The multiple pressures of global marketing mean that budgets can overshoot rapidly, but there are effective ways to reduce wastage and eliminate unnecessary costs.
At every stage – from creative development to planning; technical production to translation and adaptation – there are steps to save money using efficient tools and processes.
Planning is key
During the planning stage, it’s crucial to assign responsibility and a delivery schedule for every asset, as well as to make sure all teams know what is being created. Costs can head north very rapidly in a global campaign across 20-plus markets if each local team produces assets already being provided by the global team.
Set a goal to discuss and pinpoint all requirements and constraints across the range of markets, from large to small, developing and mature, traditional advertising and digitally adept territories. This vital information should provide an adaptable global framework.
But this flexibility should not extend to delivery deadlines. Robust project management is also essential to ensure that completion dates are tracked and met for media slots in every market so local teams do not need to blow the budget on replacement production.
If you are producing for TV, make sure you have the most up-to-date information on broadcast restrictions in the markets being targeted and get regulatory bodies to agree to pre-clearance of the concept before final production. It’s painful and costly to find that a commercial cannot be shown without substantial edits, which might weaken the message.
Similarly, make sure to fully budget and negotiate global rights for use of images, music and talent. Finding out down the line that the campaign can’t run in some markets or will cost much more is easily avoided with agile planning.
A final element in the planning process is to confirm the SEO needs for every market, producing content that is localised to offer the best return on investment (ROI). Regional keyword research will identify relevant terms that customers use to search for products and services, and these should feed into metadata descriptions, URLs, content and page titles, rather than using literal translations. It’s important to use the geo-location targeting features in Google Webmaster Tools to specify relevant countries.
Ensure your assets are adaptable
Check that all teams and agencies have the full technical specifications so that global digital assets are created correctly in easily adaptable formats and that issues are identified before 20 or more local versions are created. Designs should take into account font sets and foreign characters, length of buttons and layouts, character counts and web browser compliance.
Make sure you minimise costs by engaging native speakers and international production specialists to manage localisation. Budgets are better managed by integrating translation and production, while automation helps cut costs and improves quality.
Technical cost-savers include automation of file formatting and manipulation tasks wherever possible, while using international standard coding systems, such as UTF-8 and native formats to reduce errors.
Choose the right tech tools
The right tech tools ease strain on time and budgets.
A translation memory system that stores previously translated work ensures you are charged only the once, which is crucial for long copy content such as websites and product materials. A proxy based web translation software system monitors content in the master website, captures any elements that need translation and manages the process through a streamlined workflow.
Campaigns with many assets and versions, such as programmatic banners and product labels, should take advantage of auto-templating software for cost-effective and rapid asset revision, while other must-haves in the tech toolbox include an online approval system and subtitle management software.
Keep control of your translation
Translation and adaptation can strain global campaign budgets to breaking point so it’s essential to establish a centralised way of adapting campaigns for all markets. Avoid costly errors by building the best linguistic team to handle translation, backed by a full briefing and access to up-to-date glossaries.
To make life more straightforward, insist on content for translation being sent in IDML (InDesign Markup Language) format to minimise formatting and typesetting costs. IDML works brilliantly with translation management systems.
Finally, make the budget manageable through a time-saving review and approval cycle that prevents interminable rounds of revisions, and use a specialist global marketing implementation team to manage the localisation and production process.
Kevin Freedman is chief executive of Freedman International
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