Can your global message be understood locally?

Localization is the translation and adaptation of a product and all supporting documentation and advertising to meet the requirements of a specific target market. It is not simply a case of translating instructions and text on packaging into the language of the intended country; it is a way of marketing your product to your target audience of the country or selected geolocale. Localization integrates the product into both the language and the culture of the target market. This assumes that you have already taken care of all internationalization related tasks and issues such as local date/time formats, currency, numeral separators and measurement systems. If you haven’t, then Lloyd International Translations can help you with these as well.

If localization has been successfully implemented, the user will own a product which they will perceive as having been developed and produced for their own country. The product may have originated in and been exported from America, China or elsewhere but the purchaser will feel that it is a product designed and packaged for their own country. Localization is an integral and essential part of a sales strategy that opens the door to your global marketplace.

Your product must be highly attuned to the expectations of the target audience and those who influence that audience. To be successful, localization must pay particular attention to the age-range, language, culture and preferences of your target audience, and to the purpose and function of the product itself. There are numerous factors to consider for successful localization.

Localization issues arise even in countries with a common language, where the interpretation of dates, times or even the use of quotation marks and symbols may differ. Add to this issues regarding religion and politics and you begin to see the intricacies involved in localization.

LIT uses qualified linguists who translate into their mother tongue and are fully immersed in their own cultures to ensure that localization issues are avoided. We are therefore aware of locale-specific factors and know how to deal with them accordingly.

Whether you are localizing your website, a software application, or a technical manual, LIT’s team of qualified translators, engineers and project managers have the proven experience necessary to take you from the design stage right through to delivering a market-ready localized product.