To Dell and Back
Over the years, Dell has developed what is now one of the best global Web sites. The Dell site made our top 25 list in the 2005 Web Globalization Report …
John Yunker
Thinking Globally; Offending Locally
The Wall Street Journal reports that Nike has unleashed a poster campaign in Singapore that creates a graffiti-like appearance in bus shelters. According to the article, the “page-size posters featuring …
Xbox En Español
For Microsoft’s video game Halo 2 to become a global success story, the game needed to be localized for the world. Easier said that done. JBL Localization issued a press …
Stop Speaking English!
According to this article, Quebec Premier Jean Charest has hinted that he might crack down on the spread of English in the workplace. Apparently French is losing its grip. albeit …
Happy Thanksgiving from Air New Zealand
How’s this for a localized promotion? I just received a Thanksgiving email from my friends at Air New Zealand: I’m touched, really. More important, I’m reminded of the importance of …
Finally, A Search Engine For Bilinguals
Just when I thought I’d seen every type of search engine, along comes Babelplex. Babelplex takes a search string, translates it into another language and searches on both languages at …
Will Der Polarexpress Play in Deutschland?
Would you believe that the Tom Hanks’ film The Terminal turned a profit? I wouldn’t have believed it, not until I read this Wall Street Journal article (paid subscription required). …
Budvar vs. Budweiser
I am from St. Louis, where a tiny little brewery known as Anheuser-Busch (AB) is headquartered. Needless to say, I’ve followed the growth of the company for years now and …
Thinking Local in China
China, as this Wall Street Journal article notes, is no longer a place companies go just to make things. Thanks to its booming economy, China is now a place to …
iTunes Japan in 2005
According to News.com, Apple is launching iTunes for Japan in March 2005. As I reported a few weeks agoiTunes is already localized for 12 European markets. Japan, however, will not …
Craigslist Going Global (Sorta)
Craigslist has been replicating itself across every major US city for the past few years, enjoying tremendous success along the way. Naturally, it only makes sense that the company start …
Google Taking Blogs Global
Google appears to be doing for blogs what it did for search engines. According to this InfoWorld article, Blogger, which is owned by Google, is going to be localized for …
Debunking Local Myths In Asia
According to this New York Times article Asians have one more thing in common with Americans — love for the ol’ credit card. The consumer credit business is booming in …
eBay Goes Dutch
According to CNET, eBay is purchasing Markplace.nl for $290 million in cash. Founded in 1999, Marktplaats.nl averages roughly a million listings. This purchase gives eBay an instant presence in the …
Engrish, The Book
You can find a Web site devoted to pretty much anything on the Internet. The Web site Enrgish.com is devoted to ” humorous English mistakes that appear in Japanese advertising …