Speaking the Language of your Global Customers
Speaking in the native language of your global customer is not only a smart business practice, but will provide a company with a competitive advantage, increased revenues, business growth, and brand loyalty. The global markets have become very attractive to U.S. companies and the opportunities are endless.
China is a huge market, and it has attracted many well-recognized U.S. Brands. While some brands have been very successful in China other have pulled out with disastrous results. Nevertheless, China remains a very lucrative market with consumer spending set to double by 2030, as predicted by Morgan Stanley. It’s also home to the 2nd largest economy behind the U.S., but with purchasing power that surpasses that of the U.S.
What is the dollar amount of goods the United States exports to China?
The United States exported $150 billion worth of goods to China in 2022. This makes China the third-largest purchaser of U.S. goods after Canada ($356 billion) and Mexico ($324 billion).
Amazon and Renault have also been successful in India’s consumer economy. This large country has 22 official languages with Hindi, Bengali, and Marathi being the most spoken languages. India is the United States’ 9th largest trading partner with 2nd largest population in the world of over 1.4 billion people. Already the 5th largest economy in the world, India has emerged as the fastest growing economy with boundless opportunities for U.S brands.
Of course, Spanish is another language that has become critical to the success of brands everywhere, not only internationally, but right here at home in the United States (See Chart Below). According to Spain's Cervantes Institute, 8% of the world population are Spanish speakers with the United States having the 2nd largest population of Spanish speakers. According to Latino Donor Collaborative in partnership with Wells Fargo,
What is the Purchasing Power of Hispanic Americans?
Hispanic Americans have a purchasing power of $2.8 trillion, or more than 13% of the GDP in the U.S.. Hispanic Americans make up 20% of the U.S. population with Spanish being the second most spoken language in the country.
Economic Output of US Hispanic Population 2010- 2023
trillions
Not to be ignored are the major languages in the 27 member European Union nations like German, and French (French is a language that is also the main spoken in many parts of Africa, a continent with a bright growth rate). The US and the European Union shared two-way trade with a total estimate of $1.1 trillion in 2021, according to the American Chamber of Commerce to the European Union. The US remains the European Union’s top trading partner in 2022.
A good marketing strategy for a company trying to take advantage of the lucrative global markets is to develop high-value multilingual assets, like websites, product information, sales contracts, advertisements etc. The content should not only be translated into the native languages of your target market, but are able to engage, inform, educate, and sell in a culturally appropriate manner. Companies who have been successful in their multilingual target market(s) have a comprehensive language strategy. The language strategy puts languages at the forefront when introducing your brand to a foreign language market either globally, or here at home with the millions of people who speak a language other than English.
Top 10 Countries, Ranked by Retail E-commerce Share of Total Retail Sales, 2022
A Language Strategy: Translate, Localize, Create, Communicate
A smart language strategy is vital to succeeding in the multilingual markets. Having a great product or service, a brilliant team, or an effective marketing campaign will not guarantee success without a smart language strategy. The multilingual markets are very lucrative, but at the same time very complex and volatile. Companies that have achieved remarkable results in these markets are able to effectively communicate their brand’s message in the native languages and cultural requirements of the target market.
When a company effectively communicates in the native language of their foreign language market(s), they can:
· Earn brand loyalty
· Build trust and good will
· Increase sales
· Attract new customers
· Create a competitive advantage
“It’s not about just translating word, but transforming your content into the foreign language version of your markets. ”
A successful language strategy is not just translating words, but transforming your content into the foreign language version of your markets. This can be accomplished by localizing your content and communications. When you localize your content, you’re adapting the language, functionality, and overall appearance of your content to the targeted foreign-language market. The content will look and feel like it was originally created in the native language(s) of the target market. A smart language strategy will create high value multilingual content that effectively communicates and engages in the native language(s) of the market.
Creating a great foreign language version of your content, will need the following:
A team leader who is dedicated to your language strategy
Skilled native translators/linguists who understand your brand and the local market
A thorough translation and localization process customized to your foreign language needs
A quality assurance management process
In-country review to ensure your content is appropriate to the local culture
“A smart language strategy will create high value multilingual content that effectively communicates and engages in the native language(s) of the market. ”
Mistranslations of brand messages from the world’s most recognized companies. Here are a few:
When Coors launched its “Turn It Loose campaign in Spain
Coors launched its “Turn It Loose” campaign in Spain, but translated into Spanish, the tagline translated to “suffer from diarrhea. A native Castilian Spanish linguist and editing process may have caught the mistranslation.
Dolce & Gabbana ads in China
Dolce & Gabbana, the famous Italian luxury fashion brand, featured an ad on social media where a Chinese woman attempted to eat Italian food with chopsticks while a male mandarin voice says “Welcome to the first episode of 'Eating with Chopsticks' by Dolce & Gabbana" — pronounced incorrectly on purpose in a way that mock the Chinese speech. This caused major controversy and there were attempts to boycott the brand in China, which may have tarnished the brand in China forever.
Ford caused confusion in Belgium
Ford: "Every car has a high-quality body" translated for the Belgium market to "Every car has a high-quality corpse." These are common mistakes when just translating words.
Pampers bring the stork in Japan
When pampers featured an image of a stork delivering a baby, the image did not go over well with Japanese parents. The story of a stork is not part of Japanese folklore as it is in the U.S. Research by a native Japanese linguist and localizing an image for the local market would have made a world of difference.
Mercedes Benz name mishap in China
Mercedes-Benz decided to introduce its cars to the Chinese market under the shortened name “Bensi”, which means “rush to die” in Chinese. This not an image you want a customer to have when purchasing an expensive luxury vehicle.
A smart language strategy can help prevent the costly mistakes in the stories above. These mistranslations can cause dire consequences for a company with monetary costs in the millions of dollars, distrust of the brand, loss of sales, and ruined reputations of both the brand and its executives. A smart language strategy would be much less costly and provide assurances and a tangible return on investment.
About Global Link
Global Link has been helping clients speak to their multilingual audiences since 1996. We translate, create, and localize communications and multilingual content that help our clients engage with people globally. Global Link is a provider of a full range of language solutions—including translation services, interpreting, website translation, software localization, and multimedia services—across industries for global brands, businesses, and government agencies around the world.. Call us to create a language strategy for your organization.
