Case Studies Archives - Dialogue

Dialogue’s multilingual localisation propels Omron Academy into EMEA region, inching company closer to global vision

Robert Shimwell — Wed, 28 Feb 2024 10:07:33 +0000

ABOUT THE COMPANY

· No. of employees: approximately 30,000

· Industry: medical equipment and health monitoring

· Project type: multilingual localisation

OMRON Healthcare is a global leader in clinically proven, innovative medical equipment for health monitoring and therapy.

OMRON Academy is their online medical e-learning platform providing free courses and webinars for healthcare professionals (HCPs).

THE CHALLENGES

· OMRON Healthcare Europe is active in multiple countries in the EMEA region. Seeking to maximise HCP education and ability, the organisation needed the OMRON Academy platform to be accessible on a more widespread scale.

· Due to the heavily medical content, complex medical terminology was involved.

· Sensitive localisation of the content for each market was crucial in connecting with target audiences and helping them interact fully with the platform in their native languages.

THE SOLUTIONS

· Make courses available in 8 languages spoken widely across EMEA region: English, French, Spanish, Italian, Turkish, Polish, German and Arabic.

· Medical specialised linguists with experience in terminology and jargon required, meaning less time and input required from Omron team.

· Linguists were able to access the OMRON Academy platform directly for contextual guidance, enabling them to familiarise themselves with the content further and in context, increasing first-time accuracy of translations.

· Rapid response times to queries relating to source content meant translations were glitch-free and often went live in advance of the required deadline, streamlining Omron’s internal timing commitments.

· Smooth, approachable and efficient collaboration with Dialogue account managers, building trust and reassurance on the client side so they could focus on their own tasks and responsibilities.

THE IMPACT AND RESULTS

· Sensitive and impactful communication with new markets, boosting OMRON reputation and platform resonance with users.

· Augmentation of the reach, visibility and accessibility of OMRON Academy, enhancing learning and development of a higher number of HCPs.

· Improved HCP ability and credibility as a result of remaining up to date on scientific advances and medical advice via Omron Academy.

· Resulting in higher chance of consumers reducing the risk of heart attacks, strokes and respiratory issues, the three medical conditions which, with their ‘’Going for Zero’’ vision, Omron aims to eliminate.

The post Dialogue’s multilingual localisation propels Omron Academy into EMEA region, inching company closer to global vision appeared first on Dialogue.

Strategic support and guidance add an valuable extra dimension to Dialogue’s EMEA / Asia localisation package for Mitel

Robert Shimwell — Thu, 04 Jan 2024 15:14:50 +0000

ABOUT THE COMPANY

No. of employees: 2,600

Industry: Telecommunications

Project type: Multilingual e-learning and marketing localisation

US-based Telecoms giant Mitel was founded in 1996 around the belief that setting up and using phone systems should be, and could be, simple for the customer – “there had to be a better way”.

Driven by this passion for simplicity, Mitel has become a key developer of business phone systems, unified communications as well as voice and SMS platforms that enhance interaction between people.

THE CHALLENGES

Having expanded across EMEA and Asia, Mitel reached a point where it needed to communicate with existing and potential clients in their own language. The company recognised that being global meant that communicating only in English just didn’t cut the mustard; it needed a language strategy. It needed a strong and experienced partner to help the company connect with non-native English speakers across all areas of the business. First step was to localise its online training courses to help its partners sell more effectively across EMEA and Asia.

Next up was a mass marketing localisation campaign, starting with its website, then corporate films and product/exhibition materials. The key was not just to find a translation company which could accurately translate materials but to find a localisation partner who could make the materials fit culturally – to ‘speak’ directly to their end clients. They put the requirement out to tender and chose Dialogue to spearhead this campaign.

When asked why he selected Dialogue, Michael Lambert, Director of Education Services, commented: “We interviewed several candidates for partnership on our localisation effort. What stood out about Dialogue was their attention to detail, their focus on the importance of the customer relationship, and their highly capable and professional staff.”

THE SOLUTIONS

· From the start Dialogue acted not just as a localisation company but as a language partner, advising and helping to company go in the right direction with their localisation strategy, at the right price for them.

