Have you ever wondered what you are really getting when you put copy in computer software to access a translation?

An experiment in computer translation…this copy from our website www.globotext.com was automatically translated from English to Greek to French to German to English. Nothing was changed; it was a simple cut and paste translation from language to language. Shades of the old “telephone” game many of us played as children. There is a reason we want human translation and editing and there is no way an editor could make real sense of the computer generated, automated translation. It's complete gibberish.

Original English:

The globotext team of journalists, editors and translators can translate or custom create blogs for global distribution. Tailoring your messages to achieve your key objectives in newsy, engaging language, globotext is your partner for keeping up with market demand and state-of-the-art communications.

Final English:

the globotext gruppe of the journalists, the author and the translator can translate or l' Habit creates blogs for the global distribution. L' Adjustment of your reports for qu' it reaches its Hauptnewsyzielsetzungen, the d' language; Obligation, globotext is your coworker for qu' it goes to the progress situation with the reports of request at the market also hand in hand.

Step 1: English to Greek

Η ομάδα globotext των δημοσιογράφων, των συντακτών και των μεταφραστών μπορεί να μεταφράσει ή η συνήθεια δημιουργεί blogs για τη σφαιρική διανομή. Η προσαρμογή των μηνυμάτων σας για να επιτύχει τους βασικούς στόχους σας στη newsy, γλώσσα δέσμευσης, globotext είναι ο συνεργάτης σας για να συμβαδίσει με τις επικοινωνίες ζήτησης στην αγορά και κατάστασης προόδου.

Le groupe globotext des journalistes, des rédacteurs et des traducteurs peut traduire ou l'habitude crée blogs pour la distribution globale. L'adaptation de vos messages pour qu'il atteigne vos objectifs principaux à newsy, la langue d'engagement, globotext est votre collaborateur pour qu'il aille de pair avec les communications de demande au marché aussi de la situation de progrès.

Step 3: French to German:

Auf französisch Die globotextgruppe der Journalisten, der Verfasser und der übersetzer kann übersetzen oder l' Gewohnheit schafft Bloge für die globale Verteilung. L' Anpassung Ihrer Mitteilungen für qu' er erreicht Ihre Hauptnewsyzielsetzungen, die d'sprache; Verpflichtung, globotext ist Ihr Mitarbeiter für qu' er geht mit den Antragsmitteilungen am Markt auch der Fortschrittssituation Hand in Hand.

Step 4 (Final for test): German to English

The globotext gruppe of the journalists, the author and the translator can translate or l' Habit creates blogs for the global distribution. L' Adjustment of your reports for qu' it reaches its Hauptnewsyzielsetzungen, the d' language; Obligation, globotext is your coworker for qu' it goes to the progress situation with the reports of request at the market also hand in hand.

Think globally and act locally. It’s not hypothetical, it’s reality.

We have been a global world for quite some time. Think colonialism and transcontinental trading partnerships. From tea and spice routes to opium trade; from laptops to refrigerators; from oil, to water, to steel we consider the world as a whole our backyard. Think mass migration during political turmoil; war and famine as well as new business opportunities have driven millions from their homelands to settle elsewhere.

Now, with Internet, transcontinental food and product exports, service personnel who follow jobs from market to market, transnational education, and the ongoing culture of war that extends the influence of one country into another, our interdependence and mutual reliance grow daily.

A trip down the grocery aisle is very telling. Fruit from Chile, Mexico, New Zealand; fish from a dozen countries, baked products from Canada, England, Germany and Italy. The list goes on. Food is grown in one country, processed in another, consumerd in yet another.

Self-sufficiency is something most people can’t even imagine. Those who believe national boundaries are sacred are missing the way products and services transit those boundaries at will.

Being able to communicate with those who are growing, processing, shipping our foods and other goods, requires a quantum shift. They are also consuming our products and services. Increasingly they are our bankers. But the dialogue is too often left to those who are negotiating the transactions and consumers themselves are all too often out of touch.

Consumers everywhere want our foods to be safe and nutritious and we want affordable food to be available year ‘round. We want our products to be child-friendly. We want pharmaceutical and nutritional supplements to be healthy, their production quality controlled. We want components for our computers, consumer electronics, medical equipment and machinery to be well built of globally sourced materials using quality standards that we are clear can’t be sustained. All you have to do is turn to the media on any given day to see the growing chasm between our expectations and the ability to implement needed safeguards.

