John Yunker is founder of Byte Level Research and author of the widely acclaimed book, Beyond Borders: Web Globalization Strategies and editor of Global By Design.
He has covered the emerging field of Web globalization for half a decade and has published a wide range of reports dedicated to best practices in Web localization and internationalization.
About this blog
Going Global focuses on the risks and rewards of expanding into new geographic and cultural markets, from Web globalization to international marketing to global usability.
Back when I was in college, eons ago, students began taking Japanese language courses in droves. Japan was perceived as an economic threat at the time and we Americans needed to churn out a workforce that could speak the language.
Flash forward to today: The new perceived threat is China, and it is no surprise to read this article about the growing popularity of Chinese as a second language.
According to the article, "a 2004 College Board survey found that 2,400 high schools -- an incredibly high number -- would be interested in offering the Advanced Placement (AP) courses in Chinese language and culture when the courses become available in 2006."
While taking a few Chinese AP courses isn't going to turn anyone into a fluent Chinese speaker, it certainly can't hurt. I also think it's important for students to dive into a non-Romance language at least once in their lives. Learning to read not just a different language but a different script is enormously challenging. And it makes the culture behind the language appear a tad bit less "foreign" and perhaps a bit less of a threat.
I was surprised to read this statistic from the article...
"Millions of Chinese are learning English, but only 24,000 Americans are learning Chinese," said Andrew Corcoran of the San Francisco-based Chinese American International School, the oldest Mandarin "immersion" program in the country.
As English becomes the world's second language, native-English speakers have become spoiled. We can travel the world and get by fairly well using English. But, in the end, we are just tourists.
The recent bankruptcy announcement of AOL LatAm draws to an end a six-year case study in how not to expand a business into new markets. This article touches on many of the challenges that AOL encountered when it ventured south (some local and some self-inflicted).
According to the article, AOL's strategy of mass-mailing software CDs to every household didn't make much sense in markets with very low PC and credit card penetration. Says the article, "A former AOL Latin America executive, speaking on condition of anonymity, agreed that AOL's U.S. strategy hadn't translated well in the failed venture. The executive noted that CD mailing costs were about 30 percent to 40 percent higher in Latin America and response rates about half those in the United States."
And then there is the local compeitition. In Mexico, for example, there is Telmex, which is not only a virtual monopoly but also a pretty creative company. It sells the Prodigy Internet service and has enjoyed great success by selling a package that includes the service along with a low-priced PC. And, the last I heard, Telmex is now the largest distributor of PCs in Mexico. While AOL was pushing CDs to people who may or may not have had a PC, Telmex was selling a total solution.
So what are lessons other companies can take away from AOL's saga? For starters, it's probably best not to call yourself a regional player until you truly are one. Better to pick one market and expand from there.
Next, be prepared to ditch the strategy that made you a success in your home market. If you're not prepared to do that, then maybe you should look at just those markets that will support your home-grown strategy.
And be prepared for the locals to work together to see that you fail. Nothing unites local competitors like a foreign competitor with deep pockets. AOL clearly faced a tough, and not entirely fair, fight in every market it entered.
Google and Univision just announced a partnership to improve Spanish-language search results (and make a few bucks along the way). What's interesting about the deal is how they're both presenting it as a "call to action" for companies to launch Spanish-language Web sites. According to the press release:
"As the most-visited Spanish-language website, Univision.com is
excited to work with Google to bring the benefits of more targeted
search capabilities to our users," said Javier Saralegui, President,
Univision Online. "In addition, for those consumer companies not yet
targeting Hispanics online, this partnership should provide additional
impetus for them to develop websites in Spanish."
I was forwarded a job ad in Monster today from a company looking for a Sr. Web Designer. The reason this ad is of interest to me is one of the job requirements:
·Experience with site globalization and the development of an international presence in Web-based solutions
Two years ago, I rarely would have come across an ad like this. But I'm starting to see more and more job ads for Web designers, information architects, and usability pros that ask for knowledge of and/or experience with Web globalization -- another sign that Web globalization has gone mainstream.
This month's issue of Fortune magazine has an in-depth piece on Wal-Mart's adventures in China. Despite having been operating in China since 1996, the company has just 43 locations operating today (it has 3,719 locations in the US). But it was only recently that foreign retailers got the official green light to expand outside the large cities. The race is on.
And this excerpt pretty much sums up how much Wal-Mart has riding on this country...