· Dialogue worked hard to establish the particular style and tone required from the outset for both the online training platform and marketing materials. This was the key to success.

· Dialogue created a glossary of specialist telecoms terms which was reviewed and agreed with the local markets prior to embarking on the work.

· Dialogue’s professional voiceover artists recorded the audio in the different target languages, in the style required, time-coding it to fit perfectly with the films used for self-paced learning.

· Alongside this, all course materials were localised in PowerPoint and Student Guides in Word to accompany both the self-paced learning online and classroom-based training.

· Then came the website, starting by using the agreed glossary of terms to complete a full localisation – not just translation of the content but localisation where local references needed to be adapted to the market and target audience.

· Finally, the localised material went through Dialogue’s strict ISO 17100 quality assurance processes to ensure that the translations submitted were 100% accurate, in the right style and ticked all the boxes.

· Dialogue stored the website in its memory software to make updates easy, consistent and cost-effective.

THE IMPACT AND RESULTS

Mitel now has a powerful multilingual training platform that is successfully helping its partners sell worldwide. The multilingual website and promotional films is helping to advertise its products globally and the company is continuing to expand rapidly. Dialogue continues to work with Mitel for a variety of localisation projects to support this growth and is proud to have helped in its global expansion.

Reflecting in late 2023, Heather Creer-Rygalski, Lead Instructional Developer, had this to say about the partnership:

“When I began working with Dialogue nearly 7 years ago, the team was extremely different from our translation company we used at the time. The Dialogue team asked questions, gave us opportunities to ask questions of them, met with us to discuss future projects for planning, knew our course development program, and were extremely responsive to emails sent.

The quality of the work far exceeded anything from the previous company or AI programs used at the time as well. The best gauge, however, is from our customers. If the quality of Dialogue’s work was below expectations, we would have heard about it long before now as the Sales Enablement courses have course surveys attached to them, in multiple languages. Outside of the surveys, we have a Sales Enablement email address for all to use to report on issues with courses. We have positive responses from the customers on the translations from Dialogue.
Dan, Marc, and the Dialogue team are true professionals. They deliver quality work as promised. They are also genuinely good people. They are friendly and I have enjoyed working with them throughout the years.

I highly recommend the Dialogue translation team for each, and every project Mitel has!”

The post Strategic support and guidance add an valuable extra dimension to Dialogue’s EMEA / Asia localisation package for Mitel appeared first on Dialogue.

Hybrid human / AI approach ensures quality on-site captioning for Condé Nast under tight timeframes

Robert Shimwell — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 16:19:38 +0000

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Every year British GQ hosts the Men of the Year event and awards in London and during this event, the Condé Nast media team captures a range of video content that then appears online. We were approached by them during their search for a partner to assist the post-production team with on-site captioning for all the video content produced on the night for release the same night.

THE CHALLENGES

· The nature of a live, high-profile event is of course one of tight timeframes and fast-moving processes.

· We had 30 films to caption within 4 hours (plus quality checks) so, to help boost productivity and efficiency, we implemented a combination of AI generation with human editing.

· Immense care and attention to detail was therefore required during the QA stages.

· Flexibility was key as instant priority needed to be placed on specific interview content so it could be released in order of priority.

THE SOLUTIONS

· Dress rehearsals arranged in advance to ensure smooth running and familiarity with processes and expectations on both sides.

· Style guide agreed pre-event (font colour, line length, typeface) to ensure no last-minute doubts or clarifications that would slow things down on the night.

· Dialogue’s hybrid AI + human approach gave Condé Nast rapid turnaround of content at a much faster rate than previous years.

THE IMPACT AND RESULTS

Dialogue’s expertise, ability and can-do attitude helped find a solution to the issue of previous years of time taken. It also ensured help a smoother running of the filming editing which, in turn, contributed positively to Condé Nast’s reputation and ongoing relationship with British GQ.

Plus of course, with a few Fleabag fans in our team, rubbing shoulders with Andrew Scott wasn’t the worst thing in the world for a Wednesday evening!

