Speaking Globally with the Right Message: Harder than it Sounds!

The very phrase used above, ‘global market,’ is immediately misleading because it implies the existence of a single market. Everyone knows this is not true: a global market is comprised of thousands of different types of people (customer segments); each living in different geographies, regions or locales; each speaking different languages or dialects; each wanting goods and services which mean something to them individually. So how can a company effectively communicate with so many disparate groups?

The messages delivered to these segments must be clear and strike an emotional chord, and they must be appropriate for the geography, the language and the product or service being offered. This is a tall order to fill!

Historically, companies launching a product to a global market focused on two things: the product they were selling and the channel being used to sell it. When it came time to target the message to an audience that spoke a different language, many of them simply obtained the localized text from a language service provider and sent it to market. I think everyone can think of a colossal translation mistake they have seen, whether in product literature or on a billboard. And so international companies started recognizing the impact of a bad translation or a missing message to a customer segment.

Targeted messages for customer segments weren’t enough

To combat this, global companies responded with a knee-jerk reaction: they devised targeted messages for customer segments. It wasn’t a bad idea, but it certainly didn’t address the actual problem. It simply increased the complexity of localization projects and created more volume to manage. Multiple pieces of content, created by multiple authors throughout the organization (or by external agencies), now had to be managed, localized and delivered.

Fortunately, technology came to the rescue. Content management systems have exploded in popularity in the past five years, enabling companies to manage their content in order to be agile, competitive and responsive to dynamic local markets.

Again, this is a great idea, but it still doesn’t address the entire challenge. Companies are now managing their global content, but to what purpose? They now understand just how much content they have, but have not yet reached the root of the problem. The real issue is how to speak to a customer in his own language with a powerful message that evokes the right response, while adhering to corporate brand and style guidelines.

Successful international companies focus on how they communicate the message

Successful international companies not only focus on the message for the customer, but also on how they communicate that message; in other words, the terminology they use. What is corporate terminology? It is composed of specific words and phrases that represent corporate ideals, product information or branding. It has a very simple purpose: to provide a competitive differentiator, to describe a company's unique selling points and to create a global brand.

You can easily think of several examples of successful corporate terminology which describe a company or product:

• 'Just Do It' – Nike
• The Automatic Rain Detection System – BMW
• Out-Of-Office Assistant – Microsoft Outlook

These terms not only describe something. They achieve a much higher goal by evoking an emotional response and intrinsically linking the company to the customer. Can anyone hear Out-of-Office Assistant and not immediately think of Outlook, even if they’re a Lotus Notes user?

Companies spend millions of dollars developing and patenting or trademarking these terms, and it only makes sense to protect them and use them properly going forward. However, as companies grow, shift, merge, acquire and change, terms get lost, the products they describe are retired, or they are simply left unused. But if an organization can remember the importance of the term, and what it was originally created to do, it is easy to develop local messages that harness and deliver the original intent.

By focusing on the experience the customer receives when interacting with a company, and delivering that experience with approved corporate terminology, global organizations will find it easier to make targeted messages that resonate with individual customer segments. The benefits are not only achieved externally with more loyal customers and higher sales figures, but also internally. They include:

• Encouraging intra-departmental collaboration
• Reducing production costs
• Publishing a consistent message
• Reaching local markets faster
• Protecting the global brand

As industry expert Dr. Keiran Dunne said recently: “Companies are either going to pay now to set up a holistic and strategic approach to managing their content, or they're going to pay later when they realize they have different messages in different markets with multiple content issues. But there will always be a payment. It's just nicer to not make that mistake in front of the entire world.”

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Christie Fidura is the Senior Product Marketing Manager for Terminology at SDL International. With over 14 years experience in global and pan-European software development, she brings a deep understanding of technology and marketing to SDL. Fidura has successfully launched new software products to a worldwide audience, garnering several awards throughout her career. She can be reached at cfidura@sdl.com