How do we go about developing communications that will enable the dialogue needed to maintain the quality of life we want? Is there something that we as individuals can do that will create a realistic grid for equitable communications?

Cultural nuance easily changes meaning. Limited access to information is a challenge though with Internet and other technologies is increasingly less so. But the standards for communication often assume that one can use similar concepts, terminology and delivery systems. The flaws in this type of thinking means there are too many opportunities for miscommunications and missed opportunities to establish and sustain a dialogue, let alone a relationship of mutual trust and understanding.

An open dialogue with other cultures means starting with an understanding of the others’ literacy, delivery systems, interests and needs. Solely focusing on the assumptions of the person or organization initiating the communications is downright myopic.

Without understanding how information is received, organized and understood, it is probable that the connection will be missed.

To communicate effectively with individuals in other cultures, start by learning about the person receiving your message and how to speak to them in their own language.

What in the world is happening to custom content?

There is real work to be done to get out your messages out to your global audiences. You have to effectively cut through the shock wave of content that is hitting consumers every moment of every day.

With consumers’ bandwidth in overdrive, there’s a need to clarify, refine and target messages ever more efficiently.

It takes a lot more work than ever to be effective in today’s global communications! Results will follow careful, anthropologically accurate research, sensitivity and strong producers that “get” what their markets want. Producers who can assure that when your message lands, it works.

Consumers need easy access, in their preferred language, with culturally appropriate images and credible messaging they resonate with on platforms they can easily access.

Beyond words and sounds, they increasingly demand video, with images and language that fit their culture and address their needs and entertainment preferences. And video needs to integrate seamlessly with other forms of messaging.

Messaging must be mobile. Whatever platform your target audience uses, is where you’ll need to deliver tailored content. Fast, easy to access, and culturally sensitive mobile content is essential. The tools are changing daily and many are passing fads; don’t try to tie yourself to everything at once, you’ll dilute your resources and blur your objectives.

Different markets are able to access different platforms. You’ll need to feel the pulse, see the eyes and know the hands of each demographic. And you’ll need to know political and economic barriers to entry before you determine what platforms you’ll be using.

Editors and producers have never been more necessary. In the barrage of content, refining messaging so it is engaging is key. Differentiating from the top of screen, everyone-is-an-author/producer stuff with which the airwaves are awash, you need to touch, engage, entertain your desired eyeballs. You need to connect with your customer in an intimate, emotionally engaging way.

The skills that made superb media memorable in the past are in greater demand than ever. Volume of delivery platforms will not compensate for weakness of content. Exquisite quality is ever more necessary to rise above the distractions of the day.

Lynn H. Roberts

Multicultural Mosaic

Getting your message out has changed a lot in the last few years. Print is prehistoric. Websites are a given; now we are using podcasts, Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Twitter and on it goes. The din of social networking has become so confusing, people are stressing about what they think they need to know.

There are so many options that few companies can keep up. How hard should they try?

Trends fly fast and furious. The transition from vinyl records, to 8-track to cassettes to CDs morphed into downloads to MP3 players and options continue to multiply daily.

Perspective can be wanting when a marketer is trying to keep up with the best avenues to get their messages out. But that doesn’t mean that it isn’t necessary and worth slowing down to figure out best options.

Credibility doesn’t come on the most new-fangled platform. Those may supplement a message that is delivered by more traditional methods, but shouldn’t be your primary or sole tool.

Want to reach your audience effectively? Get to know how they get their information. What are they comfortable using? What do they reach for when they are operating instinctively? You don’t want distractions when you are getting your point across. You want total, rapt attention.

Even at a time when delivery systems seem to preempt the substance of the message, viewers don’t remember a medium, they remember what they felt when they got the message. If they are trying to sort out a tweet from a blog, they may be missing what you have to say.

Who would have thought text messaging could be as effective as its use in fund raising for the Haitian earthquake catastrophe. The Red Cross alone reported receiving about US$20 million in donations in the first days after the disaster.

More than ever, it’s time to get clear about what you want to achieve and consider repurposing your messages in as many ways as necessary to make sure they can hear you over the din.

Lynn H. Roberts

Multicultural Mosaic

We live in a world of migrants, crossing borders, sometimes repeatedly, adapting to new cultures, new languages.

So how do you decide how to reach your audience successfully? What do they speak at home: Spanish, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Ukrainian, Creole or German? What do they read? What language can they write? What do they prefer listening to? How do the different generations in one household differ in their use of language?

Above all, what language breeds credibility and with whom?

