Imagine for a moment that you’re surfing the Web for a particular product or service and you follow a link to a site that is filled with characters that are as alien to you as that Chinese symbol for “company.” What will you do? Will you persevere and try to figure out what the Web site is trying to say? Or will you click the “back” button and look for a site that speaks your language, demonstrating that the company behind it is eager to communicate with you as a valued customer?

If you’re honest about it, the answer is clear: we all want to be thought of as valued and important. There is no clearer acknowledgement of that than to speak in your customer’s own language. In the new world economy you can bet that if you don’t speak directly to your customers in their own language, someone else will.

While we’ve made this seem simple in order to make a point, the fact is, it’s not so simple to speak directly and persuasively to your customers. Language itself is only the most obvious element to be taken into consideration for a multilingual Web site. Cultural and regional differences also influence the ability of a Web site to convey what it must in order to be successful. Before we tackle that subject, however, here are a few facts that will have a profound effect on you and your company as global marketers.

By the “top ten”, we mean the rankings of those countries that use the Internet most. Here’s the list for the year 2000:

Country	Users (million)
United States	135.7
Japan	26.9
Germany	19.1
UK	17.9
China	15.8
Canada	15.2
South Korea	14.8
Italy	11.6
Brazil	10.6
France	9.0

Of these top ten, the five largest non-English-speaking countries are expected to double (and China, quadruple) their usage of the Internet by 2003:

Country	Users (million)
Japan	55
Germany	47.8
China	60.0
Italy	28.7
France	20.2

If you’re not speaking directly to these potential customers in their own language, you’re missing out on an opportunity to build a corporate identity – and a much larger customer base – that will help you compete in the years ahead.

The growth rate for all countries engaged in e-business will be staggering. Here are the actual and projected revenues for selected non-English speaking countries (including business-to-business and business-to-consumer revenues, in constant US dollars):

	1999 Revenues (billion USD)	2003 Revenues (billion USD)
Japan	4.0	693
Germany	6.7	134.3
China	0.096	1.2
France	1.3	42.6

It is, after all, a sign of respect and a demonstration of how seriously you take your non-English-speaking customers. Here’s how Forrester Research phrased it:

“Localization is indispensable for attracting large numbers of customers in Europe’s fragmented market. Even customers who speak English prefer sites that offer their local language.” — Forrester Research

Forrester also found that visitors spend twice as long visiting, and are three times more likely to buy from, a site with information in their native language.

In June, 1993, the Canadian government amended the Charter of the French Language and gave the government the power to determine the situations in which public signs and commercial advertising must be in French only, or where French was “markedly predominant.” If you want to do business in certain parts of Canada, you’ll need a multilingual Web Site.

In France, the law stipulates that the French language must be used to display any Web page intended for use by French citizens.

In an era when many nations and nationalities are struggling to come to grips with globalization, it is prudent to remember that such feelings and laws are an indicator of how important national and personal identities can be. If you expect someone to buy your product or service, pay attention to the desire for identity.

Take the Latin American population in portions of the U.S., for example. A recent study by the University of Georgia showed that the buying power of U.S. Latin American consumers is growing at three times the rate of inflation. Latin American purchasing power is up 65% since 1990. During the same period, inflation was 23%, while overall U.S. buying power grew 41%.

At the same time, a study released by the U.S. Census Bureau revealed that Latin American-owned businesses are growing three times faster than U.S. firms overall.

Add to this growth in buying power an observation made by Gilbert Guzman, chairman of the Amarillo (Texas) Latin American Chamber of Commerce, who has said, “As the Latino population grows, people need to realize that Latin Americans are very brand-loyal.”

The message: “Show me that you care enough to speak to me in my own language and within the terms of my own culture, and you too may have a stake in my growing buying power. Otherwise, I’ll choose someone who will.”

Strategies abound, and there are doubtless niche players who will be considered successful to one degree or another. But Microsoft did not get to be where it is by staying home; they compete in every market where computers are in use.

Microsoft was also one of the first to recognize the power of multilingual Web sites. Coincidence? Highly doubtful. The leaders of tomorrow’s business world will compete globally; and to compete globally you must win the respect – and business – of the world.

And the role of localization...

At the beginning we spoke about the roles of culture and regional differences as well as language. As important as a multilingual Web site is, merely speaking the language is not enough. Cultural and regional differences also have a tremendous impact on how your Web site – and your marketing message – is perceived. The process is known as localization, and it is the next step in your quest toward globalization.

Sources:
Forrester Research; Cyberatlas.internet.com;
Netvalue.com; Businessjournal.net

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