Wal-Mart can't sustain the astronomical U.S. growth rates of the past decade forever. Sooner rather than later, the company will need help from overseas. But the Beast of Bentonville has yet to emerge as a dominant player in any of the foreign markets that account for about 20% of its global sales. In Germany it is still struggling to stanch losses at the two retailers it acquired in the 1990s. In Japan it has yet to articulate a clear strategy for its 38% stake in the troubled Seiyu chain. The company has had better luck in emerging economies, such as Mexico, where there are fewer entrenched incumbents. But executives have long viewed China, with its vast population and booming economy, as their best bet for long-term global growth. In an interview with FORTUNE last year, former Wal-Mart CEO David Glass proclaimed China "the one place in the world where you could replicate Wal-Mart's success in the U.S."
As for the Internet, Wal-Mart is in need of a truly global Web design and management strategy. Currently, Web sites are managed locally and have little in common except for the logo. A more consistent template will allow for greater sharing of content between countries and greater efficiencies all around.
I love the Costco.com Web site, not just because Costco is the "anti-Wal-Mart" but because Costco.com is the "anti-Amazon." Instead of a Web page crammed with products and promotions, Costco keeps it simple. It's the same selling philosophy you'll find in their warehouses -- selection may be limited but what they do offer is always a good deal.
According to Internet Retailer, Costco launched its Canadian Web site in February and is filling it out rapidly. According to the article....
Costco.com is now adding lines of merchandise such as furniture which will bring the total number of SKUs to 1,000. “Eventually we will have the same number of SKUs offered online in Canada as we do in the United States, which is about 3,000 products,” says Ginnie Roeglin, senior vice president of e-commerce and publishing for Costco.
Costco.com did sales of $375 million in 2004 and the goal is to get to $5 billion. Given their international expansion (Costco already has locations in the UK, Mexico, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan) they have a very good shot at reaching that goal.
-> eBay now has more than 157 million registered users worldwide.
-> eBay Spain now has 1 million registered users.
-> Europe: 40% growth year over year.
-> The UK achieved first-ever $100 million revenue quarter.
-> France and Italy combined equal Germany in size.
-> Launching a new PayPal fraud protection service in Germany in August. Launching in Germany first before other markets.
-> eBay China (EachNet) added 1.6 million users in Q2, giving it a total of 13.2 million users.
-> No more details on China. eBay is "pleased" with progress thus far.
-> PayPal China is now live (includes buyer protection service). PayPal China is offered free right now. They believe direct payment will be more popular than credit cards in China than in other markets, which will minimize risk.
-> India: 1.7 million registered users.
-> No mention of eBay taking another stab at Japan.
-> US PayPal Merchant Pro service: Meg says merchant feedback is good and the price is right. (I found the documentation for this product both light and confusing, though the pricing is very good).
-> Meg says eBay is one of the "top two" paid search advertisers globally.
-> Meg mentioned that they put a priority on sharing best practices across country units.
eBay's non-domestic revenues continue to climb upward. In Q2,
According to their press release:
-> U.S. Marketplace net revenues totaled $423.6 million in Q2-05,
representing 27% year-over-year growth.
-> International Marketplace net revenues totaled $418.8
million in Q2-05, representing 51% year-over-year growth.
(And if you look just at net transaction revenues, non-US revenues passed US revenues in Q2.)
The fastest growing non-US sites were the U.K., up 94%, and Korea, up 78%.
The folks at six apart have made a subtle but important change to the global gateway of their TypePad Web site. TypePad is a hosted Weblog service now offered in nine localized versions.
Here is the before and after of the TypePad global gateway...
Before
After
I'm glad to see TypePad now using a globe icon. It may seem like a silly little detail, but this icon goes a long way in assisting users who do not speak English. More and more global Web sites are embracing the globe icon (or, to a lesser extent, a map icon) and this is a very good thing. Successful Web globalization requires successful global navigation, something often overlooked.
I would, however, make one change to the TypePad site. I would locate this gateway in the upper right corner of the Web page. This is the ideal location for the global gateway.
When I heard that the latest Harry Potter book was expected to sell 10 million copies in the first day, I assumed that this number included editions in various languages. But it turns out that the book is so far only available in English...
In Germany, where the translation is not due to appear until October - a shipment of 100,000 English-language copies were immediately snapped up by bi-lingual youngsters.
