Developing an interactive globalization strategy
Chuck Rittling, Project Manger | One to One Interactive
November 27, 2002
It's likely that building a global Web presence is on the minds of
marketing and sales managers at almost every large, global
organization. In fact, by now, it's likely more than just on their
minds. Perhaps they have been involved with globalization planning
sessions, or even built some one-off "localized" Web sites. But,
the question is: are their activities guided by a well thought-out
globalization strategy and implementation roadmap?
What is an Interactive globalization strategy?
An interactive globalization strategy is a blueprint that:
- Is targeted specifically to the needs of defined local
audiences
- Outlines useful and usable content and functionality by
defined implementation phases
- Is directly tied to an organization's overall business,
marketing, and sales objectives
While it sounds straightforward, many organizations find the
process much more difficult and confusing to actually put it into
action.
Globalization vs. Internationalization vs. Localization
There are many ways to define these terms. For example, "global"
typically refers to having a worldwide scope, such as making a
product universally applicable. "International" typically refers to
transcending two or more locales. Furthermore, "global" and
"international" are often used interchangeably. These definitions
are all accurate; however, with regard to Web content and
functionality, One to One Interactive applies the following
definitions.
| Globalization |
The overall process of internationalizing
and localizing content and functionality. |
| Internationalization |
Provision for common or similar content and
functionality, serving multiple locales. For example
corporate information, currency converters, and functionality
to support multiple languages, time, and date formats. |
| Localization |
Providing targeted and culturally relevant
content and functionality for a specific locale. For example,
local spelling, local terminology, or modification of a
product or service offering to meet local needs and/or to
comply with local regulations. |
Why do large organizations find online globalization so difficult?
Several questions immediately come to mind, such as:
- How do we get started?
- Who should be involved?
- How much will it cost?
- How can we justify budgets?
- What technologies will be required for delivery?
- Who will maintain and support the increased content and
expanded infrastructure?
Idiom Technologies says that 43 percent of today's
Web users are non-English speaking, and over the next few years,
Internet use is expected to grow by 79 percent in Asia, 123 percent
in Latin America, and over 2000 percent in Japan.
This may be true, but how does it impact your
organization? Do you need to build a local Web presence in every
market? How many languages do you need to support? These are just a
few of the tough questions that marketers are faced with when
considering online globalization. So what are the answers? There's
really no exact formula; it's different for every organization and
rightfully so. However, it can be made much simpler by taking the
time, upfront, to address the considerations and conduct the
activities presented below.
Globalization Planning
The One to One Interactive approach begins with "Discovery" and
"High-Level Design" phases, which include the following critical
activities:
1. Form a globalization steering committee
Globalization efforts need to be guided by a central body with
strong representation from all appropriate geographic regions and
or locales. Without upfront representation from regional decision
makers, the globalization program turns into a series of
localization efforts with extensive re-work, inconsistent visitor
experience, and minimal return on investment.
2. Understand your organization's business objectives
Consider the overall marketing direction of the organization.
For example, is it important to maintain a consistent global
branding message?
Identify the specific geographic locales that you want to
support and interview appropriate business, sales and marketing
representatives from each locale to define high-level objectives.
Document objectives by locale and prioritize. Recognize
that not all locales are created equal, and be willing to support
various types of content and functionality based on unique needs.
3. Understand visitor goals and objectives by locale
Conduct research directly with potential site visitors
(one-on-one interviews, focus groups, etc.)
Based on visitor findings and business objectives, create
an initial list of required content and functionality and
document their organizational business value and implementation
complexity. Also consider the following:
- Local laws and regulations
- Languages and character sets that need to be supported
- Cultural sensitivities such as collecting personal
information and using cookies
- Local technologies such as screen resolutions, bandwidth,
and browser versions
4. Define phases of content and functionality evolution
(maturity model)
Based on defined objectives and constraints, create a few
cohesive requirement bundles, each representing a new phase or
evolution or level of site maturity. For example, contact
information, directions, and product descriptions in early phases
and perhaps permission based programs and secure client areas in
later phases.
