Should I stay or should I go?

When going global means going local.

Some quick notes about myself

• I work with mobile since 2004

• I’m on my 3rd start-up - so far, it’s a tie: a draw, a failure, and now, it seems, a hit

• I set-up the MMA LATAM Chapter, as their Managing Director

• I change my mobile each 6 months

• And I don’t use the beard anymore - at my daughter’s request

And about Grupo.Mobi

• Founded in 2007

• Brazil’s largest mobile marketing and advertising group

• 190 employees, 5 offices in Brazil, 1 in London, upcoming: Buenos Aires and Miami (or New York, we’re still not sure)

• What we do:

• Mobile web and apps - Fingertips (http://ftips.com.br)

• Mobile advertising network - Hands (http://hands.com.br)

• Mobile games - Monster Juice (http://monsterjuice.com.br)

• Mobile marketing platforms - Aorta (http://aorta.com.br)

Mobile Inventory

Mobile Inventory

Amount of advertising impressions available

Mobile Inventory

Admob used to tell us how much each month

Mobile Inventory

Now they just couldn’t care less

Well, I care.

Mobile inventory = Local + Originated at

Can you guess the ratio of gringo/local in Brazil?

As my daughter would say...

It’s infinite times!

Now, why is that?

• Angry Birds?

• Cut the Rope?

• Echofon?

• Oh, I know, (insert big app here)!

Now, why is that?

• No, no, no and no.

• Well, they do help.

• But it’s the long tail and the not so long tail

• e-Buddy, Nimbuzz, Echofon, AntSmasher, and most of what’s free and fun. And helpful.

And then

Apps I never heard of started talking to us about their local inventory (Brazil/LATAM)

• Do these guys had a global strategy?

• Did they had a global/local strategy?

• Were they doing the right stuff?

• Should you have a global strategy?

• Should you have a global/local strategy?

• I hope you’ll do the right stuff.

Customizing or localizing content for specific markets and cultures will multiply the desired effect

It’s about familiarity

• EA localized car racing games in Russia:

• 600% ROI over the English version

• LUG (online games distributor in BR):

• A game localized in Portuguese yielded 15X more revenue

Source: http://lingoport.com

Should every app have a localization strategy?

Are you any of these?

A global app

A localized app

A local app

Meanwhile, at the App Store

• Games are king

• But less so, when it comes to free apps

• Free:

• Entertain

• Help

• Search

• Boost

Meanwhile, at the App Store

• US App Store:

• Paid Apps:

• Games are 75-80% of top 300

• Free Apps:

• Games are 35-40% of top 300

• More apps to compete (social apps)

Meanwhile, at the App Store

• LATAM App Stores (BR/MX/AR):

• Paid and Free Apps:

• Games are ~30% of top 300

How many of them are local/localized?

• LATAM App Stores BR/MX/AR:

• Local: ~12% of apps (excluding games)

• Localized: ~25% of apps (excluding games)

Those numbers, I calculated them myself.

Feeling local makes a difference

• Sky Night X Star Walk: Sky Night (localized)

• Outfit 7: apps in local language get more downloads

• Weather: local apps are more downloaded (even though they

might not be as good or complete)

• Flight tracker apps: local or localized got more downloads

• Medical apps: local or localized apps

• Tools in general: localized apps

• And even games - Gameloft and Disney localize their games

What does it mean going local?

You have the local apps: you have to be local...

What does it mean going local?

• You have the partially localized apps:

• That’s easy - translate your presentation texts at the App Stores

• And that’s it. Just doing this will get you more downloads

What does it mean going local?

• And you have fully localized apps:

• That’s hard - you need everything translated. And it needs to be right

• But you will make yourself a local!

• (People don’t know who’s local. They just assume.)

Paid or Free?

• LATAM: people don’t like to pay. They do. But it’s harder. A partially localized version should be a 1st choice.

• Advertising: you will need a local partner and a lot of impressions - a fully localized app is the best option.

Which platform?

• Apple outnumbers all others in terms of downloads

• You need to check each market for other options (Blackberry still rules in Colombia and Venezuela, for instance)

And how should I do some noise?Total downloads over time

Time

Mobile Media

Earned Media

Paid Media

Own Media

That chart, I calculated it myself too.

A few more “rules”

Universal Rules

• The MVA (Minimum Viable App)

Deciding

• Check your numbers

• Check the app stores (there are a lot of apps for that)

• Research the market when you find one

Preparing

• Run tests to identify localization readiness

• Real estate limitations: languages different than English may break the layout

• A style guide and a glossary will help

Go for it

• Translate

• Find local partners for localization, distribution and monetization

• Have someone in charge

Thank you.

Terence Reis

terence@grupo.mobi