So that means that right now, around the world, there are many very tired translators hard at work. Awhile back we posted two very good articles on the logistics and business of translating Harry Potter...
To give you an idea of just how busy these translators are right now, here's an excerpt from the Part II article:
Although a five-month period has not been unusual for the most recent, very long volumes, there is often pressure from Warner Brothers to have the translations completed much more quickly. Jean-François Ménard, the French translator, translated the 700-plus page fourth book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, in just 63 days. Torstein Hoverstad negotiated a bonus percentage with his publisher if he was able to finish the same book in a similar two-month period. (He did.) And Hanna Lutzen and Victor Morozov each formulated plans to translate the even longer Book V, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, into Danish and Ukranian, respectively, in the same eight-to-ten week timeframe.
Last month, Christopher Liechty, president the AIGA Center for Cross-Cultural Design, moderated a panel on branding in China. The transcript from the session has been published and is available for free download. It's a long transcript but worth a read.
The panelists included:
Bernd Schmitt, director, Center on Global Brand Leadership at Columbia Business School
Don Sexton, professor, Columbia Business School
LiAnne Yu, strategic director, China Insight Group, Cheskin
Tom Lowry, media editor, BusinessWeek
Here are a few excerpts that I found interesting:
LiAnne Yu: The hugest opportunities in China are not in the first tier cities right now, they are very much in the second and third tier cities, Chengdu, smaller cities, just growing very rapidly and very different kinds of customer experiences there that may lead to very different types of branding experiences.... There are 166 cities in China with over 1 million people, that’s compared to 9 in the US.
Bernd Schmitt: I think there is a difference in terms of how you look at
individualism and collectivism in different Asian countries. And the difference I see in China, it's much more a small group, family, you mentioned small groups of collective sense, collectivist sense, much more than in Japan.
LiAnne Yu: I think McDonald’s is the most incredible example of a brand. People know that, yeah it started off as an American brand, but when you go into a McDonald’s in China, it's a Chinese experience as well. The way the McDonald’s is laid out, the fact that there are more tables for people to sit at for a long period of time. It’s a place where people take their dates. It's not a fast food experience in the U.S. sense.
John Deere made a subtle but important change to its global gateway. As shown below, the company moved the gateway into the "sweet spot" of the upper right corner of the Web page.
I'm not sure when this change happened, but I'm glad to see it.
Increasingly, companies are embracing the sweet spot for global navigation. Not only is this one of the most visible locations for the gateway, ti is also becoming one of the most popular locations for the global gateway. As a result, customers are being conditioned to look here first for links to localized Web sites.
This is one of those trends that will only gain momentum in the years ahead. As companies continue to expand the number of localized Web sites they support, global navigation will only grow in importance.
One additional recommendation for John Deere: add a globe icon. It's a minor detail, but one that will increase usability for non-English speakers.
A group of French language teachers in Japan are suing the mayor of Tokyo for saying, "French is a failed international language because it cannot be used to count numbers."
That's according to this article. If nothing else, the article is worth a read for its overview of the relative challenges of counting in French vs. Japanese.
It has been a good quarter for PepsiCo, driven by a healthy spike in international sales. According to this article...
In the standout international division, snacks volume rose 3 percent, while drinks volume jumped 10 percent. PepsiCo said it saw strong snacks growth in developing markets like India, China, Russia and Turkey, while drinks volume growth was led by the Middle East, China and Argentina.
Do you display your phone number with dashes or periods?
ie: 555.555.5555 or 555-555-5555
The punctuation you choose says a lot about your company (or maybe just your choice of designer). And now it appears that there is a global angle to this story; according to this article, some folks believe periods are becoming popular in the US because they make phone numbers appear more international.
Here's an excerpt...
Another phone buff, Roger Conklin of Palmetto Bay, Fla., thinks globalization played a role. "The Europeans have been using dots from the beginning of time. Americans adopted dashes. Now that the world is getting smaller, each tends to want to emulate the other, resulting in a mixture," Conklin said.
Last week I interviewed Mark Lancaster, CEO of SDL, and Joe Campbell, CEO of TRADOS (now on the board of SDL), about the merger and their visions for the SDL and the industry.
The good news is that the little semaphore man used by TRADOS will survive the merger. Although he has taken on an SDL shade of green.
As for the TRADOS name, it looks like this too will be around for the near future, although I doubt it will be around long term.