It's likely that each locale will not fit neatly into a
defined phase. That's OK; the purpose is to guide implementation
plans, not to create unnecessary constraints.
5. Develop a globalization roadmap and implementation release
plan by locale
Using the maturity model as a guide, create a phased
development plan for each locale. Try to avoid the "big bang"
approach, and instead, create realistic implementation release
plans.
For each locale, consider the appropriate timing and level
of evolution. For example, which locale requires which treatment
based on discrete alternatives, ranging from a simple office
listing and contact information to a full-featured, localized and
translated site?
6. Create a measurement plan
Define what constitutes success using tangible metrics and
consider ROI analysis with regard to all delivery tactics. For
example, measurement of site traffic, analysis of behavior,
quantity and quality or lead capture, etc.
7. Identify technology and resource gaps
Perform an audit to determine whether current technology and
in-house resources can support defined delivery tactics. Document
gaps and develop remediation plans. Be ready to put all necessary
plans into action at appropriate times in subsequent design and
development phases.
Consider:
- Technical resources and available tools and platforms
- In-house development staff vs. outsourcing
- Globalization partners for translation, content
management, etc.
- Site management provisions
- Who will perform regular updates and maintenance
- Level of local autonomy vs. central control
- Defined global workflows that outline discrete tasks,
responsibilities and roles (content authors, editors,
approvers, legal, compliance, etc.)
- Synchronization across locales
- Translation
- Quality assurance, testing, and staging
8. Plan for a centralized technical infrastructure that
provides an optimal degree of local autonomy
A central technical infrastructure will enable future
efficiencies and cost savings. For example, a single content
management system can provide global workflows with remote site
deployment without the need for complex system integration
efforts, custom code development, multiple training programs,
different sets of support staff, etc.
9. Create a high-level information architecture
Design navigation systems to accommodate both local and
multinational visitors, providing a consistent visitor experience
with the ability to scale as the sites evolve. Consider a variety
of options and assess them against business and user goals. Be
sure to address the following:
- Navigation between all the major site components and main
areas
- Navigation back and forth between each locale and the
corporate site
- For example, a global entry page that lists locales and
provides options as to visitor destination by locale
- Individual site URLs
Develop concepts iteratively until all stakeholders are
bought-in before proceeding to any detailed design activity in
subsequent phases.
10. Develop initial visual style guides and templates
Mockup initial page layouts and create initial templates and
visual style guides. Create rules for global consistency as
appropriate. For example, consider a consistent visitor
experience across all locales, or perhaps there is an
organizational requirement for a consistent global brand.
Define guidelines for placement of page objects such as
navigation, body text, headers, footers, etc. Design high-level
visual navigation techniques, for example, a horizontal tabbed
structure vs. a vertical hierarchy. Determine color usage, image
usage, logo usage and placement, fonts, etc. Consider a variety
of options and assess them against business and user goals.
Again, develop concepts iteratively until all stakeholders
are bought-in before proceeding to any detailed design activity
in subsequent phases.
11. Identify local project implementation teams
Try to identify all local stakeholders during initial planning
phases. This includes all necessary product participants such as
content creators, project managers, development staff, business
decision makers and approvers, etc. Identifying these resources
upfront will create a smooth transition into subsequent detailed
design and development phases.
Local Delivery Framework
By no means is this a comprehensive methodology for developing an
interactive globalization strategy. Rather, these are the critical
activities that need be addressed upfront in the planning phases of
globalization initiatives.
Taking these activities into consideration will ensure a well
thought-out local delivery framework. A "local delivery framework"
can be defined as the fundamental structure or skeleton that guides
subsequent content and functionality development and ultimately
successful local delivery.
It is important to point out that detailed requirements are
not a necessary input for an effective local delivery framework.
Future detailed design activities support the strategy, they don't
alter it; they are the "meat on the bones" of the skeleton, so to
speak.
What's next?
Using this framework as a guide, marketers can elicit subsequent
detailed design requirements and be assured that a central
globalization strategy is helping to guide the way.
Useful links and information sources for globalization
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