See some of our handiwork on the night below…

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Intensive language training for Twinings leads to new-found confidence and strengthened identity in English

Robert Shimwell — Thu, 24 Aug 2023 14:03:07 +0000

“Learning to speak like a native speaker has opened doors for me”
– Mr. Bruno Potenzoni, Twinings

ABOUT THE COMPANY

We have had the absolute pleasure of welcoming Mr. Bruno Potenzoni, Regional Commercial Manager for Twinings in Latin America, to stay with us for a summer residential course in Oxfordshire. Twinings is based in Andover, Hampshire, and – fun fact – has the world’s oldest continually used company logo (created in 1787). Part of the Associated British Foods group, Twinings has expanded into Latin America and is continuing to undergo a rapid period of growth…

THE CHALLENGES

Bruno was looking to improve his fluency and confidence using, speaking and working in English. With a good deal of theoretical knowledge already under his belt, Bruno wanted the opportunity to put what he had learned into practice in a fully English-speaking environment.

THE SOLUTIONS

Prior to coming to the UK, we provided Bruno with 30 hours of ongoing training via Zoom (90mins / week) – which lay the groundwork for Bruno’s arrival in the UK so that he could hit the ground running.
Once on British soil, Bruno joined us in the beautiful English countryside for a two week “intensive” residential course: 13 days, 160 contact hours in English and 70 hours of classes.
The course itself focused on, among other things, presentation techniques to make them more engaging and to develop audience rapport. As well as using independent materials, Bruno applied the techniques to his own media to see how they could be applied for real.
A practical part to the course saw Bruno testing out his English skills on a ‘treasure hunt’ in Bath – asking questions and interacting with ‘real’ people (as opposed to ever sympathetic and ever-patient teachers) in a safe environment to develop his confidence speaking in English.
The fortnight allowed for that no-escape cultural immersion too: plenty of time to experience and find out more about English culture by being hosted by Rob & Nic in their home. Discussions ranged from politics to family life to the size of one’s BBQ!*
It wasn’t all work and no play though, as Bruno also took the opportunity to refresh old acquaintances during the middle weekend.

*NB Never try to argue with an Argentinian about the appropriate size of a BBQ

THE IMPACT AND RESULTS

The biggest achievement of the fortnight was undoubtably that Bruno finished his time here saying he had started to think in English. With his confidence greatly improved and with plenty of lightbulb moments along the way, it was great to see Bruno’s theoretical knowledge be used and enjoyed in practice.

He now tells us that following the most intensive course he’s ever done in his life, he has the tools to walk into an international meeting in South America and perform with the same confidence and communicative skills as he would do in Spanish – something that had evaded him prior to his time in the UK.

The post Intensive language training for Twinings leads to new-found confidence and strengthened identity in English appeared first on Dialogue.

Remote online interpreting streamlines new platform implementation and removes language barriers for Doncasters

Robert Shimwell — Mon, 11 Jul 2022 14:24:56 +0000

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Doncasters has come a long way since its foundation 250 years ago in Sheffield. Now a leading international manufacturer of high-precision alloy components, it operates across 11 production sites in the US and Europe. and specialist applications.

THE CHALLENGES

The linguistic challenge presented to Dialogue was to help Doncasters train staff across their US, UK and Germany offices on a new management platform. The initial brief was to translate training manuals but a more efficient way was deemed to be to get everyone together online and to deliver the training using simultaneous interpreting via 55 workshops over the course of 6 months. The workshops were provided in German, so Dialogue was tasked with the challenge to provide a seamless and high-quality interpreting service to their US and UK teams.

THE SOLUTIONS

· Pull together a 6-month schedule of workshops

· Establish and prep a team of simultaneous interpreters for paired interpreting delivery

· Brief interpreters on terminology, style and etiquette for the training

· Set Doncasters staff up on Dialogue’s interpreting platform to ensure smooth and easy-to-use video calling

· Provide technical support throughout every training session

· Respond to ongoing feedback for continual improved delivery

THE IMPACT AND RESULTS

Mike Broughan, Head of FUSION, Doncasters, commented after the first day “Tremendously successful day today; the Dialogue team were top class!! The almost-real-time simulcast interpreting technique allows our German and English-speaking colleagues to work seamlessly together side-by-side and in a way we hadn’t foreseen. Dialogue has helped us remove the language barrier between the teams far better than we thought possible and this carries a high financial value for us.”

