Nine, Ninety, Ninety: Add 9 Languages and Reach 90% of the World Market in 90 Days

December 5, 2007

According to 2006 figures released by the World Bank, the world’s GNP (gross national product) is nearly $48.3 trillion. Approximately 35 percent of that money is represented by predominantly English-speaking nations: the U.S., U.K., Canada, India and Australia. Populations in these countries are accessing English-only website content with minimal effort.

But what of the remaining 65 percent of the world’s buying power? Organizations that have global audiences, and yet cater only to English speakers, are missing an opportunity to leverage Website Language Management (WLM) to acquire new markets. The coveted “first mover” leadership position -- and the low-hanging audience “fruit” that accompanies such global strategies -- are ripe for those who invest in WLM.

By adding Website Language Management capability to a company website -- and then deploying nine key additional languages to that site -- an organization can reach nearly 90 percent of the world’s buyers. And with the right WLM partner, that 90 percent can be reached in 90 days for all additional languages.

Consider the table below. According to the World Bank, a company’s “default” English-language site reaches 36 percent of the world’s cumulative GNP audience (approximately $17.6 trillion). By simply adding WLM-powered websites in three languages alone -- German, Italian and French -- a company’s message can reach an additional 17 percent of the world’s GNP (approximately $7.9 trillion) in 90 days, for a total of 53 percent cumulative GNP audience.

By launching a Japanese WLM site, organizations may tap into an additional 10 percent -- $4.8 trillion -- of the world’s buying power.

By deploying sites in these four languages (and English), an organization can deliver its message to 63 percent of the world’s GNP audience -- markets worth more than $30.3 trillion.

The deployment of a Spanish site delivers even more global GNP impact, and a coup within the U.S. market. Major Spanish-speaking nations such as Mexico, Argentina and Spain represent 4.6 percent of the world’s GNP. However, the U.S. Hispanic population alone represents 10 percent of U.S. GNP (3.3 percent of the world’s economy). It’s the eighth-largest economy on the planet.

A Spanish-enabled WLM site reaches 8 percent of the world’s GNP; combined with the aforementioned languages (German, Italian, French and Japanese), an organization reaches more than 70 percent -- nearly $34.5 trillion -- cumulative GNP audience.

Connecting with these new online markets -- and using localized content -- is critical, particularly for a global organization. But equally critical is the turnaround time in which those WLM-powered sites are deployed -- particularly when debuting in new, competitive markets. MotionPoint’s world-leading WLM service not only handles the languages mentioned above (and in the chart below, and others); it is also fleet-footed. In 90 days or less, a company can debut these nine multi-lingual sites, and reach 90 percent of the world’s consumers.

Sources: World Bank 2006 preferred GNI index, **DMA: Reaching the US Hispanic Market

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