Digital Marketing Ecosystem

🌎 Designing Cross-Cultural And Multi-Lingual UX. Guidelines on how to stress test our designs, how to define a localization strategy and how to deal with currencies, dates, word order, pluralization, colors and gender pronouns. ⦿ Translation: “We adapt our message to resonate in other markets”. ⦿ Localization: “We adapt user experience to local expectations”. ⦿ Internationalization: “We adapt our codebase to work in other markets”. ✅ English-language users make up about 26% of users. ✅ Top written languages: Chinese, Spanish, Arabic, Portuguese. ✅ Most users prefer content in their native language(s). ✅ French texts are on average 20% longer than English ones. ✅ Japanese texts are on average 30–60% shorter. 🚫 Flags aren’t languages: avoid them for language selection. 🚫 Language direction ≠ design direction (“F” vs. Zig-Zag pattern). 🚫 Not everybody has first/middle names: “Full name” is better. ✅ Always reserve at least 30% room for longer translations. ✅ Stress test your UI for translation with pseudolocalization. ✅ Plan for line wrap, truncation, very short and very long labels. ✅ Adjust numbers, dates, times, formats, units, addresses. ✅ Adjust currency, spelling, input masks, placeholders. ✅ Always conduct UX research with local users. When localizing an interface, we need to work beyond translation. We need to be respectful of cultural differences. E.g. in Arabic we would often need to increase the spacing between lines. For Chinese market, we need to increase the density of information. German sites require a vast amount of detail to communicate that a topic is well-thought-out. Stress test your design. Avoid assumptions. Work with local content designers. Spend time in the country to better understand the market. Have local help on the ground. And test repeatedly with local users as an ongoing part of the design process. You’ll be surprised by some findings, but you’ll also learn to adapt and scale to be effective — whatever market is going to come up next. Useful resources: UX Design Across Different Cultures, by Jenny Shen https://lnkd.in/eNiyVqiH UX Localization Handbook, by Phrase https://lnkd.in/eKN7usSA A Complete Guide To UX Localization, by Michal Kessel Shitrit 🎗️ https://lnkd.in/eaQJt-bU Designing Multi-Lingual UX, by yours truly https://lnkd.in/eR3GnwXQ Flags Are Not Languages, by James Offer https://lnkd.in/eaySNFGa IBM Globalization Checklists https://lnkd.in/ewNzysqv Books: ⦿ Cross-Cultural Design (https://lnkd.in/e8KswErf) by Senongo Akpem ⦿ The Culture Map (https://lnkd.in/edfyMqhN) by Erin Meyer ⦿ UX Writing & Microcopy (https://lnkd.in/e_ZFu374) by Kinneret Yifrah

If you’re in PR and not paying attention to what AI is doing to search and news, you’re in for a rude awakening. AI-powered search isn’t just “tweaking the game”— it’s in the process of rewriting the rules. From how publishers decide whether to allow AI to crawl their content, to how your clients or company get discovered, this shift will change the way PR pros operate in 2025 and beyond. AI-powered search will reshape how companies and clients get visibility—and PR pros need to adapt quickly. Here’s what’s happening, why it matters, and how you can stay ahead: 1️⃣AI Search Engines Are the New Gatekeepers: Tools like Google’s Gemini and OpenAI’s SearchGPT prioritize aggregated content from trusted publications over individual websites. Your beautifully optimized website? Irrelevant if AI search decides it’s not worth surfacing. 2️⃣Publishers Deciding If They’re In or Out Big outlets like The New York Times and Wired are currently opting out of AI crawlers to protect their IP, while others allow it for traffic. This means PR pros need to strategically target outlets that feed AI models—because your story only gets told on the likes of SearchGPT if the outlet carrying it is in the AI ecosystem. 3️⃣PR Is Even More Crucial for the ‘New’ SEO: Placement in trusted media is no longer just about audience reach; it’s about ensuring AI search engines authentically and accurately pick up your client or company’s narrative. Strong media relationships will be the difference between AI surfacing your story—or perhaps leaving your brand out of the conversation, or even worse, misconstruing it. 4️⃣Crises Are on a New And Faster Clock: AI prioritizes recency and credibility, so your crisis response needs to be swift, transparent, and authoritative. A slow or ineffective reaction could leave misinformation embedded in AI models, compounding damage to your brand’s reputation. 5️⃣ What PR Pros Need to Do Right Now: Focus more on media outlets that AI trusts: Build deeper and non transactional relationships with publications and reporters already working with AI search to ensure your stories are seen. Closely Monitor AI trends: Stay ahead of updates in tools like Gemini, SearchGPT, and Perplexity so you can adjust strategies as more info emerges. Be proactive with publishers: Understand which outlets are allowing AI crawling and how that impacts your clients’ visibility. This is going to change rapidly in the coming months. The bottom line: AI search isn’t just changing how people find information—it’s going to force PR practitioners to immediately rethink how we interact with media, manage crises, and position brands for discovery. This is an underrated but important trend that will accelerate in 2025 and beyond. Anything I’m missing here? Please put in comments.

