Corinne Sharabi
Corinne is the Social Media and Content Lead at BLEND. She is dedicated to keeping global business professionals up to date on all things localization, translation, language and culture.
Localization Insights
Localization Insights
2022 Localization Hall of Fame: Top Localized Assets of the Year
A collection of the best and most impactful localized assets of the year.
Message from BLEND
As 2023 kicks off, we wanted to start by summarizing this past year and celebrating the localization industry’s growth. Oftentimes, localization can go unrecognized despite the important part it plays in customer experience for any company catering to diverse audiences.
Localization is a time-consuming, complex process with many moving parts. Whether a company has a localization team of 20 or a team of one, the people behind the curtain work hard to give globally and culturally diverse audiences equally native experiences.
To celebrate the Localization Managers, Marketing Managers, and team leads that make the magic happen, we selected some of the top localization assets of 2022 from a pool of submissions. The following collection showcases the incredible impact of these localization initiatives on international brands.
Table of Contents
Canva’s 15 Billion Designs Campaign
Submitted by Michael Levot, Head of Localization at Canva, a free-to-use graphic design platform
Pride-worthy project
To mark the milestone of 15 billion Canva designs published, Canva’s localization team created a campaign that highlights the differences in design preferences around the world.
The localization process
Canva’s localization team ran analyses to see which design elements were most popular in different countries around the world. The result is a fun, fresh project that provides insight on cultural preferences and norms.
Project impact
We had some fun with this project and we hope our customers do too! I like this project because it celebrates the diversity of our community while also showcasing what our product can do. The result is (in my opinion) beautiful and doesn’t take itself too seriously.
– Michael Levot
Check out the 15 Billion Designs Campaign
Spotify’s Catalan Language Localization
Submitted by the Localization Team at Spotify, a global audio streaming platform
Pride-worthy project
In honor of their partnership with FC Barcelona, the Spotify mobile experience was updated to support the Catalan language in October 2022. This makes the app more accessible to Catalan speakers and FC Barcelona fans, bringing the total number of languages on the Spotify platform to 63.
AppsFlyer’s Website Localization in 7 Languages
Submitted by Debora Cohen, Head of Localization at AppsFlyer, a mobile marketing analytics & attribution platform
Pride-worthy project
The localization of the AppsFlyer website in 7 new languages was complete in less than a year.
“The launch of all the localized websites is one of the projects I am most proud of this year. It required a huge amount of hours of preparation, thorough planning, and the involvement of many stakeholders including dev, design, content writers, project managers, localization specialists, operations and logistics amongst many others.” – Debora Cohen
The localization process
“The first stage of the project involved in-depth analysis and assessment of the old website conducted by SEO experts. After that, we eliminated a lot of old assets that were not relevant anymore and so we had to assess the whole content of our website one more time and decide which content and pages to keep.
Since each region has different goals and targets, we had to customize the type of content according to their needs. We also contacted regional clients and added testimonials, quotes and logos in each localized website.” – Debora Cohen
Project impact
The main result has been the optimization of our content to our target audience, better UI and UX, a more modern look. Most important of all, the impact of having these new websites is very significant, not only to increase brand awareness but also to bring us more revenue worldwide.
– Debora Cohen
Check out AppsFlyer’s website in 7 non-EN languages
Shopify’s BFCM Rotating Globe Website
Submitted by María José Salmerón Ibáñez, Localization Program Manager at Shopify, an international e-commerce platform
Pride-worthy project
The Shopify localization team localized a webpage that is only available during Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM). The page visualizes data of Shopify’s global commerce impact and scale, displaying interesting data points in real time.
The localization process
- Product categories localization: A large number of product category names were localized. These categories are dynamic in the sense that depending on the actual buyer’s behavior during the BFCM weekend, some of the categories would appear at the bottom of the page. They indicate the live BFCM buying trends in every single moment. Here’s a fun fact: the top product categories during BFCM 2022 were Apparel & Accessories, followed by Health & Beauty, and Home & Garden.
- Date and time localization: The date and time that appeared at the top of the page was very important to localize as these numbers were specifically tracked in certain time frames during the whole BFCM weekend.
- Currency and number formatting: As this all revolved around data, the number formatting and currency needed to be localized.
Project impact
Why this project? The Localization team at Shopify, and me as the Localization Program Manager of this project, are utterly proud to have enabled 52 million consumers worldwide to purchase from independent brands powered by Shopify during this BFCM in 2022.
– María José Salmerón Ibáñez
Skyscanner’s App Store Optimization
Submitted by Veronica Carioni, Localization Manager at Skyscanner, a global travel search platform
Pride-worthy project
Skyscanner improved their app store localization for various markets around the world.
Project impact
As a Localisation team, we truly believe that in the App Store Optimisation field, even small changes that respond to local users’ needs and expectations can have a big impact.
– Veronica Carioni
Carefully choosing the right keywords, crafting an engaging description that taps into what the user’s values [are], adapting visuals to the different markets…these are all examples of work we have done in collaboration with our Product and Marketing partners as well as our vendors, resulting in an increase of 60% of organic installs of the Skyscanner app from Sept 2021 to Sept 2022 globally.
