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When you travel to a country with a culture and language very different from your own, you often feel fascinated and excited at first by everything new.
Then comes culture shock, a feeling of disorientation caused by the unfamiliar. And gradually, you overcome this culture shock by adapting to your new environment and lifestyle.
Interestingly, the same process applies to businesses expanding into new international markets with cultures different from their home country.
Without cultural adaptation to the target market, customers may feel disconnected—or even alienated—from your brand.
Discover how cultural adaptation, and especially language localization, can help your business avoid poor audience response and achieve success in global markets.
Poor Cultural Adaptation Costs Your Business Money
Just like going to an interview without knowing anything about the company leaves a bad impression, entering a new international market without understanding its language and culture is a costly mistake.
We’ve seen big brands fall into this pitfall. And the consequences of those cultural missteps? Lost sales opportunities, brand mistrust, and high expenses from failed campaigns.
Take, for example, the famous car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz. When they first entered China, they marketed their brand as “Bensi,” which translates to “rush to die” — a huge failure in both translation and cultural adaptation.
They quickly corrected the mistake by rebranding as “Bēnchí.” Here, Bēn means “run fast,” and Chí means “go quickly,” together conveying the positive message of “Dashing Speed.”
But cultural adaptation doesn’t end with the brand name. Even if a company gets the name right, failing to adapt the rest of the customer experience, from product details to the website or app, can be just as damaging.
Without proper localization, elements like product descriptions, checkout pages, date and number formats, currencies, and even search keywords feel foreign to local audiences.
And just like Mercedes-Benz’s initial translation mistake, that lack of adaptation can drive customers away.
How Cultural Adaptation Drives Market Success
An effective cultural adaptation strategy brings countless benefits. Here’s what your business gains when you invest in professional localization services that adapt your brand’s language and content for each international audience:
- You earn customer trust and drive sales. According to a CSA Research report, 75% of customers are more likely to make a purchase when support is offered in their native language.
- By prioritizing market adaptation in the early stages of expansion, you save significant costs later on by avoiding marketing blunders and costly mistranslations.
- You position your brand for cultural relevance, ensuring you connect with audiences in a way that feels authentic rather than tone-deaf, a great advantage in an age where inclusivity and personalization are key.
- You expand your reach and visibility, since less than half of internet users understand English, making localized content essential to winning over an international audience.
Best Practices for Implementing Cultural Adaptation as a Business
| Cultural Adaptation for Businesses | |
| Internal Consult native, on-ground experts Provide cultural training for teams Conduct in-depth market research | External Localize language and dialect Adapt to local events and traditions Invest in marketing transcreation |
A Culturally Aware Team
Cultural adaptation starts from within. When expanding into international markets, the first step is building a team prepared to succeed. This can be achieved by:
- Hiring on-ground native experts for consultation, translation, and marketing strategies.
- Providing robust cross-cultural communication training for teams handling international sales.
- Offering coping strategies for teams relocating to or working in host countries.
- Conducting market research to understand cultural do’s and don’ts, national holidays, religious practices, language, and dialects.
- Studying customer behavior and preferences, alongside a thorough competitor analysis.
By equipping your team with these tools, you ensure they feel confident, work efficiently, and develop campaigns that truly resonate with local audiences.
In International Markets
Beyond internal teams, businesses must ensure their customer-facing content and experiences are culturally aligned. A smart localization strategy includes:
- Adjusting product offerings for local national holidays and religious events, like Ramadan and Eid Al-Fitr in the Middle East, Diwali in India, and the Chinese New Year in China
- Adapting marketing copies with colors, visuals, and symbols that suit the local culture; for example, white in Chinese culture is associated with death and mourning.
- Localizing priority content such as product descriptions, SEO, checkout pages, customer support, and help center pages through professional website localization services.
- Tailoring marketing campaigns so taglines, slogans, and humor translate effectively and connect with the target culture.
Cultural Adaptation in Action: Real-Life Examples
Cultural adaptation plays a major role in the gaming industry. Game localization allows companies to make their titles go viral worldwide, and when done well, a successful game can even be adapted into other media, such as the hit series The Last of Us.
Game localization goes beyond translation. It adapts every element of the gaming experience to feel natural for players wherever they are. This includes character names, dialogues, game instructions, marketing, and even the smallest in-game details, all to create a truly immersive experience.
A well-known example of successful game localization is the Japanese franchise Final Fantasy.
In its adaptation for English, French, German, and other markets, the developers replaced religious references with more neutral terms to appeal to a broader audience. For instance, the word “prayer” in the dialogue was localized as “wish” in other languages.
Ready to Speak Your Target Audience’s Language?
Successful global businesses understand the power of cultural adaptation in connecting with their audience and driving international sales.
That’s why bayantech’s mission is to provide localization services that help brands build strong relationships with local customers, boosting loyalty and long-term retention.
Talk to one of our consultants today for a free consultation and discover how our customizable localization solutions can enhance your brand’s communication and cultural adaptation strategies, all while preserving your unique identity.
