Today, the world has crossed all barriers of distance and time, with everything literally at our fingertips through smartphones. The internet makes it easy for everyone to understand and learn different languages, exchange information, and gain new knowledge.
When you want to expand your business across a region, country, continent, or globally, it can be a bit challenging due to the variety of cultures, languages, and customs worldwide. When marketing your product or service, you need to consider these aspects. To refer to activities businesses undertake when expanding beyond national boundaries, researchers coined the term GILT: Globalization, Internationalization, Localization, and Translation. While translation refers to converting text from one language to another, what do the other three terms mean? Let’s dive into their differences.
Globalization
Globalization refers to the process that brings together cultures, economies, and people from different countries. For instance, global brands like Starbucks, McDonald’s, and Amazon operate worldwide. While Starbucks has franchises across the globe, Amazon and Netflix provide online services available everywhere.
How do they globalize? Let’s take Netflix as an example. They offer services in about 200 countries, customizing content using subtitles and translations. Brands like Nike have collaborated with athletes from various cultures, successfully globalizing their brand.
Internationalization
Internationalization (often abbreviated as i18n, where 18 represents the number of characters in the word) is a strategy that involves making products as adaptable as possible for different markets.
A great example of internationalization is IKEA. Their furniture assembly instructions are diagram-based, eliminating the need for translation. However, internationalization becomes more complex with products like software and electronics, where issues such as data encoding, hardware compatibility, and user interface design become key concerns.
Localization
In contrast to internationalization, localization involves tailoring products or services for specific target markets. It’s about making a product culturally relevant to a local audience.
A prime example of localization is McDonald’s. While their global expansion represents globalization, their menu is adapted to suit local customs and tastes. In Israel, McDonald’s serves kosher food and adjusts for Jewish holidays. In India, they have meat-free outlets to accommodate the preference of the majority, who do not consume beef or pork.
Localization, globalization, and internationalization often overlap, but each has its unique role in a business’s global strategy. Understanding these differences is crucial to successfully expanding any business internationally.
Why Understanding These Terms is Key for Your Business
Knowing the differences between localization, globalization, and internationalization will help you navigate your business expansion more effectively. These strategies allow your products and services to cater to diverse markets, ensuring cultural relevance and maximizing global success.
How Lingual Consultancy Can Help You Go Global
Want to expand your business globally? Lingual Consultancy offers expert language translation and localization services to help you overcome language barriers and connect with your global audience. Whether it’s through localization of your content, internationalization of your software, or globalization of your brand, we have the tools and expertise to make it happen.
For any translation or localization requirements, drop us an email at [email protected]
