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.
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.
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.
English remains the dominant language in the United States, but almost one in five Americans speaks a language other than English at home. Are you missing out on customers who are more comfortable doing business in languages other than English? Read on to learn how your company can profit from translation within the United States.
Mardi Gras (or “Fat Tuesday” in French) is a time for eating fried foods. Though Mardi Gras doughnuts are served all around the world, these deep-fried treats take on unique shapes and flavors in each country and culture. Think of it as food localization. Read on if you're hungry for paczki, cenci, fasnacht or beignets.
As translation and localization specialists, we take pride in working with the best of the best across all industries. Our 2013 projects were no exception, affording us collaborations with such progressive companies as Fitbit, Visual IQ and Gibson.
Food has a lot of cultural pull. Consider the gastronomic delights of a gourmet French restaurant, the artistic beauty of the sushi roll, or the fragrant panoply of Indian cuisine. You can be sure to find global cultures represented in restaurants such as these the world over. Sushi in Stockholm? Sure. Tacos in Tel Aviv? Yep. Pasta in Pakistan? No problem.
Today's post takes you out of the restaurant scene and into a more casual — and often more interesting — offering: snacks, specifically those found in Korea.
With an eye to an untapped market of, at minimum, 50 million new customers, Ikea has done amazing cultural engineering to open up demand-side India — including possibly manufacturing the welcome mat! It’s an amazing lesson in retooling just about everything a company does and still remain true to the brand in philosophy and practice.
Your typical Las Vegas business meeting might be followed by your typical Las Vegas night: grab a drink, hit the Strip, check out a show, wander from casino to casino, and of course, don’t forget the fountains at the Bellagio. Hopefully, you’ll still have enough cash in your pocket for taxi fare to the airport.
If you're looking for some off-the-beaten-path options, though, we've got a few options to consider in today's post.
September signals the end of Summer and the start of classes, and for companies who follow Agile software development methodologies, this post welcomes you back to school, too. It’s time to become a student of localizing for global releases in an Agile development cycle.
So if you’ll pardon our extended metaphor, sprint your way onto Acclaro’s big yellow school bus and we’ll teach you seven simple lessons to help you ace your first big test when it comes to localizing releases within an Agile development environment.
After all, no one wants to be held back a grade while their competitors graduate to a wider global customer base.
First time managing a global launch of your website, software, or documentation? Fear not. Ensuring a successful global launch is possible with a little up-front preparation. From determining the key players on your team to developing reference materials to understanding the technology behind the process, today’s post gives you some tips to help take the worry out of going global, and our newsletter article (linked inside) goes into more detail. Take a deep breath and dive in!
Where software is concerned, agile development has a lot going for it: quick and frequent releases, adaptability to changing conditions, increased efficiencies for error correction, and more team involvement. However, hiccups in the process need to be addressed quickly by team members, no matter where in the world they may be. When you’ve got multilingual software to consider, you will want to make sure the process is as smooth as possible. Today’s post, and our newsletter article, cover some things to think about if you’re agile — and global.
In any market, you want your audio and video content to speak to the audience. But you don’t always want to create all that content from scratch for each market. So how do you take your global content and give it local flavor? Great voiceover localization can make your global training video, radio spot, TV ad or multimedia project speak eloquently in any language. Whatever style of voiceover you’re working with — from off-camera narration to carefully choreographed lip-syncing — there are some best practices that can make or break your project.
Here are some of our best tips for making sure your voiceover localization project speaks in a voice your target language market understands.
Ah, Iceland. It's the land of fire and ice, Björk, and seemingly-unpronounceable volcanoes. The country's breathtaking beauty has put it firmly on the travel map and we're surprised this northern gem stayed secret for so long. Where else can you learn about Vikings, see whales, relax in geothermal spas, and ski all in one day? Read on for things to see and do in this land of strange contradictions.
You don’t have to be a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu or a fan of Julia Child to know that French dominates the language of cooking. Words as familiar to English speakers as restaurant, gourmet, and cuisine all came to us from French. And if you are a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu, or any other cooking school, you may have noticed that almost the entire culinary vocabulary is French, no matter what country you’re in or what language the instructor speaks. From au gratin to zest(e), French is the lingua franca of the kitchen. So how is it that French became so inextricably linked with the culinary professions?
On this day last year, we told you all about Valentine’s Day in Japan, and the related holiday of White Day. This year, we look to Denmark and the custom of gaekkebrev, or "joke letters", that are part romantic declaration and part riddle. While more traditional Valentine's Day traditions are now in vogue throughout Denmark, gaekkebrev are definitely unique, and we wanted to give them the spotlight today.
Complex eCommerce platforms can present challenges when entering global markets. Each platform in a different market acts much like an independent entity, especially when you consider the market-specific customizations you may need. Today's post gives you five pointers to make the process easier and more cost efficient.
While heel height, skirt length or on-trend colors might change from season to season, the principles of successful video localization are truly timeless. Multimedia involves more components than traditional text translation and it can be a challenge to get the script, audio, and visuals to all combine seamlessly, much like putting together all the components of a stunning outfit or runway show.
You won't see us on a runway anytime soon, but you might see some of our clients. Last year Acclaro worked on video localization projects for the likes of Ralph Lauren, Tiffany & Co., and Saks Fifth Avenue. Read on to learn more about how we adapted their multimedia (while making sure they still looked good).
Localized software, like its English counterpart, benefits from pre-launch testing to ensure a smooth release. You may need to look beyond your English testing scope, however, as different languages present their own testing challenges, and there may be code-level variables that need to be adjusted for specific global markets. In today's post, we will cover the most common types of testing we offer and why they're important.
Left to right, right to left — what difference does it make? When it comes to translating bidirectional languages, it can be a pretty big one. And if you want to expand your software business into the Middle East, Malaysia or Indonesia, it helps to understand the differences. Unlike English, bidirectional (or BiDi) languages like Arabic, Hebrew, Urdu and Farsi read from right to left instead of left to right. Although it might seem easy enough to just switch directions for your Arabic or Hebrew translation, bidirectional languages can present some technical challenges. Here are some things to think about before you get started on a bidirectional translation project.
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