Expanding into new markets is a key factor for growth. But is it really enough to just translate the company website into English? “No,” says Heike Leinhäuser, Managing Director of Leinhäuser Language Services GmbH. In this interview, Heike talks through the biggest misconceptions about internationalization, how to adapt to different markets – and why successful international marketing always starts with the right mindset.
Heike, what exactly does it mean when companies talk about internationalization? What do they want to achieve?
Most companies don’t talk about internationalization; they talk about specific goals, for instance promoting and selling products in other markets. At Leinhäuser, we deliberately use the term internationalization to show that translating a website into English is not sufficient to fulfill this objective. Companies must concentrate their efforts on adapting to the respective target market, not the language.
At Leinhäuser, internationalization means adapting text to the respective market, not the language. This also includes imagery, such as campaign visuals, and ‘international SEO’.
Can you explain this in more detail? What does “adaptation to the target market” mean?
There are many places in which different languages are spoken. A prime example of this is Switzerland, a country with three official national languages – German, French and Italian – as well as numerous dialects. Here, translating only into French drastically reduces a company’s reach. India is an even more complex case, with 22 official languages alone. And it is also important to consider the setting: In B2B, it often suffices to translate marketing texts into the official language. In B2C, however, it’s a completely different matter: Cultural aspects, which vary from market to market, are as just as important, if not more so, than the individual language variants. You must know what makes the target market “tick.”
Can we take a closer look at what is required in the B2C sector? And what solutions does Leinhäuser offer here?
In B2C, communication is aimed directly at end users, who often make decisions based on emotions. This means addressing them using everyday language. Keyword: Localization. This is all about the regional market conditions: national language, cultural factors, but also buying behavior and consumer behavior. Depending on the text, we provide our clients with either a targeted adaptation or a transcreation.
A product has to be advertised differently in England than in Spain, and differently again in the Middle East or Scandinavia. A British creative designer doesn’t always pay attention to cultural or climatic differences when developing campaign visuals and texts. The mere fact that it doesn’t rain as often in Spain as in England, for example, or that olive oil is preferred to butter, can be a problem, and the British original won’t work in Spain.
What are the differences between adaptation and transcreation?
It really comes down to the extent and objective of the modifications. In an adaptation, the text remains close to the original: the tonality, basic structure and core messages are retained, with adjustments to take account of linguistic subtleties, cultural peculiarities and also legal requirements. The aim is to meet the expectations of the target group in terms of content and readability, and “get them on board.” Typical examples of this are company descriptions on websites or in advertising brochures. In transcreation, on the other hand, the original text is merely the starting point: Claims or product names are not translated, but completely reworked and tailored specifically to the target market. Plays on words are adapted to specific countries, and texts are often completely rewritten based on the visuals. Creativity is required here.
Successful international campaigns are those that can be localized from the outset. That’s why at Leinhäuser we don’t think in terms of texts or images, but in terms of markets.
What are the risks if the adaptation falls short?
Firstly, high costs are incurred if campaigns have to be redone from scratch. Secondly, reputational damage could result from a lack of cultural sensitivity, and the brand loses trust where it is trying to establish itself. That’s why at Leinhäuser we also offer market insights and sanity checks on request to rule out any inappropriate or misleading phrasing right from the start.
What role does international SEO play in internationalization?
A very big one, which is why we always clarify with our customers as early as possible whether and what type of SEO is required to boost search results online. This is always associated with very specific wording, so taking this into account from the beginning saves the company time and money. Conducting SEO for search engines, Google AI overviews or AI assistants – such as ChatGPT or Perplexity – at a later stage can set the entire project back.
How can companies convey their message consistently across different markets? Do you have any top tips?
Yes: Stop thinking about the home market and ask instead what the particular market expects. For example, a German SME looking to break in to the British market in particular should use British English, whereas if it wants to appeal to a global audience, we recommend international English, with American spelling and a neutral tone. And once again: in B2C business, nothing beats the local vernacular.
How do you manage the roll-out of international campaigns simultaneously in different markets?
By using clearly defined approval management processes. Working closely with the relevant country representatives, we roll out our approval phases for feedback loops concurrently, with a maximum time limit of three days. The lead time overall for internationalization campaigns is around one week.
As soon as we receive the original materials, they are sent to the respective language specialists for adaptation. They are all linguists, native speakers and familiar with the local market, which is how we achieve quality at speed.
In a nutshell: What are the most common misunderstandings you encounter when it comes to internationalization?
The biggest one, especially in B2C, is that an English translation will do the job. It won’t. In B2C, we have to reach people, and this works best in their native language. Secondly, companies tend to think in terms of languages, not markets. And finally: People think that we translate word for word. This is absolutely not the case, and is why we at Leinhäuser talk about adaptation or transcreation, not translation.
When is internationalization successful?
When the local country representatives approve a text without further modification because it reads like an original from their own country. And when text and visuals go together.
My call to action for companies looking to enter new markets is to get us on board as early as possible and brief us, as a language service provider, exactly as you would your copywriters. And give us feedback on the campaigns so that we can incorporate lessons learned.
What developments are you seeing in internationalization?
More and more companies think they can manage internationalization single-handedly by means of translation. But this is where things can go wrong because internationalization is about so much more than just language; it requires strategic adaptation to markets and people, and this is where we come in.
Editorial Team Leinhäuser
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