How marketing giants like L’Oréal are optimizing their international communications using AI

In a globalized world where cultures mix and differ, the creation of multicultural content has become a central issue. For more than two decades, Datawords has responded by combining artificial intelligence with human expertise, in order to quickly deploy content adapted to each market, on a large scale.

They are also the ones who ensure the creation and deployment of content for giants such as L’Oréal, Michelin, Henkel and Coty.

Marketing optimization and personalization

But what can a company like Datawords really bring to such marketing behemoths? “It is true that these large groups are focused on marketing. However, they face increasingly complex challenges. There are more and more platforms – whether for e-commerce (website, Amazon, Boots, Sephora…), for social networks (Instagram, TikTok, Wechat, Naver…), and others for the mobile part. At the same time, there are more and more markets, communities, cultures to cover. There is also this growing need for personalization. However, budgets do not grow, and sometimes even decrease,” replies Alexandre Crazover, co-founder and CEO of Datawords. For example, for a major cosmetics brand, Datawords generated more than 1,000 pieces of content per week, or 200 per day over five business days, in 100 countries. Beyond the human resources and skills essential to carry out such campaigns, the cost is obviously a major issue. Datawords allowed this brand to successfully carry out these campaigns while reducing their costs by 30%. And since speed and consistency are essential, Datawords has also reduced time-to-market by 30%. Connecting with more customers around the world, while controlling costs, and on a larger scale, isn’t that the sweet dream of all international companies?

How to Stay Relevant in Changing Markets

What is also accompanied by increasing speed are trends, whether cultural, linguistic or habit-related. How can we guarantee the relevance of marketing content in such a context? “At Datawords, we have developed a method that is deployed in three stages. Think: we start by analyzing the specific needs of each client (country, contact points, technological ecosystem) in order to design a tailor-made model. Shape: we build this model by combining the most suitable technologies with the expertise of specialists and multicultural natives. This allows us to ensure optimal execution while taking into account local cultural particularities. Deliver: Finally, we implement this model and continuously optimize it to deliver rapid and large-scale cultural adaptations. We constantly adjust our processes to keep up with evolving market needs and technologies. », explains Alexandre.

One might think that the large multinationals that use Datawords are already well equipped to optimally adapt their platforms to each country. However, this is still not the case. As Alexandre points out, a common mistake is to design large-scale projects according to a simple translation logic, in an “iso” approach, when it is imperative to consider the cultural specificities of each market.

“Purchasing practices, for example, vary from country to country based on cultures, and we help our customers personalize these journeys. This can have a significant impact on performance.” Take the example of Fusalp, the high-end ski clothing brand: until recently, their sub-site system did not allow them to offer suitable payment methods or to correctly calculate the taxes applied in each country. . As a result, they were losing a large number of sales. However, once they undertook a complete overhaul of their system, their sales increased by 138% in just three months. “We also work on the different platforms, because those used in China differ greatly from those used in Europe or the United States. », adds Alexandre. The challenge is therefore to preserve the brand’s DNA while ensuring true cultural adaptation, in order to maximize the impact of the marketing strategy on sales.

Europe, champion of cultural adaptation?

Good news: Europe would stand out for its ability to adapt its content. European companies are often seen as the “good students” in this area, because they are more forced than giants like the United States or China to view things from a multicultural prism. “If a company sets up in France or Germany, it must quickly adapt if it wishes to conquer other markets,” explains Alexandre, because European domestic markets are too small to ensure exclusively national growth. “Europe has instilled in us this culture of rapid adaptation in order to develop. Conversely, in large markets like China or the United States, the considerable size of the domestic market has often exempted companies from this necessity. They did not have to develop this reflex. I think we have a unique advantage in Europe thanks to this ability to adapt, to grasp the challenges of multicultural marketing. »

Each community has its own AI

With the increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) in content creation, how can we ensure that the content generated is culturally relevant? “This is one of the great current and future challenges of AI,” says Alexandre. “We’re talking about responsible AI here.” The real challenge is to take advantage of technological advances while limiting the biases inherent in these systems. Today, some companies, particularly in Asia, offer advertising campaigns entirely created by AI, capable of adapting content to the French market in a few clicks, then instantly readjusting it for the Korean market. However, behind these technologies lie models developed by different regions of the world: ChatGPT in the United States, Kimi in China, or even Mistral in Europe, explains Alexandre. “These designs were created by specific communities, making them more relevant to certain cultures. But used alone, they risk introducing cultural biases, because they are not always perfectly adapted to all communities. »

To our initial question, how are brands adapting to an increasingly connected, but differentiated, world? The answer seems to lie in understanding that in a world where borders are blurring and cultures are mixing, brands face a dual challenge: being present on a global scale while meeting the specific expectations of each market. The balance between globalization and personalization, between technological innovation and understanding cultural nuances, is the key to succeeding in this complex context.