1. Checkout:

Cart abandonment is, and will continue to be, a concern for all online retailers. Whether it’s pure play or multichannel, purchase follow through is paramount. So what topped the list of retailers’ focus in a 2009 study performed by Forrester Research? Number one was enhancing the checkout and throughput process of online transactions. From small to large retailers, 79% said this was the number one focus. People shopping online are still surprised when they get to the final stage of the purchasing process and realize how much shipping will cost them. Cue the abandonment. Still not convinced? A more recent report conducted in May of 2010 asked online shoppers their top reasons for abandoning their shopping cart. The number one reason, with 44% of respondents choosing it, was high shipping charges. By making the shipping charges and delivery times clear earlier on in the purchasing process, you’re clearing the path to the purchase itself. So how can you address these issues? Firstly, 57% of web buyers deem standard shipping costs of up to 10% of the transaction value as reasonable. While this may not be feasible for companies of various sizes, it’s a statistic worth considering. Secondly, 22% of cart abandoners felt that shipping prices were calculated too late in the checkout process(Forrester Research). By simply making shipping charges and times available earlier on in the process, you’re going to have happier customers. Another quick fix to facilitate purchase is by allowing guest checkout. In the same report, a surprising 14% abandoned their cart simply because they didn’t want to register with the site. Don’t let sure thing sales slip through your fingers, let people checkout as guests!

2. Product Details/Reviews and the Consumer Voice

Consumers want information. They not only want to understand the specifications of the product they’re considering, they also want to be able to manipulate it. Give your consumers the ability to zoom in and change the view of the product wherever appropriate. In addition, customer reviews remain a very valuable tool to improving conversion rates and are increasing in usage every year. A 2010 social shopping study conducted by PowerReviews showed that the number one capability of retail sites when selecting and purchasing a product is customer reviews and ratings at 72%. Keep these features at the forefront and make sure you’re stocking products that people are generally happy with! It’s important to also note that the amount of people who spend 10+ minutes reading reviews has gone up to 64% from 50% in 2007 (Power Reviews Study). Having clear information about your various categories and products is vital to ensuring customers leave your site feeling as though they’ve accomplished what they came there to do.

3. Search Results Page:

Online shoppers are looking for an ever increasing level of convenience when they’re online. They’re not out for a stroll in the shopping district of a major city on a sunny day. They’re at their computer, usually shopping to accomplish a goal, whether it’s shopping, researching, or purchasing. The name of the game is a direct route to the point of sale. Facilitate that and you’ll see improved conversion rates. The fewer pages required to accomplish one’s goal the better. Make the quick and convenient draw of the internet work for you by improving how people search for products. The first step is improving the usability of your website. Make it easy for shoppers by using slider bars, multiple check box comparisons, and example based navigation. This will improve the functionality of the website and keep customers happy and returning to your site in the future.

4. Home Page:

Going on the back burner this year is home page improvement, which is a sign of a change in how people end up at your website. With many people landing on pages other than your homepage, through the use of google searches and comparison sites, it’s time to consider the design of alternative entry-point pages. Consider that shoppers who are googling or comparing a specific product have landed on a page on your website with potentially different goals in mind. They know what they’re looking for and are likely closer to making a purchase. Ease that process by ensuring that wherever an individual lands, all the necessary information will be available for them to make a purchase. It’s also a great opportunity to display viable alternatives that the shopper may not have been aware of.

5. Help Sections:

Have you ever walked out of a store because no one was around to answer your questions? I certainly have. With conversion rates somewhat stagnant this year and a heightened effort to improve the checkout process, assisting those with questions along the way to purchase is very important. People are expecting complete control of how they search for products on your website and concurrent with that is the expectation of improved customer service. A fantastic way to create a personalized connection with your customers is to simply set up live chat on the site. It’s easy to implement and immediately conveys a strong focus on the customer and their needs. Even if the feature isn’t used by a particular shopper, he/she will appreciate having that functionality there and may return to your site for that very reason. After all, why would anyone shop somewhere where no one is willing to help them?

Post Originally Published in The Wiser Shoptimizer on 2010-08-24Post originally published in Online Shopping Experience on 2010-08-26 23:29:35

Search engines are the largest source of visitors to any website. People uses search engines like Google, yahoo or Bing to search what they are looking for. So for increasing your business it’s very important to be on the first page of these search engines. SEO companies help you in this regard by their SEO services. The rating of your product can reach at the top with the SEO services. It’s a reputation making process. These SEO companies are creating a new era in the field of web advertisement.