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Localisation of skincare product packaging helps No.7 boost Canadian market presence

Robert Shimwell — Sun, 26 Jun 2022 17:30:14 +0000

ABOUT THE COMPANY

No7 is the UK’s No1 skincare brand. Launched in 1935, it has been rewriting beauty history for over 80 years, with the aim of helping women to look and feel their best every day. From No7’s range of clinically proven anti-ageing serums, to the breakthrough No7 Pro Derm Scan, No7 continue to invest in ground-breaking research and development, and their global team are responding to the ever-changing needs of millions of customers every day.

THE CHALLENGES

No.7 needed their line of skincare products in Canada to be available in both English and French Canadian. They had to ensure that the appropriate skincare language for the Canadian market was used and that their brand’s tone of voice was still at the forefront of the translation.

THE SOLUTIONS

· All the necessary material and translations are now stored inside our translation memory software, Phrase TMS, and on our secure servers so that any updates can be made cheaply, easily and swiftly!

· We have begun working directly with No7’s artwork supplier to put translations straight onto the packaging.

· Dialogue has created a glossary of specialist skincare terms for our translators to refer to.

THE IMPACT AND RESULTS

A No.7 representative said the following about Dialogue – “A great company who are extremely professional, yet personable! Always very responsive to our quick turnaround requests, which is much needed when dealing with a large corporation such as ours!“

The post Localisation of skincare product packaging helps No.7 boost Canadian market presence appeared first on Dialogue.

Multi-format English and French language training closes cultural gaps and boosts professional performance at Renault

Robert Shimwell — Wed, 11 Mar 2020 11:16:09 +0000

ABOUT THE COMPANY

The Renault Group has been making cars in the UK since 1904. Today, it is an international multi-brand group, selling more than 2.5 million vehicles per year in 128 countries.

THE CHALLENGES

In 1994 Renault‘s Distribution Centre in Swindon needed to expose some of its staff to the French culture and language. This small assignment rapidly expanded to include Renault UK, RCI Banque, Renault Retail Group and Renault-Nissan Consulting companies.

Dialogue was tasked with producing a language programme that would allow personnel to converse in French. This lingua franca was an early initiative. All courses had to show progress and relevance to the workplace. Dialogue also had to teach English to the French contingent – this sometimes needed an intensive solution.

THE SOLUTIONS

Dialogue created a programme that would take personnel from total beginners to advanced speakers, focusing primarily on speaking and listening skills.
All courses could be joined at certain points – so that the classes remained as flexible as possible, allowing classes to expand or contract depending on need.
Dialogue also ran intensive courses as well as on-going courses. For intensive English courses, a host family was also highly recommended to complement lessons, ensuring total immersion.
The host families had to be local to the lessons taking place, and with families that were sympathetic to the executives’ needs. The families and learners all came together for evening dinners and conversations as part of the course.
Dialogue ran on-site exams to ensure flexibility around the learners’ work commitments.
Day-trip visits to France were also organised for some groups of French learners and with intensive French training with our partner school in Lyon. Learners were therefore able to get the ‘real’ experience of using French. These proved to be very popular and consolidated the learning in the class.

THE IMPACT AND RESULTS

Dialogue has taught over 100 learners over the last 20 years.
Learners have had a 100% pass rate for all exams taken.
Dialogue has successfully taken many learners from school French to operational proficiency.

“Currently loving it. Brigitte is really nice, easy to understand and pushes me as she knows I have a lot in my head that is just rusty!”

“My intensive course’s three strengths were the home family, the importance of oral discussion and the availability of the teachers. The teachers were clear, patient, encouraging, professional, interesting and humorous.”

The post Multi-format English and French language training closes cultural gaps and boosts professional performance at Renault appeared first on Dialogue.

