Asian Business Challenges: Multicultural Copywriting And Localisation

The 21st century is the century of Asia. More than 70 per cent of worldwide consumption comes from Asian countries and China is expected to become the new economic power. Every business now understands that to be successful, they need to conquer the Asian market. Even Hermes, a luxury fashion brand, has just launched the USD41,000 Helios Mahjong set to explicitly target Asian customers. However, Asia is an extremely dynamic market. Therefore, businesses need to equip themselves with multicultural copywriting and localisation to conquer this market.

Why is English is not the magic formula to open Asian markets?

Asia is a culturally, economically, lingually, and religiously dynamic area. Each part of Asia is unique for its own language, culture, and religious belief. In China and India, for example, there are multiple dialects and languagesused by different communities and ethnic groups. Furthermore, a large number of communities in Asia do not use English. Therefore, while English may work for American and European markets, the same formulas do not work for Asian markets. Additionally, not using local language in some Asian cultures is considered to be insensitive and even rude. As a result, with this diverse culture and expectation, businesses are required to use local languages and dialects to communicate with targeted communities. Nevertheless, the use of languages needs to consider also the cultural and religious elements to avoid any insensitivity and misunderstanding.

Challenges of multicultural copywriting and content localisation in Asia

Multicultural copywriting is crafting content based on the understanding of diverse cultures, subcultures, and communities to capture brand awareness and brand loyalty of the targeted segment. Content localisation is adapting content to accommodate the lingual, cultural, political, religious, and legal differences of a particular foreign market or country. To conquer Asian markets, multicultural copywriting and localising content is key to success. However, as mentioned earlier, Asia is a vast area with different cultures, languages, and communities. Unlike Western culture, Asian cultures and languages are more challenging to master. It takes on average 5 years to fully understand Asian cultures and languages. With this speed of globalisation and harsh competition from local brands, the time spent on learning cultures and languages becomes a luxury. To timely adapt to Asian cultures and languages, businesses should consider to outsource or partner with reliable and experienced copywriting agency or content localisationagencies to advance their competitive advantages.

How can we help you to be successful in Asian markets?

Thinking continentally and acting locally is the motto to be successful in Asian markets. elionetwork is located in Singapore, the hotspot of Asia and we have been providing content localisation services and copywriting services in Singapore for 20 years. Therefore, we have cultural, financial, and religious insights of most countries in Asia. As an experienced localising and copywriting agency in Singapore, we have a team of local experts who can provide you with top-notch tailor-made localised content for your target market. Contact us today to understand more about how we can help you!