Search engine optimization is a very vast field and an ongoing process. It includes many techniques and continuous effort for improving the ranking of your site and thus growing your business. SEO campaign can increase the number of visitors for your website for the targeted keyword(s) or phrase. Converting those visitors into potential customers is one of the arts of search engine optimization. When your site is optimized it increases the visibility of your site in search engines. Thus more people can go through your site making your business global. There are many more benefits of SEO services.

Now when it comes to make a choice of a SEO company, one gets really confused. But it’s not so. You can easily choose the company providing good SEO services. All you have to do is to take care of the following few steps:

1.  Make sure to know about the length of time the company has been in the fray and the reputation of the company. While choosing a SEO company you should have a list of companies’ providing SEO services and pick the best one.

2.  You should check the previous projects done by that company and their performance on the search engines.

3. You can go through the list of their clients and can share their experience about the SEO services provided by the company.

By following these few steps you can make a good choice of the company and can be benefited by their excellent SEO services. You can grow your business to the sky with the SEO services. So go for it!!Post originally published in SEO- A CHALLENGING INDUSTRY on 2010-08-24 19:03:19

This article is about localizing global content focusing on language perspective, i.e. how much translation is required for target audience to understand when the content is originally made in the language not understood by the target audience.

1. Do everything of all content need to be translated in content localization?

The author would say no.  It is true that translation is the first thing to do in localizing contents, the author would say that it does not necessarily mean that all headlines, texts, captions etc. need to be translated at all times.

This is because there are a few exceptional cases in which target audiences understand the core message and find the content interesting even if the content is not all translated into the language they understand.

2. What kind of contents could do without translation yet target audiences find the contents interesting?

They are mostly of rich contents focusing on visuals.  This does not mean that such contents are all that leverages web 2.0 technologies with movies.  Web 1.0 content also could be such contents yet web 2.0 content of movies could not be of such contents.

Non-texts such as photo and movies convey sufficient information to local audience even though the text and/narration is not translated from English into local language or vice versa.  That is to say global audience understands the message even though the text and/or narration is not translated from local language to English and the audience actually find the content interesting.

3. What are some of the examples of contents which can do without translation yet target audience can enjoy?

1) Blogs articles with photos that can be like an album.

It is often said that pictures equals hundred words, which is quite true.  Target audience may enjoy blog articles with many photos even though the blog is of much text probably because series of photos are like an album.

When the author wrote a blog article in Japanese about her business trip to Switzerland and posted photos and tweeted with a link to the article page, it attracted attention of global audience and to her surprise, was retweeted, with comment about the photos.

Participated in Global Diversity & Inclusion Meeting held in Global HQ! (the author’s translation)

http://ameblo.jp/meg-oyanagi/entry-10555640784.html

Also, the author had a feedback from which she understood that other online people used the online translation service to read the long blog article text.  Although the translation quality might not be perfect, it was understandable and the readers did enjoy the article.  This incident means that if target audience is once attracted to the content, he/she would self-serve to translate utilizing online translation services and is satisfied with it.

2) Blog article with charts and/or (YouTube) videos

Blog articles of texts with charts and/or videos can make target audiences understand the core message and enjoyed even if the texts and narrations are not translated.  If it is a 2 hour movie, interpreted dubbed version or telop translation version are inevitable to help audience understand the story and message.  However, in the case of blog articles with easy-to-understand, illustrative chart and/or video, such localization is not necessarily required for the audiences to understand the main message.

Some examples of such articles include the below.

20 #Facebook Tips/Tricks You Might Not Know

http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/20-facebook-tipstricks-you-might-not-know/

How to Build a Facebook Community (14 “Levers” You Need to be Pulling)

http://www.johnhaydon.com/2009/10/howto-build-facebook-community/

These 2 blog articles were tweeted by the author, to global audience in English and to Japanese audience with a simple comment in Japanese then the English article title and link.  Surprisingly, they were retweeted with a simple appreciation comment by a Japanese tweet.