The children of migrants are caught in limbo. They speak their parents’ birth-language at home and navigate the language of their birth country fluently. The chasm that exists between the culture they live in and their family’s roots pull at each other. One allows them to participate in their society and their economy; the other allows them to belong to their ancestors, their heritage.

Interestingly, many people may have greater fluency in their parents’ language but cannot read or write it; they only speak the language.

Hispanic migrants in the US are a great example. Older or recent migrants, who don’t speak English, will get most of their news from Spanish-language radio and TV. Their children will read in English, interpreting news, directions and instructions in Spanish for their parents who cannot read or write English. It is not unusual to see an older or recent migrant in a hospital or government center with a younger, US-born relative acting as interpreter. The non-English speaking person is still usually making decisions.

No easy, direct way to communicate with the whole family. Which means targeting becomes even more critical.

Determine who makes key decisions, determine their level of fluency with a medium, establish which language is used for your genre of communications, and you have narrowed your options.

Access is within reach.

Lynn H. Roberts

Multicultural Mosaic

Custom communications are referred to by many names: custom publishing, custom marketing, custom content, branded media, corporate journalism, branded content and sundry other terms.

Custom communications comprises the creation, production and distribution of relevant and useful content that will engage a clearly defined audience. The objective is to attract, engage and retain customers to achieve profitable response.

Custom communications are the means by which a corporation can tailor their messages to help a buyer be more intelligent. They are not selling their products and services, they are informing the consumer. By providing information that is tailored to improve the quality of the consumer’s life, the corporation creates a dialogue, a relationship and ultimately loyalty.

Custom publishing is proliferating rapidly; the likes of IBM, Microsoft, Cisco and thousands of others have learned to use custom media effectively. They stand next to vitamin manufacturers, professional services including accountants and lawyers, and even dentists and optometrists. You only need to look at the way these companies present their products and services to see the difference. They want you to know that the reason they get up in the morning is to create something that will enhance the quality of your life. Because they know what you need. And because they want to be the ones that deliver it to you.

The difference between selling and custom communications is that selling is a company presenting its goods with the expectation that someone will “buy”. Custom communications require a different level of commitment. It is a concerted initiative to really understand the consumer. To commit to explain, in whatever language and medium the consumer would like to receive the information, what they offer and why it is worthy of the consumer’s consideration.

Traditional marketing died. It’s gone. Consumers now skip commercials on television, ignore billboards and magazine ads (unless like Calvin Klein and Abercrombie and Fitch, they effectively appeal to their more primal instincts), surf the Internet while ignoring banners and other paid ads. They get to the point, and they know what that point is.

Where advertisers were depending upon multiple impressions of an image or message to get the sale, consumers now have a whole different modus operandi. They count on impressions but those come in the form of multi-media coverage, chatter online about value and quality, as well as fashion, music and sports icons endorsing the product.

Tailoring communications means crafting a message as much as it means determining the best delivery platform. And with consumers as fragmented as they are, these criteria change daily. Marketing today is synonymous with nimble, flexible, adaptable and wildly creative.

Lynn H. Roberts

Multicultural Mosaic

Translating marketing materials is only a part of getting your message across.

How well do you understand your market? Knowing your consumer goes way beyond reaching them in-language.

Companies often translate their marketing materials, set their business development machine in motion, and then learn they aren’t gaining market share. It’s as though their potential customer base isn’t getting their messages. And that may well be because they aren’t!

It isn’t enough to just translate a press release or marketing materials and consider the job done. A verbatim translation may miss the market’s sensitivities; the language and tone that tell the consumer that you really do understand their needs. It has to be localized. It needs to be anchored by market realities as well as language. Miss this and you’ll miss letting your customers see you as the solution rather than just that much more “noise”.

Take translations into French. A consumer in Canada, France, the Ivory Coast or the French-speaking Caribbean is going to receive your message differently. So too Portuguese: the differences between the Portuguese of Portugal and Brazil are significant. These cultural idiosyncrasies are vital components of translation. So is understanding the dynamics of each individual market. Effective marketing may mean creating different messages for different countries, generations, gender or members of different socio-economic classes. Getting a handle on how each receives information means communicating on multiple platforms, with different terminology, even if all speak the same language.

Bottom line, if you aren’t clear about how a new customer may understand and embrace what you offer, your marketing efforts will be not be as effective as if you were really in sync with your target audience.

