Globalization Cuts Both Ways
From Cool News of the Day… “We hear about the spread of U.S. popular culture, making Europe, to its horror, more American. But the influence works the other way, too,” …
Culture
eBay Bets $100m on China
At the eBay analyst briefing today, the company announced that it was investing $100 million in growing its business in China, a market Meg Whitman said will define global success …
Web Globalization Gone Bad
The US Department of Defense is launching local “news” sites in an effort to counter what it believes is “misinformation” about the United States in the foreign media. One Web …
McRiceburgers in Taiwan
According to the Taipei Times (by way of Reveries), McDonald’s has added rice burgers to its menu. The burgers consist of chicken or beef patties sandwiched between two rice cakes. …
Of Coke, Japan and Coffee in a Can
I’ve spent the past week in Japan and have had such a great time watching how US-based companies market products in this country. One company that has spent a great …
Lenovo Outsources Management And Celebrates Birthdays
Interesting article in the NYTimes on Lenovo outsourcing management to the folks at IBM (despite the fact that the division lost a few billion dollars in recent years. The beginning …
English Gains in Chile
According to The Wall Street Journal: When Swedish air-traffic controllers speak to Italian pilots they speak English. When Dutch importers do business with Chinese manufacturers, they use English. Ditto for …
MTV Goes Bicultural
Corante’s New York Blog reports that MTV is launching three Asian pop music channels targeting Indian, Korean and Chinese viewers in the United States.
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 …
All Lucky Numbers Are Local
Every culture has lucky and unlucky numbers. In the US, you’ll be hard-pressed to find the 13th floor in New York City. According to CNN, someone in China paid $215,000 …
Cecil McBee vs. Cecil McBee
The Wall Street Journal is an excellent source of stories that capture the confusion and chaos that is globalization. Consider the story of jazz great Cecil McBee. Here is an …
Free Guide to the Spanish Speaking Market
Multilingual Computing has published a “Guide to the Spanish Speaking World.” It includes an article from yours truly on Web localization for the US Hispanic market; in the article I …
Asian American Market 101
Kang & Lee, a multicultural marketing agency, offers a number of informational resources on its Web site, including an Asian Americans 101 primer. Here are some interesting stats: Between 1990 …