Great news. PR budgets are set to double by 2027. Now let me ruin it for you. Gartner published a report this week that sent a quiet ripple of excitement through the communications industry. PR and earned media budgets will increase twofold by 2027. The reason? AI answer engines - ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Grok are replacing traditional search. And influencing what those engines say about your brand is, fundamentally, a communications discipline. Not a technical one. The industry exhaled. Finally. Validation. Budget. A seat at the table. I’d hold the champagne. Here’s what that prediction actually means if you read past the headline. The reason budgets are doubling is because the rules of reputation have been completely rewritten. The journalist who once mediated your brand’s story to the world has been replaced by an AI that pulls from dozens of sources simultaneously, weighs authority, recency, trust signals, and expert citations and generates an answer that your stakeholder reads and believes without clicking a single link. You don’t pitch that. You can’t wine and dine it. Your fifteen-year media relationship means nothing to it, if at all this is how it is supposed to be doing. The skills required to influence AI-generated answers, building authoritative content ecosystems, establishing narrative weight across trusted sources, understanding how recency and credibility signals work inside large language models, look almost nothing like the skills most PR agencies have spent the last decade developing. So yes. The budgets are coming. The question is who captures them. The agency that still leads with AVEs and press clippings will see those budgets flow straight past them into specialist consultancies, into in-house teams that move faster, into a new breed of communications firm that was built for this moment rather than retrofitted for it. Doubling budgets in a disrupted industry doesn’t lift all boats. It accelerates the gap between the agencies that saw this coming and the ones that didn’t. That gap is opening right now. Quietly. And it won’t announce itself until it’s too late to close. #PublicRelations #AI #AIAnswers #CorporateCommunications #Media #Marketing #PR

Very, very surprised by Martin Sorrel's view that PR is just an extension of advertising that doesn’t need to exist on a standalone basis! He is consistent though: in December 2025, in a BBC Radio 4 interview, he announced, "There’s no such thing as PR anymore". And that the profession has "morphed into social media", adding that the way to facilitate storytelling in the digital age is to flood platforms such as TikTok and Google with content! Martin Sorrell's framing is essentially about reach (digital spend growing at 15-20%, content flooding platforms). But PR has never been purely about distribution. It's about what you say, to whom, and whether they believe you. Flooding the internet may generate attention, but attention without trust is fragile and often destructive. That's the gap advertising alone cannot close. He's also ignoring the complexity that makes PR irreplaceable. Companies are navigating geopolitical challenges, unprecedented tariffs, regional conflicts, a more polarized political environment, a rising tide of disinformation, and new technologies... all of which elevate the role of corporate affairs and communications specialists. This isn't a press-release world. It's a crisis management, stakeholder trust, narrative control world, all of which are fundamentally PR disciplines. Ironically, his own life is exhibit A against his argument 🤷♂️ Martin Sorrell's own departure from WPP in 2018 under a personal cloud demonstrated that reputation affects even the most powerful executives (Trump is the one person immune to this... but only so far. He cannot fool all the people all the time). And the subsequent creation and positioning of S4 Capital required careful narrative management, stakeholder reassurance and credibility rebuilding, all of which were not achieved by flooding the internet, but through private trust-building with investors, clients, media and employees. He needed PR, of course. He just refused call it that. #publicrelations #PR #martinsorrel