Who are your competitors in market? Learn from them. What distinguishes you from them? When tailoring your communications strategy, make sure your marketing materials support your targets’ priorities. The professionals who craft your messaging need to understand the consumer’s needs so they feel understood and served by your services. It is more cost effective to spend the time and effort on the front side to adapt your messaging for local relevance. Make sure the language, syntax, delivery systems, timing and cultural sensitivities help create credibility and build long term relationships.

Does your branding work in market? If your name is hard to pronounce or has a questionable meaning in different markets, emphasizing the visuals—logo, colors, design, presentation—is key. Create a tag line that tells your audience what they need to know to appreciate and trust your products and services. Your branding and tagline may vary from market to market. Even in a global marketplace, nothing happens without local relevance.

Lynn H. Roberts

Multicultural Mosaic

With translation people imagine that their message will be converted into a target language that will be easily understood by their audiences. Not true!

A translation can take on many forms; it can go by the book: Oxford English Dictionary, Real Academia Española, etc. That would be pretty stilted.

Then there are translations that are dynamic, sharpened by access to contemporary lexicon and its rapidly changing jargon. That’s a good thing.

Still, there are layers to consider, before determining that the message has been converted and is deliverable.

Does the translator understand nuance of local expectations? How do they convert an address, for instance? Sounds simple but nothing could be further from the truth.

Every country has it own way of addressing envelopes; setting up shipping directions. For those cities that have had scant zoning let alone postal regulations, an address can be a long and rambling description of where the office or home is located.

Addressing an envelope to a building in Caracas, Venezuela, is akin to writing directions for your aunt to find her way organically. You would need to know the city, the streets and the buildings to find your destination, i.e. the black cube on the corners of XX and XX, up the hill from XX.

Zip codes, relatively new in the scheme of global shipping, are morphing before our eyes. In some countries the postal or zip code comes before the city; in others after; in others it defines a county, township or other sub-set on the country grid.

Understanding how a person relates to their position in time and space may sound simple; it is not. Creating a dialogue, diffusing doubt and establishing credibility, mean communicating seamlessly. You don’t want to interrupt your customer’s process with doubts when you are making a point. If they are distracted by disconnects, they will not be paying attention to what you are saying. They’ll be wondering where you are coming from and why you don’t value them enough to address their needs.

Lynn H. Roberts

Multicultural Mosaic

According to the Harvard Kennedy Schools’ Center for Public Leadership’s 2009 public opinion poll, US business leaders are increasingly confident in the resurgence in the military. Modest confidence appeared in the medical and not-for-profits/charities. A real drop in confidence was felt in the news media, state governments, and not surprisingly, Wall Street.

The opinion poll listed six indicators of how US business leaders’ confidence is measured:

• Trust in what leaders say
• Competence in their ability to do the job
• Working for the greater good of society as a whole
• Shared values
• Obtaining good results
• Are in touch with people's needs and concerns

No doubt media coverage of scandals, pop icons and attention grabbing gimmicks undermine the public’s confidence in their credibility. Wall Street is a given; with opportunistic shenanigans born from deregulation, smoke-and-mirror hedge fund practices and outrageous bonuses, Wall Street will be hard pressed to enjoy credibility any time in the near future.

Consistently, leadership credibility drove confidence. Military leadership leads on the confidence scale because of the sector’s clarity of purpose, mission and accountability. This was followed by the medical, not-for-profit and charity sectors for the same reason. These sectors’ leaders are clear about what they need to accomplish and have to be responsive to scrutiny and diverse constituencies. If you download and read the study, you will see that when those polled evaluated businesses in general, things change. Those polled felt that trustworthiness and competence of business tended to hover around the mid-level range up until 2008. Until then, business leadership generated average confidence but once media coverage began showing on a 24/7 basis how much mismanagement and deceit occurs daily, confidence plummeted.

Americans polled for this study said that 87% felt leadership was the critical factor in realizing potential and creating confidence.

Where a disconnect exists, opportunity resides. Businesses that can bridge the gap between consumers’ lack of trust by assuring them they are valued, understood and appreciated, can build credibility.

The need for confidence in leadership is at an all time high and dictates in good measure how companies need to think, to communicate and to respond to their stakeholders. Those who are able to get in sync with their consumers’ values can vie for a strong leadership position in this highly fragmented global marketplace.

There is serious work to be done to improve and communicate the mission, values and objectives of businesses today in order to create a new form of confidence that has greater integrity, honesty and staying power.

Lynn H. Roberts

Multicultural Mosaic