I was also somewhat surprised to hear how well TRADOS was doing in enterprise software sales right up to the merger. This bodes very well for getting the merger off to a strong start.
Here are a few excerpts from the interview:
How does your vision for SDL differ from Lionbridge’s vision? Mark: We’re trying to minimize the touching of paper as it goes through the cycle rather than deploying bodies in India or China to get the job done – if you use software, you don’t need lots of bodies. We’re an enterprise software vendor with an extensive enterprise services infrastructure. Other service companies are translation companies with a possible minimal investment in a portal. This can never add the value to customers that true tested enterprise software can. Joe: The easiest distinction is SDL is a solutions company that provides software, knowledge transfer, and services. Lionbridge, on the other hand, is much more about localization services. The localization market has been crying out for leadership in the area of software-based solutions, as opposed to simply integrating service providers. SDL is the one company providing that leadership.
What do you say to translation agencies who are concerned about buying software from a competitor? Mark: I say that we are selling software that helps LSPs be more productive and achieve higher profitability. There is a huge market for LSPs – where we are not necessarily always going to compete. In fact, I see the LSPs as allies. Joe: We did not have any cancellations from LSPs since the merger was announced. We’re seeing a major shift with LSPs preferring software solutions as opposed to loose technology fits and continuing to throw bodies at the problem.
How will LSPs benefit from the deal? Mark: LSPs should get more business out of this rather than less. Corporations are increasingly centralizing their translation processes, and if LSPs support the software tools, they will get more work.
How has TRADOS been doing over the past year in the enterprise market? Joe: Our enterprise business has been growing exponentially. More than 50% of revenues are now coming out of the enterprise side. We currently have more than 100 enterprise deployments.
SDL has been a very effective marketer of Web globalization solutions. How do you see Web globalization evolving as part of your business? Mark: The Web is the catalyst. Everything ends up either associated with it or appearing on it, whether its the Internet or intranet. If you’re a global business you’re going to have 90% of your content in a local language. CMS vendors are increasingly asked by their customers for GIM capabilities and are therefore coming to TRADOS and SDL for assistance. I believe the Web is a big driver, and we’re going to continue to focus on the Web.
The full interview is included in the July issue of Global By Design, due out later today.
My colleagues at Future Tense have posted an entry on a recent Synovate study on young Asians. Here's a quote from the study:
Head of Sales Yahoo! Hong Kong, Ivy Wong, said "The results of Young Asians show that teenagers rely heavily on the Internet for product and information sourcing. This reinforces the Internet as essential media for marketers who wish to reach out to this affluent group of potential customers.
PayPal has confirmed in the WSJ that it will launch PayPal China by the end of this year.
PayPal currently offers a dozen localized Web sites. its growth strategy is simple -- follow in eBay's global footsteps. Last year, eBay migrated its China acquisition, EachNet, over to the eBay platform. Plugging PayPal into the site is the last major hurdle.
Actually, the last major hurdle is to get a hundred million people comfortable shopping online. So it's no surprise to see eBay kicking in $100 million this year to staff local phone support teams and run TV campaigns. Normally, eBay doesn't pull out the TV ads until after it's reasonably successful in the market; but not in China.
What will be interesting to watch is if PayPayl China debuts with support for wireless (cell phone) payments. We're seeing wireless commerce take hold in Korea. Given the lack of home PCs, limited Internet penetration, and signficant cellular penetration, mobile payments could be a key ingredient to success in this market.
On Wednesday, SDL shareholders approved the SDL acquisition of TRADOS. This makes SDL the hands-down leader of the globalization software market.
So let the games begin! The timing of this merger, as well as the Lionbridge/Bowne Global deal, is ideal. The globalization services/software industry is alive and kicking again and ready to move to the next level -- focusing on total solutions and not just cost per word. Global Information Management is what SDL calls it.
And make no mistake: client demand is driving the rebirth of this industry, not VC money (although there is plenty of that flowing around as well).
I interviewed both Mark Lancaster, CEO of SDL, and Joe Campbell, CEO of TRADOS (now joining the SDL board) yesterday. I learned a great deal and I'll be posting excerpts from the interview here next week and the full interview in the July issue of Global By Design.
If your company offers a multilingual Web site (or plans to offer one), I encourage you to take a moment to complete our landmark Web globalization survey. You can participate by clicking here.