There are many factors for it such as the fact that the tweep has always been attentive to advanced social media trend regardless of the location of source and the content met his needs.  The author also feels that the fact that the blog articles included easy-to-understand visualized chart and video that help the non-bilingual Japanese tweep understand the main message is also an important factor that made him satisfied with the content although it is in English.  Also, similarly to the blog posts with pictures mentioned above, if the reader is extremely curious of the content, he/she would likely to self-serve for translation leveraging online web service.

3) Video content focusing on visual with good tempo

Surprisingly Video contents without been translated or translated telop can make target audience understand the core message, interested in the content and enjoy even if it is not translated into the language of the target audience.  Such contents are with easy-to-understand, illustrative visuals/moving pictures, preferably with appropriate BGM.  Thus, video in which a person makes narration and the movie is only the narrator talking is no good.

A few example of such content are as below.

What motivates us? [video]

http://holykaw.alltop.com/what-motivates-us-video

Evolution Web 1.0, Web 2.0 to Web 3.0 (VID)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsNcjya56v8&feature=related

The 2 contents have no translation telop and narration is in English; however, when the author tweeted introducing them with a link, a non-bilingual Japanese tweep retweeted with a comment saying that this content is of good tempo and of interesting and impressive way of presenting message through visual/movie.  It is apparent that the retweeter was very interested in how the content was made and the information was presented to the audience, not found in Japan.

For the similar reason, some videos in English are often shown as it is to Japanese employees (who cannot understand English) at the company the author works in.  In doing so, the author always makes sure that core message of such videos are understandable for non-bilingual employees from moving pictures and BGM.  According to the feedback, the employees did understand the core message and enjoyed the content.

4. What are the final thoughts of the author?

Interesting photos and illustrative charts/movies attract attention of audience.  They are extremely helpful for the audience to understand who are satisfied, regardless of which language the content is made in and which language the audience can understand.  It is not about the language and translation.  It is all about the value of the content and how the content is created and shown from customer perspective.Post originally published in Future Direction of Web 2.0 and Internet Marketing on 2010-08-22 00:57:27

1. Clear pricing/shipping costs at all times: This is simple and straightforward, yet countless websites fail to do this properly. What’s the most important feature internet users expect according to a report conducted by Oneupweb in June 2010? You guessed it, clear pricing/shipping information at a whopping 95.5% of respondents. The moment someone adds a product to their cart, pricing and shipping costs should be clearly stated in the forefront so there are no surprises, potentially leading to abandonment later.

2. Guest Checkout: This is crucial. Your website becomes much more usable when you allow guests to checkout without having to fill out unnecessary information. Sometimes people want to be able to purchase a product as a guest because they’re ready to fill out yet another form. In fact, Forrester Research conducted a shopping cart abandonment study in 2010 and found that 14% of shoppers abandoned their cart because they didn’t want to register.

3. Product Details: Customers want to not only understand and read the specifications of the product they’re considering, they want to be able to manipulate it. Wherever appropriate, allow your customers to zoom in/out and change the view of the product.

4. Search Results Page: This issue primarily facilitates allowing shoppers to meet their goals. The fewer pages required to meet one’s goals, the better. Slider bars, multiple check box comparison, and example-based navigation are but a few features that’ll improve search capabilities. Also, make sure your search box is long enough for the user to read what they’re typing.

5. Cookie/Bread Crumbs: Helping with search functionality is having clear cookie/bread crumbs so that shoppers know exactly what page/section they’re on at any time. Here’s an example: Home>Products>Cameras>Digital SLR and so on.

6. Forms: They should definitely have cookies or whatever is necessary in order to keep data intact in case the user needs to click away from the site for a minute while they’re in the middle of filling out the form.

A last tip and some final thoughts.

Customer Inquiry phone calls: These are a fantastic opportunity that every company should take advantage of. When someone calls and begins by saying something like “I’m on your website and have a question…” or “I was just on your website and was wondering…” this is a great opportunity to write down detailed information about some part of your website that a genuine user has found to be lacking. Taking this a step further, have the person taking the phone call ask a question or two about the site. Maybe having a running database of potential questions to ask would be helpful. This is like a free usability test and should never been taken lightly. This aggregated information can be used by the IT team to improve any number of aspects on the website.