Navigating the US and EU markets requires understanding key differences in consumer behavior, regulatory environments, and cultural nuances. In the US, businesses prioritize speed and convenience, while the EU demands tailored strategies for diverse preferences. Regulatory landscapes and digital transformation rates also differ significantly. In the US, consumer behavior is fast-paced and convenience-oriented, leading businesses to prioritize speed and efficiency. In the EU, preferences vary significantly by country, requiring tailored strategies. The US has a streamlined regulatory process, making it quicker to bring products to market, though sometimes with less stringent checks. The EU has stricter regulations that vary by country, ensuring higher consumer protection but adding complexity. Digital transformation varies too. The US leads in rapid tech adoption, driving innovation. In the EU, the pace varies, requiring agile digital strategies. Cultural nuances are also crucial. In the US, individualism and direct communication are valued, while the EU emphasizes relationships and indirect communication, making trust and long-term relationships essential. To navigate these markets, conduct thorough market research, work with regional experts, and be digitally agile. #MarketInsights #GlobalBusiness #USvsEU #Strategy #LSInternational

Successful South Korean brands like K-beauty giants Innisfree and Laneige didn't conquer the global market with trendy products alone. They won hearts by diving deep into local cultures. 💡 The Insight: Culturally relevant ads increase engagement by 25% (Source: IPG). By embracing cultural nuances and everyday struggles, these brands created value that resonated globally. 🤔 Reflect on this: 1️⃣ What cultural currents are you ignoring in your marketing strategy? 2️⃣ How can your brand speak to the unspoken desires of your audience? 3️⃣ What local stories can you tell to resonate globally? What Indian Brands Can Learn from K-Beauty? 📖 👉 Don't just export products, export cultural relevance: Transcend transactional sales by embedding your brand in local culture. Adapt products, packaging, and messaging to resonate with regional tastes, traditions, and lifestyles. 👉 Tap into the aspirations and values of your audience: Uncover the hidden desires, hopes, and fears of your customers. Craft messaging that speaks to their emotional needs, validating their identity and amplifying their voice. 👉 Authenticity beats advertising: Ditch scripted marketing narratives and embrace genuine storytelling. Share your brand's purpose, struggles, and passions to build trust, credibility, and loyalty with your audience. 💡 Tips for Indian Brands: ✅ Study the cultural context, not just consumer data: Look beyond demographics and sales trends. Analyze local customs, traditions, values, and nuances to craft resonant messaging that respects and reflects the cultural landscape. ✅ Collaborate with local artists, writers, and influencers: Partner with creative voices who intimately understand the local culture. Their authentic perspectives will enrich your branding, content, and messaging with subtlety and depth. ✅ Focus on empathy-driven storytelling, not just product feature: Shift from touting features to sharing human stories. Highlight how your brand solves real-life problems, validates emotions, and enhances experiences, forging a deeper connection. 👍 Benefits for brands: 1️⃣ Increased cultural relevance and credibility 2️⃣ Improved brand affinity and loyalty 3️⃣ Enhanced storytelling effectiveness. Invest in cultural immersion to create brand value that transcends borders. Your customers will thank you. #marketingstrategy #thoughtleadership #thethoughtleaderway

Campaigns are not one-size-fits-all. Especially when you're talking to customers across different regions. Combining marketing teams into a single unit that looks after multiple geographies bring efficiency. But it also introduces complexity—because what works in New York won’t always land in New Delhi. So, how do you really connect with customers across such diverse markets? You test. Run localized market experiments to uncover: What benefits resonate most in Texas versus Toronto. How value propositions shift between Sydney and Singapore. What creative actually feels culturally relevant (not just translated). Here’s how you get it right: - Test benefits, messaging, and cultural fit on live platforms like Meta or LinkedIn using Heatseeker. - Use behavior-driven insights—CTR, CPA, engagement metrics—to guide decisions. - Stealth test where needed to mitigate risk and gather unbiased feedback. - Optimize campaigns iteratively to scale what works, fast. The result is campaigns that speak the language-beyond just words. Data-backed insights into what drives customers in that specific local. A scalable playbook for delivering localized campaigns that convert. Your streamlined team now has the tools to drive success.

