The 2011 Global Commerce Conference Stresses Understanding Cultures

by PR or News Wire

23 November 2011—

The recent 2011 Global Commerce Conference, hosted by MultiLing Corporation and Utah Business Magazine, provided exceptionally valuable information through a keynote speaker and a panel of local business professionals to an attentive audience at Noah’s in South Jordan.

This year’s conference was the third such annual conference put on by MultiLing Corporation to share with Utah professionals, tangible advice and resources to help companies successfully make the move or expand further into the global market.

Lee Daniels, former president and CEO of Titus Communications and AT&T Japan, provided the keynote address and shared experiences and examples of translating brands, products and advertisements in global markets. He discussed the importance of understanding phrases, terms and speech patterns that are unique to a given language or people when translating, especially when it comes to brands and messaging. Daniels shared stories and experiences about the important differences in culture, food and religion in foreign markets, and offered suggestions on how to avoid mistakes and to make a good impression.

The panel discussed how expanding to the global marketplace can be a strategic and effective step for a business. A major theme during the panel discussion was localization, when a business understands the cultures, lives and customs of people in foreign markets, then communicates their brand appropriately. The panel shared good and bad examples of localizing in foreign markets and discussed the positive and negative consequences that can come from either understanding or not understanding the best way to communicate in a given market. One point the panel made multiple times was the importance of consumers in every country feeling like the products they use come from their own country or culture. That is the power of localization.

Panel members included Brian Chandler, VP of Product Development, MultiLing Corporation; Andrew Lewis, Consul and Head of Trade, UK Trade and Investments; Nate Seifert, Commercial Officer at U.S. Commercial Services; Brett Heimburger, Director, Asia, Governor’s Office of Economic Development; Kent Millington, Director, Technology Commercialization, Utah Valley University; and Chris Boyle, President and CEO, Access Technology Solutions. The panel was moderated by Tyler Dabo of Utah Business Magazine.

A video recording of the entire event will be available soon on MultiLing’s website at www.multiling.com
(11.21.11)