My last thought is that usability guidelines are strictly that, guidelines. It’s not a rule and they’re not all necessary. Having said that, there are certain functionalities that users have come to expect and these should be adhered to. Deviating too far from what people are expecting upon arrival at your site will start off the experience on the wrong foot. However, be creative within and around the more general design layouts. As I said earlier, the name of the game is utilizing usability in order to facilitate the smoothest path from research to purchase (or whatever the primary goal of the site is). Do all of this well, and you’ve got usability in the bag! Like so many things in life though, it’s easier said than done.Post originally published in Online Shopping Experience on 2010-08-20 18:57:16

This article is the continuation of the previous article, which is about developing and evolving content for global and local audience based on local information.

1. What kind of local information can be developed into content targeting global audience as well as local audience?

Local information need to be informative and of value to global audience.  There are mainly 3 types of information that can be developed into content targeting global audience as well as local audience.

1) Advanced, innovative and creative local information.

Typical examples include that of locally-developed innovation such as world-first innovative technology and locally-developed innovative and creative activities.  These kinds of contents are, in a sense, best practice sharing, of variety of topics.  The website example presented later in this article can be categorized in this.

2) Unique local information yet underlying concept/message/philosophy is of globally universal, and /or local information depicts global trend well.

Typical topics of this kind of information include environment, healthcare, leadership and management and humanity.  Some easy-to-understand examples from the author’s blog about Japan include the following.

Turning Point in Japan’s Trade with China

This depicts the global trend of China’s emergence as the world’s consumption market, and attracted interests of worldwide online people, with feedback and retweets.

3) Very unique, full of originality local information that attracts interest of global audience.

Typical topics of this kind of information include culture, and manners and customs.  Some easy-to-understand examples from the author’s blog include the following:-

What is Japanese Valentine’s Day and White Day?

This is about Japanese original Valentine’s Day.  This attracted interest of the author’s worldwide Twitter and Facebook friends, with comments/feedback and retweets.

2. How can local information developed into global content and local content, meeting needs of both global and local audience?

Basic methodology is the same as tailoring global content to develop local content to meet needs of local audience; that is, adding/deleting irrelevant information and/or changing the viewpoint/subject and remake the content based on the buyer persona of audience segment.

The author would like to explain with a website (web content) she and the team members developed 2001-2002 to start creating and increasing fans of the company and the products/services, targeting children, when she was working for her former employer (a Japanese consumer electronics giant).

1) How series of websites were first planned and developed

Being a global company based in Japan, branding such as website concept and title was developed from global perspective, while Japanese website was planned and developed.  After the completion of the Japanese website targeting Japanese local audience, English website targeting global audience and Chinese website targeting Chinese audience were developed, because it was considered that the Japanese website concept would be acceptable worldwide.

2) Japanese website: the start of the initiative.

The website as of today is http://pks.panasonic.co.jp/, targeting children around 8 years old, who are “future customers” of the company and also already the key players in making purchasing decision in Japan.

Contents include basics (theories and facts) about consumer electronics such as how consumer electronics work and their history, i.e. how they were first born and then evolved to become advanced as of today.

There are also contents that are not necessarily related to consumer electronics and/or related to culture, and manners and customs, such as flags of major worldwide countries to evoke interest in other countries, and about environment such as importance of environmental preservation and what can be cone in everyday lives to contribute to environmental preservation.

3) English content for global audience

Contents on basic facts of consumer electronics were translated from Japanese to English.  However, contents that focus on culture, and manners and customers were carefully reviewed.  Information that could lead to misunderstanding or Japan specific that was considered not to attract attention and interest of global audience were dropped out, thus which blocks of information to include as global contents were selected.  And any tailoring and modifications required were done in the process of translation, based on multiple buyer persona of 8 year children from major countries and regions.

4) Chinese content for China local audience

As a first step, English global content was translated into Chinese.  Then, the website was transferred to China local site, and China local content that is specific to China market such as information related to Chinese society and market/marketing were added locally.

5) How series of websites evolved as time went on after 2002.

(1) Addition of different kinds of contents meeting local needs (in Japan)

Besides updating of contents of basics, variety of other kinds of contents which might be indirectly related to consumer electronics have been/still being added, such as how to make primitive telephone from strings and cardboards.  Also events are planned and held collaborating with company showrooms located in Tokyo and Osaka, especially in summer and spring, and information about and linking with such events are also created.