Check out Skyscanner’s German app store
Bolt’s Seedbolts Campaign
Submitted by Sälli Silm, Localization Program Manager at Bolt, a ride sharing app
Pride-worthy project
In collaboration with Seedballs Kenya, Bolt planted over 11 million tree seeds in Kenya to neutralize emissions from all Bolt rides and food deliveries in 2022. The global Seedbolts campaign was released in 31 countries, translated into 25 languages, and included a video shoot on another continent.
The localization process
Delivered assets included video, communications on social media, blog, PR, email, in-app messages, push notifications, and influencer collaborations.
As at Bolt we move fast, we had just one month to make this happen (including scripting and filming the video). The localisation team had less than a week to translate all the assets, yet the results were amazing.
– Sälli Silm
Read Bolt’s blog in Lithuanian
Read Bolt’s blog in Latvian
Check out Bolt’s Estonian Instagram post
Wix’s Templates Localization Project
Submitted by the Product Localization Team at Wix, a website-building platform
Pride-worthy project
“The Wix Product Localization team is responsible for facilitating efficient and high-quality localization of our products to our users. We are experts in the markets we target and are responsible for knowing and meeting the varied needs of our users in those markets.
Our templates are one of the main entry points into our product. They inspire users by showing them what they can do with Wix: they highlight various Wix features and functionality, and they also give users a framework to begin their site-creation journey. We know we have created a great template when users who choose a template go on to build and publish a finished site.
In order to improve this entry point for our global users in 19 different geos, we set out to localize all templates on the main landing pages of our templates selection page.” – The Wix Product Localization Team
The localization process
The project involved localizing the images, text and legal pages so that users would feel like the template selection was tailor-made for their geographical market. This was a defensive test as the team believed this would also bring brand value.
Project impact
The project was a success! We were able to localize 2,129 templates in 9 months! We also saw that the more localized templates we show, the more users choose a localized template, which leads them to more frequently go on to build and publish a finished website.
– The Wix Product Localization Team
Check out Wix’s “Coming Soon” template in multiple languages
View the English template
View the Japanese template
View the German template
monday.com’s OOH campaign in Tokyo
Submitted by the Localization Team at monday.com, a project and work management platform
Pride-worthy project
The Japanese market is a strategic focus for monday.com. As a part of the Japan market effort, we opened a Tokyo office this year and a sales team on the ground. We launched the OOH campaign in Japan, along with other OOH campaigns worldwide including Sao Paulo, Berlin, Paris, etc.
– The monday.com Localization Team
The plan of the campaign was branding trains of the most prominent lines in Tokyo and dominating a digital corridor in one of the largest hubs in the city. In parallel, we had an online campaign on Facebook, Youtube, Twitter & DV to create a 360 effect in this market.
Payoneer’s Certificate Translation and Compliance Department Flow
Submitted by Galyna Margolin, Localization Team Lead at Payoneer, a global payment platform
Pride-worthy project
Payoneer created a dedicated flow for their compliance department needs to improve efficiency and simplicity of their KYC practices.
The localization process
In order to improve operational efficiency and accuracy, Payoneer partnered with BLEND for back-office integrations, improved workflows, and professional language talent.
Payoneer expertly localized:
- Instructions for users to provide documentation
- In-app functionality for uploading documents
- Backend support for vetting and confirming documents
Project impact
Payoneer saw numerous improvements in operational efficiency and user verification turnarounds. Even as Payoneer saw double-digit growth in global users, the KYC department reduced user confirmation times, which led to faster account holder start times from first registration.
Outbrain, Japan’s “OutBrain Academy” Localization
Submitted by Toko Taguchi, Marketing Manager at Outbrain, a web recommendation platform
Pride-worthy project
The entire OutBrain Academy online learning course was localized for the Japanese market, including video subtitles and presentations.
Project impact
The reason why I made the JP presentations as well is because I wanted to let them learn deeper and make the best of our course for their business growth.
– Toko Taguchi
Check out Outbrain Academy in Japanese
Laline’s New Collection Campaign Video
Submitted by Ori Goren, Global CMO at Laline, a grooming and lifestyle brand
Pride-worthy project
The marketing of Laline’s new product-launch was localized for different regions, including Japan and Canada. The new collection, in honor of the New Year, was released at different times with unique assets to best-suit audiences in each continent (Europe, North America, and Asia).
Project impact
Celebrating a new year is a great event for launching a festive collection. In 2022, we launched the same collection at Laline with 2 different campaigns. Both campaigns were based on the cotton in a magical atmosphere. The difference is based on the local icons for each holiday and the target audience.
– Ori Goren
In Israel, Rosh Hashanah brings opportunities for new beginnings for the upcoming year. Abroad, we used the snow ball as a very known sign for Christmas, so we switched the snow to cotton. According to the feedback we received, thanks to our decision, we made a great impact in the local markets.
Ezugi’s Update on All 27 Languages
Submitted by Maria-Letiția Chiculiță, Head of Localization at Ezugi, a live dealer casino platform
Pride-worthy project
In 2022, the Ezugi localization team reviewed and updated all 27 of their supported languages.
Project impact
The language updates improved both the gaming content and the customer experience.
Taking localization to the next level in 2023
Thank you to all the incredible localization teams that are taking this industry to the next level with each passing year. From the initial localization strategy to project management and quality assurance, getting projects like these done isn’t easy – but it is rewarding.
Feeling inspired to take your localization to the next level? Our tech-driven platform, team of localization experts, and network of professional translators can help you simplify your brand’s multi-market expansion, from strategy and execution, to quality assurance. Contact us to learn more.
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