In return for your valuable time, you will receive a free executive summary of the survey. You will also be entered in a drawing in wich we will give away three copies of our popular 2005 Web Globalization Report Card.
If you are a translation agency, please tell your clients, as we are also conducting a study of vendor awareness among all those who take the survey.
A heated battle is brewing between computer makers Lenovo and Dell in China. And The Wall Street Journal has a very good article on the many issues involved.
While Lenovo is looking to expand outside of China (hence the IBM acquisition), so is Dell, attacking Lenovo in its home market. And the fact that the Chinese are getting more and more comfortable ordering online is playing nicely into Dell's business model. According to the article...
Just two years ago, Dell Inc. rejected a plan to sell computers online in China. The personal-computer giant worried that most Chinese consumers didn't use credit cards and were too poor to become big Web shoppers. But last year, Dell executives in China showed their bosses a startling statistic: More than 90 million people in the country's coastal cities have access to the Internet at home or work. "We're missing a great opportunity," William J. Amelio, Dell's top executive in Asia, recalls thinking.
This trend has to be good news for eBay as well, which is also betting big on China. But I wouldn't write off Lenovo just yet. China is Lenovo's home market and Dell is still learning how to market to the locals...
After entering China in 1998, Dell encountered trouble with the term "direct sales." It translates into a Chinese phrase -- zhi xiao -- that's most often used to describe illegal pyramid marketing schemes. To counter the confusion, the company blitzed customers with colorful brochures that depicted its sales and manufacturing processes. And its sales representatives adopted a new Chinese phrase -- zhi xian ding gou -- that means "direct orders."
The Dell China Web site could also benefit from the use of local models. As you can see here, the China and US Web sites make use of the same stock photo.
Still, Lenovo had better not take its eyes off its home market. Dell is in China to stay and it will only get more and more local over time...
The .com domain is technically not synonymous with the USA. There is, in fact, the country domain .us available (though few companies actually use it).
Most companies view the .com Web site as their US Web site. Take Yahoo!. On this day, July 3rd, you'll find that Yahoo.com uses a special logo in honor of the Fourth of July holiday weekend.
Visit Yahoo! France and China and it's business as usual.
The reason that the .com domain can be so troublesome for companies is that a good percentage of visitors to the .com domain do not reside in the US. The challenge then becomes one of getting these non-US Web visitors to their country-specific Web sites (assuming the company offers them). It's not an easy process, which is probably why I've been doing so much talking about "global gateway" issues lately. And what I'm finding is that successful global gateway strategies vary dramatically between companies.
Yahoo! appears to be perfectly happy using .com for its US home page. So happy, in fact, that it does not even support the .us domain; you can try it yourself: http://www.yahoo.us.
While McDonald's has operated in China for some time now, Burger King now appears close to opening its first branch in the country -- in Shanghai. BK has high hopes for the country, as do other fast food chains.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Wendy's is scouting out locations and Hormel Foods is looking at opening hot dog stands.
But the article notes that not all restaurants have thrived in China. Schlotzsky's Deli withdrew from the market and McDonald's recently cited "weakness" and put in a new management team. And then there is pricing. BK is charging 40% to 50% less than what it charges in the US.
Nevertheless, it's safe to say that any multinational fast food chain has little choice but invest in China. BK has 7,956 locations now operating in the US, so there's not much room left to grow. China, despite the risks, despite the low margins, despite the inevitable cultural missteps, is where the action is.
What about the BK China Web site?
While McDonald's offers a China Web site, Burger King does not. It's early yet of course, but BK does not have the best track record in Web globalization. If you visit the corporate site you'll be hard-pressed to find links to the country sites. As best as I can tell, many countries that BK does business in do not have localized Web sites.
To complicate matters, Burger King is known as Hungry Jack's in Australia.
Writing for the world means writing for translation. And, because translation isn't cheap, writing for the world can be a fairly expensive process. It also can be a fairly complex and error-prone process.
So it's nice to see SDL hosting a free Webinar on global authoring on July 20th and 21st. Here is the link to register.
The call promises to answer the following questions:
-> What is a word worth and how can you bring down the cost of writing global content in a world overloaded with information?
-> How can content re-use technologies help in the control of words?
-> How can you leverage existing translation assets to streamline your translation process?
Ben Urbina of Blast Radius will make sense of structured and unstructured authoring and Sophie Hurst of SDL will explain how to re-use translation at the authoring stage.
John Yunker is founder of 