Such contents are designed to help children do their summer holiday homework, because it is typical in Japan that children are assigned to make observation of something such as how sunflowers grow, make something on their own, and write diary with pictures during summer when they have long holiday (Japanese school year starts in April).

(2) Addition of contents targeting teachers and parents (in Japan)

Since there were many inquiries from teachers and parents, contents targeting teachers and parents were developed in 2006.  Also, e-newsletter targeting teachers and parents exclusively was started to be distributed in 2006, and the e-newsletter that had been distributed since 2002 was reviewed to better target children.

(3) Addition of contents about worldwide contest

Studying of developing global community and starting contests had started from 2003, considering the initiative that had been going on locally in the U.S. for 10 years.  First, the U.S., initiative was collaborated with Global & Group HQ ( in Japan) then content of some topics started to be held online.  One of the recent example is as below.

The Eco Picture Diary Contest

http://pks.panasonic.co.jp/eco-global/2009/en/

In the upcoming article, the author would like to explain how global content is developed as a new local content totally and vise versa, delivering the consistent global message.Post originally published in Future Direction of Web 2.0 and Internet Marketing on 2010-07-31 22:29:26

This article is the continuation of the previous article, which is about developing content meeting needs of local audience while delivering consistent global message by tailoring the global content totally to meet local needs.

1. What is the primary methodology of tailoring the global content totally to meet local needs?

It is by changing the viewpoint, from global to local, often changing the subject and developing content from the eyes of local representatives.  This methodology is used in many news and contents on international topics (e.g. summit, environmental issues) and global events such as Olympics and World Cup games.

For example, news about summit is global but very often it is reported in each countries differently, focusing on their leaders and topics of their own country because local audience (i.e. audience in their own country) would be interested in such contents.  Olympics and World Cup games are also usually reported in the similar manner for the same reason.  In reality, what are reported/broadcasted in detail/full are very often only the games in which the athletes of the country play.

2. How is the methodology of changing the viewpoint/subject applied in developing local content based global content?

The author would like to explain with a typical example.  She would like to take a case in of a global event in which people from Global HQ and local executives participate.

1) Overview of the global event

Global event is a ceremony cerebrating achievement of a milestone of a global project, hosted by Singapore.  Japan top executive representing the primary client of the project is invited, and executives from global HQ and collaborator of Singapore from Japan join.

2) How the global and local content of the global event can be developed meeting the needs of global and local audience

(1) Global content targeting global audience

Content (article) is usually developed in a neutral, third person viewpoint, informing facts.   The text would be in third person to make the total style of usual corporate content.

The information would likely to include overview of the ceremony with brief explanation of each session.  If some kind of message is to be included, it is possible that such things as how global collaboration made the project successful are also included to encourage collaboration, and/or add humanity touch to attract interest of the target audience.

(2) Singapore content targeting Singapore audience

Content (article) is usually developed informing facts but from Singapore (host) viewpoint.  Although the text would likely be in third person and the style of usual corporate content, subject would be Singapore = host.

The information would likely include overview of the ceremony and explanation of each session, possibly in depth.

Additional, more casual content can also be developed, to attract empathy and interest of the Singapore local audience, such as depicting backyard of the project and the ceremony.  Such contents are usually effective ifs developed from the eyes of the project key persons and ceremony organizers, to add humanity aspects.

(3) Japan content targeting Japanese people under the umbrella of Japan project collaborator

Content (article) is usually developed informing facts but likely from the eyes of the Japan project collaborator/team members.  The style is better if it is in usual corporate content style but the subject would be in the person who joined the ceremony on the day if the content is from the eyes of that person, which is likely to be more effective rather than in normal third person style.

The information would be overview of the ceremony and explanation of each session.  It is probably more effective if how Japan project members collaborated to make this project a success is also included to attract the empathy and interest of the target audience and to add humanity aspects.

(4) Japan content targeting Japanese people under the top executive

Very brief content (article) is usually developed informing facts, focusing on the Japan top executive’s attendance.  The text would be in third person, in usual corporate content style.

The subject is the Japan top executive and the information included is likely to focus solely on the highlights of the ceremony such as the session in which the Japan top executive made a speech and other ceremonial events held in which the Japan top executives attended.

Approach of changing the viewpoint/subject is also effective in developing global and local content of a local issue.

