Chillistore announces that they have been acquired by Argos Multilingual, but will remain a separate and independent subsidiary. More details here!
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Electronic Arts (EA) is making great strides with regard to accessibility! This week, the video game giant opened patents for some of its accessibility-related tech. This means that games that have been using this technology won’t see lawsuits. One of the most impressive innovations is the “ping system” in the game, Apex Legends. The system allows for the visually and hearing impaired to play this team-based game, without hearing or speaking. EA will also open patents for its super popular games, Madden and Fifa, with the goal of making them more accessible for people with low vision and/or color blindness.
Our goal at Chillistore is to advise with sensitivity and inclusion at the forefront. When we work with screen readers, for example, we look for pain points that could hinder someone’s ability to receive the desired message. Screen readers often either include too much detail, or not enough, leaving the receiver with an inaccurate vision. We boil down what’s relevant to the messaging, so the audience can fully understand all aspects of the intended message. We go through this process in many languages, assuring that content is sensitive from an accessibility standpoint, as well as a cultural one. We do this because at Chillistore, we care about people.
Read more about EA’s efforts here.
In July, Apple TV signed a production deal for Russian and ‘multilingual’ shows, as an apparent ode to Netflix’s successful approach. Alexander Rodnyansky’s company, AR Content, will work with Apple to create several shows, some of which will take place in Russia. Apple’s move represents a growing effort to address other languages and cultures in their own language from the start, as opposed to relying on translated content.
Dare we compare apples to chillies and say the Apple approach is in-line with the Chillistore approach? At Chillistore, we believe in using localization, transcreation and/or in-country copywriting, depending on the type of content needed to sell products and services. Knowing which approach works for which market is key, and is one of our biggest strengths.
Say you have translations that you want to tailor to fit a certain audience; our localization services help check the quality of translations, and make sure they’ll resonate across cultures. You don’t want a direct translation to misconstrue your intended messaging, which is why our culture experts are so crucial. This is also why customers often choose “transcreation” (translation + creation) as an approach to globalization. Transcreation is a mobile process, in which in-country creators build messaging that will resonate with their country’s language and audience. Rather than performing a quality translation of an existing message, these experts build new messaging from the ground up, and remove or add elements that will resonate most with their target audience. This is also how in-country copywriting works. Writing brand new copy each time you need to translate your content can sometimes be more efficient and effective than performing hundreds of translations.
At Chillistore, we’ll identify which of these above approaches will work best for your needs, and will assign the right people to the job. After all, we pride ourselves on knowing cultures, and that requires understanding people.
Read more about Apple’s deal here https://bit.ly/2W1thkZ
Last week, Irish-based tech company VoiceSage unveiled a Covid-19 “Travel Advisor Bot” on WhatsApp. The bot is designed to help international travelers navigate the new mid-pandemic travel world, via a constantly-updating database of travel information. The cool part? The Bot offers 71 languages — a product that’s considering its multilingual reach right from the get go! We’re all about it here at Chillistore, where language is our middle name. The sooner products recognize the importance of communicating and relating to their users in a variety of languages, the better situated they are for success across international markets.
VoiceSage’s technology relies on AI & Machine Learning. This kind of machine learning predicts the likelihood of using certain words, in order to translate content at a rapid pace — which makes sense when you’re translating constantly updated content in real-time. There are times, however, when a human-centered translation approach is what’s best for a certain message, market, and/or culture. If you have a product or service you’re trying to sell to a new market, it’s important that any and all translations relate to that specific market. This is where we come in. Chillistore’s experts understand that messaging goes beyond translating; it’s about resonating with a cultural identity, and leveraging that identity to sell something. Whether you’re building a message in-country, or improving upon a translation, there’s something irreplaceable about a human touch.
To learn more about VoiceSage’s new product, read openPR’s article.
Nimdzi Insights interviewed John Yunker about his 2021 Globalization Report Card. Since 2003, Yunker has created a yearly “benchmark” of the world’s globalization websites, to assess how companies take their websites global. His report card analyzes four simple criteria: Global Navigation, Global/Mobile Architecture, Global Reach, and Localization & Social. Yunker’s consistent methodology has helped companies monitor their best practices. Over the years, the average number of languages supported by companies has more than doubled, from ten to 33, representing an increasing focus on globalization.
Part of building our best practices at Chillistore means understanding global trends, which is why we found this year’s report card so fascinating. Learn more by watching Yunker’s interview here.
Have you ever had a product sell like crazy in one market and flatline in another? Perhaps you’ve experienced differing success rates between cultures and audiences, without really understanding why? The key rests in International Brand Management; it’s where — and how — inclusivity and creativity merge, to appeal to a range of audiences. Successfully marketing a brand means understanding your audience’s culture and expectations around branding. That’s where Chillistore comes in.
Every country has a different cultural approach to marketing and branding. In the United States, for instance, brands sell themselves. They state how their competitors lack, why their product is superior, and how your life would improve if you bought their product. U.S. audiences are used to being constantly inundated by market competition. Buy our sneakers and you’ll never again have knee pain! Your child needs this baby doll to be happy. Our cleaning product will catch what others don’t. You get the point. Not every culture expects this kind of marketing. Some countries, like Japan, emphasize results over words. Sure, you can claim to be the best with catch statements, but how do you prove you’re the best? Japanese audiences want proof, which is why bold statements (without evidence) aren’t usually well-received. AKA you’ll likely have lackluster results if you run around Japan telling people your product is the best…in fact, you’ll probably turn people off. Understanding a culture’s expectations and sensitivities is the first step to appealing to them.
Another step? Knowing what’s relevant to a culture and what’s not. To use the Japan example: Japan doesn’t celebrate Christmas in the same way as some other countries (especially the U.S.). For Japan, Christmas isn’t the year’s biggest commercial and celebratory event for family gatherings and gift exchanging (In fact, there’s a Japanese tradition of going to KFC on Christmas Eve!). So, a Christmas-themed campaign that’s successful in the U.S. or another Christmas-celebrating culture won’t transpose in Japan. At Chillistore, we consider alternatives that will stay true to the brand, while also considering a country’s unique culture. Is Christmas central to the core of the product? If not, we’ll propose alternative messaging approaches. If Christmas is absolutely central to the integrity of your product, then we’ll help you introduce and explain the importance of the concept. The idea is to promote the product — and all of its elements — as something that might be a nice addition to local celebrations. With this approach, the product comes across as less of an unfit imposition, and more of a helpful tool. We’ll create new content that stays true to your intentions, while also specifically targeting this new audience.
International Brand Management also requires a thorough understanding of the words, emotions, and images that sell. You’ve probably seen American movies re-titled in other countries. For example, the U.S. film, The Hangover, was advertised to the French as Very Bad Trip. While this title change may seem odd to English speakers, it was an intentional one. Sometimes, English titles perform better in France than direct translations. What sounds catchier? The Hangover or “Gueule de Bois”? Additionally, “the” is a notoriously difficult word for the French to pronounce. All of these cultural sensitivity factors might have contributed to the Very Bad Trip title.
International Brand Management is part of what we do and how we shine. Our experts know which key words, emotional appeals, and images resonate with certain audiences, and which do not. Our goal is to help you implement these, so you know when “Christmas” is welcome and when it’s not. After all, an audience that sees themselves reflected in a brand is an audience that buys.
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