Web localization is a black and white issue
The death of Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej has led to stores running out of black and white clothing as the population mourns its leader in color-appropriate clothing. What does this …
Starbucks
The top 25 global websites of 2016
UPDATE: The 2017 Web Globalization Report Card is now available. I’m pleased to announce the publication of the 2016 Web Globalization Report Card and, with it, the top 25 …
Starbucks: The best global retail website
For the 2015 Web Globalization Report Card, we studied 10 retail websites: Best Buy Costco GameStop Gap H&M IKEA McDonald’s Staples Starbucks Toys R Us UNIQLO Walmart Zara Out of those …
Web localization in the Year of the Sheep
I enjoying watching how Western companies localize their websites and products to capitalize on Chinese New Year — the Year of the Sheep (or Goat). Like this gift card from Starbucks …
The top 25 global websites from the 2014 Web Globalization Report Card
UPDATE: The 2017 Web Globalization Report Card is now available. More than ten years ago I set out to create a report that benchmarked global websites. I looked at languages …
Starbucks in Asia: From serving expats to serving locals
Starbucks currently has 19,000 locations of which 11,000 are in the US. According to this Wall Street Journal Q&A (reg. required), Howard Schultz remains optimistic about Asia: Outside the U.S., Starbucks …
When does localization become capitulation?
I begin this post with a question because I don’t have an answer. A book making news these days is The Collaboration: Hollywood’s Pact with Hitler. It’s about Hollywood’s active self-censorship …
Starbucks CEO on Globalization: Don’t Go Changing
Chief Executive Magazine recently featured a brief Q&A with Jim Donald, CEO of Starbucks. He shed some light on the company’s global strategy. in short, Starbucks is trying to change …