The author would like to explain how in the upcoming article.Post originally published in Future Direction of Web 2.0 and Internet Marketing on 2010-07-24 20:07:19

This change was a great idea since for most of my life I was planning, designing, and troubleshooting much of the media systems out there. Thus my engineering feats of magic now assist me in my on-air work. Knowing how the images and audio travel from the studio to the TV or to a computer desktop half way around the world is daunting to some, but I know how it works. This technological ‘handshake’ is by far above the interest or concern of many but now we have to know (or are forced to know) something about it.

We still do our own job, BUT, this is not how the world is progressing. We are more and more being placed in a position where we must know something about everything. The engineers of this industry have been whittling down the technology so we do not need to hire expensive people to ‘do’ something. The team is dwindling down to a trickle. But does this make things better? Not really. I have seen musicians go from creative artists to frustrated music software users in a few weeks. Loosing their passion to create. Just because it is easy(!?) and cheaper to do it yourself. I have seen none of the above work well.   Now with TV, the same desktop publishing is available. For a few bucks we can replace what used to fill a building with ‘gear’. B ut will we face the same fate of the frustrated musician? Highly possible.

A music studio friend of mine and I were discussing ‘propagation delay’. Which is the time it takes for the sound to be converted to digital, be processed and then returned to to an audible signal. His comment was that in the music recording business, the most significant ‘propagation delay’ was the time between the album’s recording and the time it arrived on the music store’s shelves… Wise words.

I feel we need to plan a proper balance with the talent and technology in our creative processes. So, beware of dilution of your creative work!Post originally published in The Crossroads with Martin Anthony on 2010-07-20 11:15:22

This article is the continuation of the previous article, which is about developing content meeting needs of local audience while delivering consistent global message.

1. What must be considered first in tailoring global content to meet local needs?

Similarly to any other contents, relevance must be considered first in planning and developing content meeting local needs.  The objectives of the buyer persona of the local audience and the relevant content for each buyer persona need to be considered.

Some global content may not be necessary to be delivered to local audience.  Some of the examples of global contents mentioned in the previous article Vol.34 – How to Deliver Consistent Message to Global and Local Audience are not always necessary to be delivered to local audience, for example, to local business partners (PR agencies) wanting to start business with local office and to consumers wanting to buy local products and services.

Some other global contents need to be delivered to local audience but do not need to be tailored but simple translation at most is appropriate, such as financial (IR) information.  Such information is necessary and valuable to local investors as a great source in making investment judgments.

And, some other global contents need to be delivered to local audience and need to be tailored to meet local needs, although the degree and methodology is case by case.  Such contents are focus of this article and upcoming article(s).

2. What is the primary methodology of tailoring global content?

The methodology mostly adopted in tailoring global content is adding and/or replacing details (examples and explanations) with local ones.  This methodology is often taken for “other facts about the company/individual” mentioned in the previous article Vol.34 – How to Deliver Consistent Message to Global and Local Audience.

This methodology is adopted because of local laws and restrictions, and other local situations attributing to local society, manners and customs, and culture that cannot be covered by global content/side.

1) Adding local details

A good example of adding details and examples may be compliance related content.  Basic philosophy and information of compliance is consistent worldwide and some main examples can be provided globally, but many needs to be provided locally, meeting local needs and situation.  This is why most compliance related information provided from global side always has phrases saying details are apt to local laws and restrictions.

Thus, local laws and restrictions, and concrete examples based on local laws and restrictions added locally.  Also, concrete examples of cases to explain and/or support worldwide philosophy and policy are added locally.

Another example of adding details and examples may be sustainability (CSR and environment preservation) content.  Basic philosophy and information of such content is consistent worldwide, but details are usually added locally for the same reason and in similar way as compliance related content.  Also, information on local activities is added locally.

News releases and product information and other contents are planned and developed with the same concept.

2) Replacing with local details

This methodology might sound odd but the author has presented this methodology, distinguishing from adding local details because some methodologies taken are not quite adding but really replacing, whether the degree is large or small.

(1) Words and phrases, and sentence level

In practice, this methodology is on sentence level even in some of the global contents that are considered to be simply translation to local language.  For example, in the case of mentioning M&A of a company, the timing (year) was replaced with the local one because it took place one year after the global.