Specialist military English language training secures strong ongoing relationship with Capita & the MOD

Robert Shimwell — Wed, 11 Mar 2020 11:12:32 +0000

THE CHALLENGES

To work in partnership with Capita to deliver English language training to the MoD. The MoD were looking for teachers who understood the military background, but who were able to teach English to a range of learners: from bespoke one-to-one lessons with high ranking officials to larger groups of learners who are just starting their military career as officers or officer cadet.

The key was to be able to provide training at short notice and in any location in the UK and across the world. To be able to guide learners through exams but with the ability to maintain momentum and interest with their intensive 7 hour a day courses. In conjunction with this we had to provide initiatives to improve training ie CPD events, to support material creation and an ability to train the trainers.

THE SOLUTIONS

The very first thing we did was to create a strong working relationship with both Capita and the MoD in order to be able to work effectively for them.
We created a partnership of trust by sharing best practice and being open and flexible.
We took the time to select teachers that had all the attributes required but more importantly have that ability to balance the need to inform, motivate and work within a team environment.
We needed to find solutions to problems that invariably occured when dealing with learners from different cultural backgrounds, levels of English and levels of motivation.

THE IMPACT AND RESULTS

Dialogue has delivered training to over 1500 military personnel since 2014 across the UK and Kuwait.

Dialogue has implemented a course pricing matrix that has been adopted by Capita.

Dialogue has successfully reduced teachers’ miscellaneous costs, by highlighting the need to keep overheads low and not to charge subsistence costs when on a military base.

Since starting to teach in April 2014, Dialogue has run interactive and lively CPD events. These have been well received and take place every 3 months.

Dialogue has met all the objectives given to us by Capita in each quarterly review.

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Multilingual website localisation fast-tracks Energizer’s European expansion

Robert Shimwell — Wed, 11 Mar 2020 11:11:12 +0000

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Operating in 50 and distributing across 160 countries, Energizer Holdings, Inc. is a consumer goods company operating in the household sector. Energizer currently offers products in portable power and lighting.

THE CHALLENGES

In 2008 Energizer approached Dialogue to localise its website into 10 languages to help drive its European expansion plans. The tone and style needed to be adjusted for and resonate with the target markets and also had to align with existing marketing material already published.

THE SOLUTIONS

Dialogue worked hard to establish the correct style and tone required from the outset.
We created a glossary of terms which was reviewed and agreed with the local markets prior to embarking on the full web localisation.
The next stage was full localisation – not just translation of the content but localisation where local references needed to be adapted to the region.
Finally the copy went through Dialogue’s strict ISO 17100 quality assurance processes to ensure that the copy submitted was 100% accurate, in the right style and ticked all boxes.
We stored the website in our memory software to make updates easy, consistent and cost effective.

THE IMPACT AND RESULTS

After the successful multilingual European web launch a few months later Dialogue has been involved in ongoing updates, product launches and localisation of new microsites to support Energizer’s online presence.

Dialogue has created extensive translation term bases and glossaries to ensure that our approach to Energizer’s work is consistent and reflects its local market preferences and style objectives.

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Culturally sensitive product user manual translations enable Silver Cross to ensure safety in brand new markets

Robert Shimwell — Wed, 11 Mar 2020 11:08:34 +0000

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Many of you may remember being wheeled around in a Silver Cross pram! A nursery specialist, Silver Cross was founded in Yorkshire in 1877. Following global expansion, Silver Cross is now internationally recognised for its range including prams and car seats.

THE CHALLENGES

Dialogue was approached in 2009 to start localising Silver Cross’ product user manuals into 10+ languages. What was key was to get the technical specs and instructions 100% accurate with a quick turnaround to ensure the complete safety for all adults and children using their products.

THE SOLUTIONS

Product names and brands needed to be reviewed for each market to ensure there were no cultural issues or mishaps.
Manuals for the Middle East and Israel received special treatment to ensure that the manual design worked with scripts right to left.
Expansion of text in some languages led to design issues on smaller labels, so Dialogue presented solutions where required.
Full localisation was required including technical measurements.
Storing the InDesign files in our translation memory made subsequent updates easy, cost effective and swift

THE IMPACT AND RESULTS

We have retained the contract since then and the fully localised user manuals have, we hope, resulted in happy and safe, mobile children across the world.

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