible to stumbling, as evidenced by the recent Spanish-language website designed to support the Affordable Care Act. A toxic combination of translation myths frustrated users and undermined trust, sending the unfortunate message that serving Spanish speakers was not a top priority.
Sometimes success is defined by getting out of the way of your own preconceptions. In that spirit, we’ll cover the top ten misconceptions about translation in this two-part series. If you’re preparing to introduce your company to international customers, these tips might just spare you expensive and embarrassing errors.
For the first time in recorded history, the Chinese are drinking more red wine than the French. Wineries in the U.S. and Europe are looking East to reach new wine drinkers and grow revenues. But wine translation for China involves some delicate cultural and linguistic considerations. Read this post for a beginner's guide to Chinese wine translation.
April Fool’s Day used to be an occasion for telling little lies and playing harmless pranks on classmates and friends. But the pursuit of publicity and global mindshare has turned it into an entertaining battle of wits celebrated by professionals and corporations around the world.
If you’re going global with your next eCommerce launch, understanding international payment and fulfillment options is essential to your success overseas. The localization process doesn’t end at your cart’s product descriptions and customer service pages. The logistics of payment and shipping should also be carefully localized, as they are vital drivers of customer service and trust. From Brazil to China, international shoppers will abandon their carts if forced to pay in U.S. dollars and wait weeks to receive their order.
In this post we’ll take a look at options for accepting international eCommerce payments and how some companies are fulfilling orders for customers around the world.
Global scalability and speed-to-market have never been as crucial as they are today. In our hyper-connected global marketplace, copycats are replicating proven concepts and taking them to emerging markets at record speed. So how can your startup edge out the competition in the race to global?
What do fashion, eCommerce and Southeast Asia have in common? Forecasts are strong for the dominance of all three in 2014, particularly with the launch of consumer-to-consumer (C2C) marketplaces. Read on to find out more about the implications these trends have for consumers and sellers alike.
When a currency’s exchange rate shoots from 1:13 USD to over 1:1000 USD in a single year, you can bet it will make headlines around the world. Such is the story of Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency which debuted in 2009 as a means of peer-to-peer payment online.
But what happens when an online currency makes the leap offline? With merchants around the world embracing the cryptocurrency, the implications are global. Hedge funds are trading it, governments are banning it, and consumers? They’re spending it.
Whether online or in the mall, ‘tis the season for retail profits. If you’re someone who laments the commercialization of Christmas, stop reading now. In the United States, retailers can expect up to 50% of their annual sales to occur around the holidays. Forecasts are positive for this year’s holiday sales and look to be significantly higher than in the last ten, according to the National Retail Federation. But what about markets that aren’t closely linked to Christmas, such as China or Japan? Will Santa bring similar profits to eCommerce retailers in Asia? Today's post answers that question.
In planning your global expansion, you may be initially overwhelmed as to which regions or countries would be a good fit for your company and its products or services. No matter your strategy, you will want to make sure your global customer base will respond well to what you have to offer.
The historically more mature markets of Western Europe have some competition with up-and-coming regions in Asia, South America, and the Middle East. In today's post, we highlight six of these areas, their economic strengths, and how to approach translation.
Americans have become used to stuffing themselves on Thursday with all the trimmings and then stuffing their stockings with blockbuster deals on Black Friday and the following Cyber Monday. But (surprise!) it turns out one of the great U.S. cultural exports is our shopping holiday.
That’s right, the doorbuster deals have become a global phenomenon. So which countries spend big on the hottest retail weekend of the year? And which country dwarfs U.S. spending with their own special shopping holiday? We’ll take a look at how U.S. brands are connecting with global consumers and the ways in which major U.S. online retailers localize the holiday for shoppers overseas.
Is your tech startup ready to go see the world? In the past, travel was a leisurely luxury. Those of means (both financial and temporal) used to take a Grand Tour or ride the Orient Express through Europe; today it’s jets and five capitals in five days. Get ready to move quickly.
Planning ahead is key to get make the most of your global entry. Knowing the latest social working sites and mobile trends are a definite must. Read on for four tips when your startup is setting off to see the world in style.
ELearning has transformed employee training across the globe, helping companies standardize their message and ensure that their employees at all levels are receiving the same information. A solid learning management system coupled with eLearning tools and platforms like Articulate have already changed the way companies large and small are doing business.
Gearing up to design your own Articulate course for your employees? Read on for a few simple ways to effectively create globally friendly eLearning courses.
Smart, fun and useful. Acclaro shares news and tips on translation, localization, language, global business and culture.