Also, words and phrases are not literally translated but replaced by local equivalents for local audience to understand better.  For example, when translating “emerging market” into Japanese, the author often replaces it with something like “countries of what we call BRICs”.  “BRICs” is the term widely used in Japan meaning “Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa” and this term is much easier for the local audience to understand.

(2) Content level

The methodology of replacing with local details on content level is probably most adopted in explaining features/usage of products and services considering the local society, lifestyle, manners and customers and culture.

An example is what the author did for a matrix chart of plotting digital AV products based on assumed lifestyles of customer segments (buyer persona) when she was responsible for product marketing covering worldwide market.  The matrix was a content of a training tool for worldwide sales person.

She first developed a “standard” matrix, i.e. global content.  She then developed a few “derivatives” from the “standard” matrix to meet some specific regions based on their product line-up and the lifestyles, manners and customer and culture.

(3) Description/headline level

Although of a little different perspective, there is another methodology which can be categorized as replacing with local details.  This is what the author often adopts in tweeting on Twitter and posting updates on Facebook.  That is posting updates of different contents in English (global audience) and Japanese (Japan local audience) meeting their respective needs although the links is the same.

3. What methodologies need to be adopted when adding and/or replacing with local details is insufficient?

There are mainly 2 ways to overcome such a situation.  The first methodology is tailoring the global content totally to meet local needs.  The second is developing a new local content totally with delivering the consistent global message.

The first methodology will be the topic of the upcoming article.Post originally published in Future Direction of Web 2.0 and Internet Marketing on 2010-07-17 23:24:18

More changes to come as website aims to become the favorite online destination for media professionals and those looking to connect with them
SEATTLE, JULY 13, 2010—ThoseinMedia, a website for media, marketing and advertising professionals to connect, communicate and network, today announced the re-launch of www.thoseinmedia.com. Complete with a new look and feel, the website contains articles, links to member blogs and an updated jobs portal enabling members to network with each other and stay informed on industry news and trends.
What started as a website focused on connecting media professionals with job opportunities has rapidly grown into a destination site for individuals in the media arts to engage in dialogue with each other, share knowledge and network. Members come from all corners of the globe including North America, Europe, Asia and Africa.

In 2007 founder Brent Willen, a media recruiter by trade, launched ThoseinMedia using his knowledge of the media industry and his passion for the online world and placing talented individuals in highly desired media jobs.

“I am very excited about the re-launch of ThoseinMedia.com. It was always my goal to bring smart and talented media professionals together, engage them in discussion and provide them a platform to share knowledge with their contemporaries,” said Willen. “The addition of new content like member generated articles and a host of tools that allow members to promote themselves and their businesses further enriches the experience for everyone and provides a unique opportunity for media professionals in disparate parts of the world to learn about industry trends from a different point of view.”

ThoseinMedia is led by a strong group of professionals with more than 35 years of collective experience in advertising, marketing, PR, business development, SEO/SEM and analytics.

• Anne Willen, director of operations is responsible for operations and customer service for ThoseinMedia and heads ThoseinMedia’s parent company.

• Lars Hilse, director of business development and chief evangelist is responsible for channel partnerships, ad sales, SEO and web strategy.

• Tiffany West, director of marketing is responsible for the overall marketing and PR strategy for ThoseinMedia. She has more than 13 years of experience in marketing communications including five years managing PR strategy for a top 50 ad supported website.

• Lana Kraovskiy, director of ad operations is responsible for ad strategy, implementation and analytics. She has more than nine years of experience as a web development, ad operations and client support specialist.

About ThoseinMedia™: Where Media Professionals Blog
ThoseinMedia™ is the place for media, marketing, and advertising professionals to connect, communicate, and network. Founded in 2007, ThoseinMedia is headquartered in Seattle, WA. In addition to www.thoseinmedia.com, the group has more than 73,000 members on LinkedIn, making it one of the largest and fastest growing online groups for media professionals. Follow ThoseinMedia on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=34886758528;
Twitter: @ThoseinMedia
and on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?mostPopular=&gid=45264

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FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Tiffany West Director of Marketing
206.617.8717
tiffany@thoseinmedia.com
Skype: tiffanyw1973

Anne Willen Director of Operations
425-889-1400
anne@thoseinmedia.comPost originally published in Media Jobs on 2010-07-14 14:37:22

This article discusses effectively delivering consistent message with consistent branding to global and local audience online and offline, meeting needs of both global and local audience.  The discussion is based on the author’s experience of marketing and communication to global and Japan local audience at work and also on how she has been managing social media (English and Japanese blogs, two separate twitter accounts, and one Facebook account targeting global and local friends).