Marketing ops built the webinar program. But nobody gave ops a seat at the post-event table. That's why most webinar results plateau. The content team celebrates registrations. The SDRs wait on a lead list. Ops is stuck exporting data and hoping something downstream works. Here's what ops pros can actually do to make webinars compound over time: 1. Define engagement scoring before the event goes live Define high-intent behavior upfront: session watch time, resource downloads, poll responses, and map them to your lead scoring model before registration begins. 2. Build post-event routing logic before registration opens Who gets routed to sales vs. nurtured vs. recycled? Segment-based follow-up only works if the rules exist before the data arrives. 3. Turn SDR talk tracks into a playbook, not a one-off email Engagement data is only useful if it gets to the rep in a format they'll actually use. Build this into CRM activity and/or a Slack message. 4. Create an on-demand asset infrastructure, not just a recording link Every webinar should feed a landing page with SEO intent, a nurture track for late registrants, and a content library that keeps capturing demand between events. 5. Close the loop with a repeatable measurement framework Registrations → Attendees → Engaged → Converted. If ops isn't owning this reporting cadence, nobody is. The webinar isn't the product. The system around it is. If you want a platform that makes this whole infrastructure easier to build and scale, I'm a big fan of Goldcast. Check them out, link in the comments. What part of post-webinar process do you see breaks down the most? #marketing #martech #marketingoperations #ai

"Leading Marketing Across 7 Countries Taught Me That Growth Is Both Human and Strategic" #Marketing across 7 SEA and Pacific markets has taught me that success isn’t just about great campaigns—it’s about building 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀. Every market has its own rhythm: what engages customers in Singapore might not resonate in Australia or the Philippines. The key is finding the balance between global strategy and local authenticity. Over the years, I have learned that driving ROI across borders takes more than numbers—it takes empathy, data, and trust. Here’s what made the biggest difference: ✨ Listening to local market data and human insights before shaping regional campaigns. ✨ Empowering country teams to localize creative and media while keeping brand consistency and playbooks. ✨ Aligning every marketing activity—#contentmarketing, #PR, #communications, merchandising and #partnerships—towards measurable outcomes like brand lift, revenue generation, and engagement. In one in-store campaign in Thailand, this balance led to stronger brand affinity with local market, drove footfall and increased growth—all while developing stronger, marketing teams in localised campaigns to target audiences. Because when people feel trusted to make impact, they don’t just execute—they own the results. ❓𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙙𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙗𝙖𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙠𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙘𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙨 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨? #MarketingLeadership #IntegratedMarketing #MarketingCommunications #CrossCulturalMarketing #360Marketing #BusinessGrowth #TeamEmpowerment #GlobalMarketing #LeadershipInAction #RegionalMarketing #PeopleAndPerformance

According to the 2025 Comms Report, over 37% of communication professionals regularly use generative AI tools. From my own experience, AI is a force multiplier. It helps me process vast amounts of information, surface insights, and accelerate execution, freeing up time for higher-value work: connecting communication with business goals, engaging with stakeholders, and developing more thoughtful, human-centred narratives. AI strengthens our resilience. It gives us speed when speed truly matters — without replacing judgement, creativity, or responsibility. At the same time, PR has always been about trust. In the AI era, that trust is built in two places: – in the emotional space between people, and – in the structured data that algorithms interpret. As reputation becomes increasingly shaped by both humans and machines, the communicators who will lead are those who can scale authenticity, understand how algorithms work, and still remain unmistakably human. The brands that master this balance will define their reputation in the years ahead. This is what my new article about. It has been published in CODI, the magazine of the European Association of Communication Directors (EACD). This edition explores “Strategic Communication in the AI Era”, cutting through the hype with pragmatic analysis, case-led insights and the questions every CCO and senior communicator should be asking right now. CODI is a respected platform for senior communicators and corporate affairs leaders across Europe, focusing on how communication shapes trust, leadership, and long-term reputation in a rapidly changing world. Being part of this conversation is truly meaningful to me. In the article, I reflect on a shift that is already becoming the new normal. Grateful to Dennis Larsen, Laurent Turpault, #EACD and the #CODI editorial team for the opportunity to contribute to this important dialogue.  The CODI issue is available exclusively for EACD members via the link: https://lnkd.in/e_gv88pN #EACDSpirit #CODIMagazine