Need proof that localization pays off?

I am often asked how a company can justify localizing a product for a certain market. My standard answer is "Just do it!" as I believe that the best way to sell a product in a market is by providing it in the language of the local consumers. However, I understand when companies want to build a business case before they take the risk.

Today, the Brazilian newspaper "O Globo" had a story about how video-games are gaining ground in the country because they are localized into Portuguese (click here for a pretty readable Google Translation of the story). The starting point of the story is the fact that people noticed that video-games were now advertised in Portuguese on network television in prime time. The journalist also states that Xbox 360 offers games in Brazilian Portuguese, while Sony's Playstation only offers games in European Portuguese.

Julio Vieitez, director of LUG, a game distributor in Brazil, states that "When comparing the revenues of a good game in Portuguese and in English, the former is 15 times higher than the latter. Localizing is important because people want to play with their friends." Let me repeat that: The revenue of the localized version is 15 times higher than the English version! How about that for ROI?

In the interviews that I have done over the years in the localization market, there are a few things that I have learned:

• Once a company starts localizing into a foreign language, it seldom goes back.
• Some localization is better than no localization.
• People prefer products in their own language, even if they know English (my Facebook interface is in Portuguese, by the way).
• Support and after-sales in local language are key for product success.

I co-authored a study when I was at Common Sense Advisory called "Can't Read, Won't Buy" that is available for free from the Lionbridge website. Oh! They are my competitors, now :) In any case, it is a good read on the topic.

Localization and Translation Thailand 2009: A Great Event!

Sometimes I think that my job is participating in translation and localization events. Although I really enjoy the networking and the content, I must confess that there are too many and several of them just copy each other (but this is the topic of a future posting).

But every once in a while, in the most unexpected places, even a veteran like me can be surprised and re-energized by the contents of an event. For me, 2009 was the year of the small and unpretentious events culminating with Localization and Translation Thailand last week in Bangkok.

In the same line as the 6th Language and Technology Conference, in Córdoba (Argentina), and the ELIA Networking Days, in Vienna, the Thai event attracted fewer than 100 people, which made it a perfect venue for in-depth conversations, real networking, and the development of excellent business opportunities.

The highlights of the event were the keynote presentation by Andrew Rufener, the COO of Lexis Nexis Univentio, and the panel on new developments in localization R&D.

Andrew Rufener reported on his experience in implementing large scale machine translation in patent information services. A real case study by a group that thoroughly evaluated seven MT solutions and ended up selecting Asia Online's solution.

Philip Köhn, from the University of Edinburgh, showed some data on the performance of "monolingual translators" post-editing MT output compared to generic human translation. The concept of a monolingual translator is revolutionary enough, but the fact that industry domain experts perform better than professional translators in post editing tasks was viewed as heresy by the weaker souls in the audience.

My friend Hans Fenstermacher, representing GALA and Translations.com, made a compelling presentation about the challenges that localization has to face because of the way content is developed and handled.

Dion Wiggins, the master of cerimonies and the brains behind the whole event, unveiled some of the accomplishments of Asia Online's new technology and how the world will view language technology differently in the near future.

Finally, I really enjoyed Biraj Rath's presentation about the untapped opportunities about the Indian market. I was amazed at how much I didn't know about India.

All in all, an outstanding event that exceeded all my expectations. For 2010, I am looking forward to Think Latin America in Búzios, near my hometown of Rio de Janeiro, and to ELIA's Networking Days in Istanbul. Both events will be in April and I am really impressed with the line up of speakers and topics (full disclosure: I am helping both events with their programs).

And if you want to follow the Twitter activity of several of the participants with quotes and comments from the speakers and panelists, click here.