1. What are the KFS for delivering consistent message to global and local audience?

What to keep consistent worldwide and what to tailor to meet local needs must be clarified after careful selection and defining to effectively deliver consistent message with consistent branding to global and local audience, online and offline, meeting all their needs.  This is the KFS (Key Factors for Success) to effectively deliver consistent message to global and local audience with consistent branding, meeting needs of both global and local audience.

2. What needs to be consistent for both global and local audience and what needs to be tailored to meet local needs?

The following are main examples of things that need to be consistent for both global and local audience (and for all customer segments, i.e. buying persona).

1) Core message and branding

Needless to say, core message and branding should be consistent regardless of customer/audience segment.  All the contents are to support core message, developed under consistent branding principle.

In the case of many companies, core message and branding is made into a slogan or something similar, which is translated to local languages, and symbolized by CI (Corporate Identity) logos.  Slogan (or something similar) may well be combined with CI logos, such as “imagination at work” of GE, “Connecting People” of Nokia and “ideas for life” of Panasonic.

Corporate (and/or product) branding guidelines are usually developed and applied worldwide to keep consistency.  In such guidelines, items such as colour/format/proportion/spacing of the logo and layout and style of visual/copy are defined.  These needs to be applied regardless of customer/audience segmentation, media and communication channel etc.

2) Facts and data

There are many kinds of facts and data that need to be consistent to both global and local audience.

(1) Overview of the organization / individual

In the case of a company, this would be Company Information that was mentioned in the previous article Vol.33 – How to Develop Corporate Contents with Consistent Corporate Branding.  Many global companies deliver consistent information of the overview of the global company by making local websites link to the global page (in English) and/or by making local branches precisely translate the global page information into their language then post the translation on their local website.  The translation is used in offline media/tools such as brochure.

In the case of the individual, this would be profile (page) and bio on website and all online communities such as blogs, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter.  If he/she is to be introduced in online and/or offline media and is edited by the media, the primary source needs to be his/her profile and bio to keep the information consistent.

(2) Financial information (IR information)

This is as mentioned in Vol.33 – How to Develop Corporate Contents with Consistent Corporate Branding.

Most global companies deliver consistent information of this kind by the very same method mentioned above in delivering consistent global company overview information.

Global company information and IR information including financial announcement press releases can be said as the main global content of global companies.

(3) Other facts about the company/individual

In the case of a company, this would be basic information of career information and information of other topics mentioned in Vol.33 – How to Develop Corporate Contents with Consistent Corporate Branding.  Such information includes press releases and all other content.

The reason why the author says “basic information” is that the basic facts and philosophy of the information is universal worldwide and therefore needs to be consistent; however, details and concrete case information needs to be tailored locally depending on local law, society, culture and other issues.  Also, what aspects to be focused to explain some topics and its approach needs to be carefully selected and defined to meet local needs.

The same concept applies in the case of an individual.

(4) Basic product/service information

The reason why the author says “basic” product information is the same as the reason for other facts about the company/individual mentioned above.  Such information includes press releases and all other content.

Product and service specification remains consistent worldwide, so are bullet copies describing products and services.  The exception is when the details of the products and services have been tailed according to the market segment.  This is quite usual for consumer products and services at least.

Explanation of benefits and concrete case studies may well be tailored locally depending on local needs including society, culture, law and other issues.  What aspects to be focused to effectively explain benefits and how needs to be carefully selected and defined to meet local needs.

An example of such exception is of global strategic flagship consumer products and services, consistent message and branding is delivered with the same visual, headline and copy.  Panasonic adopted this approach in marketing first flat panel TVs.  This approach also seems to be widely adopted in the case of IT software (e.g. security), especially when their global business is at early stage.

3. How is content developed tailoring to meet local audience while delivering consistent message?

Outline of this has already been touched on in (3) and (4) above.

The author would like to further discuss this in the upcoming article.Post originally published in Future Direction of Web 2.0 and Internet Marketing on 2010-07-10 22:19:21