Going global: content management for multinational companies

To achieve true global success, brands must be able to operate across different markets and territories in a way that perfectly captures language and culture.

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For large multinational companies, this means having to adopt a global content marketing strategy thereby incorporating teams spread over various locations and working on different languages. 

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Here we look at the best ways to take on a globally relevant approach to content, along with the tools that will prove essential to achieving this.

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The process of transcreation 

The practice of transcreation is the process of translating, localizing, and marketing content that has already been created and adapting it so it perfectly targets your market. It is not simply a case of translating texts, word for word, but instead having a clear understanding of your audience in order to adapt tone, style, images, and cultural references.

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Transcreated content is less costly and quicker to produce than building content for each market from scratch. It does however mean that all local teams have to respect the brand guidelines that have been put in place and work with central teams to align messaging and strategy. This of course applies to all communication channels: website, social media, newsletters, and blog articles.

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Putting in place brand guidelines

For established brands, maintaining a brand image is everything. This is why when brands operate across multiple territories, it is crucial that no matter where their content is seen, it is recognizably theirs. 

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In order for all teams to respect the guidelines put in place, they must have clear, defined instructions to follow which mean setting out the tone of voice, colors to use, image type, fonts, etc. In addition to providing each team with your company’s brand guidelines, the use of a Digital Asset Management (DAM) tool can mean that central teams can create approved templates that local teams can then adopt. 

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Adding a template to the DAM system means uploading a validated outline for how other teams can create content such as social media posts, advertisements, or PowerPoint presentations. These templates will firmly establish such limitations as the size and color of the company logo, fonts to use, size of images, etc. However local teams and franchises will be able to make adjustments such as changing the text so that it is in the local language and swapping images so they appeal to the relevant market. In this way, whilst each piece of content remains on brand, it is perfectly tailored to each market. 

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An example of a brand doing this right is IKEA, whose marketing materials are always recognizable but are perfectly suited to each territory. 

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When it launched a new campaign in Malaysia, IKEA used the word “Kia” in its advertising, a reference to the city of Penang’s culture, and integrated it into its campaigns with play-on words with its company name. The marketing materials were colorful and joyous, chosen to appeal to a Malaysian audience but still distinctively IKEA. 

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Establish your content governance and workflows.

In order to ensure that the content that is distributed from each of your teams respects the brand guidelines outlined by your organization, it is useful to work with a digital tool that will streamline this process. Content workflows are set in place outlining how any asset or communication project will be conceived and the steps that will take place in order for it to be planned, created, approved, localized, and published.

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With Wedia’s DAM, the Creative Workflow feature is a key ally for putting in place and tracking the status of communication and marketing projects. 

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Using this feature, users can establish a workflow from directly within their DAM environment. They can then associate relevant team members, including teams from across the organization - so they are implicated in the project from the get-go. All associated users can then follow how a project advances, be notified when their input is required, and have access to one centralized project hub, instead of files being saved on disparate drives or having to track endless email trails.

When working on a project that spans markets, locations, and languages, having a clear and defined process is going to be key to its success. What’s more, all teams become part of the project, meaning the project is a collective effort and not just a top-down approach issued from headquarters. This means each local team is implicated and feels greater ownership over the project and their local adaptations. 

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Getting translation right

Getting the translation of a brand’s content right is part of its success when it comes to targeting consumers in different locations. However, simply carrying out a word-for-word translation of marketing content is not going to cut it when it comes to truly engaging with an audience.

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Local teams must as such work to adapt texts in order to make them work for their market.

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One brand getting this right is the British drinks brand, Innocent. Innocent has a tone of voice that is light-hearted and humorous, often using fruit puns as part of their marketing materials. With the brand having its roots in England, in order for it to achieve global success it needed to replicate its way of communicating with consumers in a host of different countries and languages.

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Using recognizable templates, Innocent has been able to branch out into 18 countries, across Europe and Asia. The brand continues to employ a friendly and approachable way of speaking to its consumers, no matter which language is being used – helping to build a strong and global brand. 

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Ensuring that content is properly translated means involving local teams who can guarantee that language is not only grammatically correct but also respects tone of voice guidelines and cultural references and ways of speaking.

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Using Wedia’s DAM means benefiting from the Web-to-Print translation service, which works with DeepL. This means local teams can automatically translate the text added to any template or marketing campaign and then make the relevant changes necessary to confirm that it is market-ready. Companies can also incorporate a bespoke dictionary into the tool, which provides a list of relevant terms and definitions relevant to the business. The result is that the technology learns how to translate languages using the right business vocabulary. This speeds up the translation process, whilst giving all teams control over exactly how content is produced.

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Don’t forget to analyze

When putting out content across different markets, companies must be able to understand how it is performing. Whilst a campaign might be highly successful in Germany, it may well be a complete flop in Italy, and so marketing and communication teams must learn why.

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Setting objectives, measuring success, and following a customer’s journey is crucial. This starts by using the right tool. A DAM system not only lets you build your content project but is there to support its distribution across multiple channels like your website and social media accounts. When the time comes, the tool will provide you with a detailed set of analytics that will help you understand how your KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) have been met and help set out a roadmap for improving any campaigns.

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Go global, but stay local.

With 72.1% of people worldwide spending all or most of their time on websites in their native language, making sure that a brand has a high level of translated content for each of their markets is key to achieving global success. A brand should as such be able to mold to each market it operates within, understanding local humor, ways of speaking, and traditions. From the colors used in one country to the type of models used in their photoshoots, a brand can still operate consistently, whilst perfectly targeting their local audiences.

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Find out more about building a truly international brand with a Demo from Wedia.