Globalizer

   I know a french friend. he used to study in a Hong Kong university. then he worked in china for a french company. not long ago, he started up a business to find low cost chinese engineering service provider for french manufacturing companies. he tells me drawing a CAD picture is very expensive in france. many french companies are looking for outsourcing opportunities in china. but many chinese companies can't speak french at all. so he thinks he can be a good brokerage for this kind of business. recently, he told me his business plan has won a prize in a business competition in paris. Congratulations, buddy!

   My friend case points out one typical barrier for business globalization. that is language! I never hide that I am an advocate of globalization because I think globalization can really bring a fair business competition ecosystem. but culture conflict stops globalization progress. language as an aspect of culture is definitely a reason. today, I read an article from fast company. the topic is how language can affect global marketing. it's worth reading!

……"Language is becoming a competitive advantage," he said. "If you can deliver your product in a way that looks like it was developed in that country, you have a competitive advantage." Statistics reveal that English is less dominant on the Internet than it used to be, with languages like Chinese, Japanese and Spanish gaining increasingly significant ground…..

   However, I should remind every company. don't polarize your marketing language:completely arrogant as a foreign language or blindly localizing everything! all are wrong. start from your target users, then spread your product/service in a language your users prefer! 

   If you live in shanghai or other leading cities in china, I believe you have watched advertisement from like-TV LCD panel in commercial centers, office buildings and other entertainment venues. the public term for this new advertising model is new media advertising. don't look down it! this new business model has made a business legend in china. Focus media which is the first company to use this model has been the spoiled child in NASDAQ only within 2 years since it started in 2003. and its boss has been the No.1 richest people in china. so amazing!

   Although Focus media opens a new platform for advertiser and achieved big success, some researchers have pointed out one fact: the company is losing consumer's attention. in its heydays, consumer feel its LCD panel is a fancy thing. now, it seems a fad and is losing charm. consumer wouldn't like to be bothered by irrelevant content. advertisement is becoming spam. that's the root cause. only the advertisement can be precisely targeted, then becomes relevant, then there is effective conversation between consumer and advertiser.

   When we talk about precise advertising, we can't ignore google. google's adsense system is an excellent example. how to invent a like-google ad. system for LCD media company? it's not easy. when people gather in front of elevator door to wait for the elevator, how can the LCD panel be so intelligent that it can differentiate these random groups? thanks to Airsage which I covered in one post last year, its technology illuminates me. collecting mobile signal! that's it!

   I believe over 90% people take mobile phone when they are in shopping mall, office building. everyone's mobile signal can be collected by mobile operators. naturally, the signal will link to self account in operator's database. then its owner's information can be used for analysis. for example, how much is the average call fee? which value added package is used? how old? and many useful information can be dug out. then create a statistic model to fit consumer group with these information. as a result, people in front of the LCD panel can be grouped. and relevant advertisement can be precisely broadcast for them. only if the model is accurate enough, I believe LCD panel can be intelligent like google adsense.

   of course, someone will concern the privacy. I think this problem can be well controlled. how do you think, Dear readers?