Christchurch & Canterbury Marketing, Christchurch 
This became New Zealand’s first multi-lingual site featuring search, enquiry and booking facilities in all languages, as well as its narrative and sales messages.
- Client overview:
- Christchurch and Canterbury Marketing (CCM) is a major Regional Tourism Organisation (RTO), whose core responsibility involves promotion of the region as a destination to international and domestic markets as well as generating business for its tourism operator members throughout Christchurch and Canterbury.
Their website (www.christchurchnz.net) includes around 12,000 words of general information about the region, places and activities. There are also some 600 individual listings which include descriptive text and contact details for each business.
The website’s enquiry and booking system enables visitors to make enquiries and bookings after searching by location, type of business and price range. Members periodically update the descriptive texts within their entries.
- Christchurch and Canterbury Marketing (CCM) is a major Regional Tourism Organisation (RTO), whose core responsibility involves promotion of the region as a destination to international and domestic markets as well as generating business for its tourism operator members throughout Christchurch and Canterbury.
- Business challenge;
- To translate the entire site into German and South American Spanish.
To translate the system functionality messages within the search, enquiry and booking system, so they would communicate well, and work within parameters defined by the website functionality.
To work with CCM to process updates to the individual businesses listed.
- To translate the entire site into German and South American Spanish.
- Solution description;
- Blue South worked with CCM to understand their target audience. We needed to discover how visitors would use the site and exactly what their requirements were. In the case of Spanish, this included identifying that Mexican Spanish would be the best compromise version of the language to use.
Blue South worked with website developer Cabbage Tree Creative to learn the requirements of their Thrive content management system for entry of the body text. Together, Blue South and Cabbage Tree developed a tool which enabled the individual product listings to be efficiently translated.
- Blue South worked with CCM to understand their target audience. We needed to discover how visitors would use the site and exactly what their requirements were. In the case of Spanish, this included identifying that Mexican Spanish would be the best compromise version of the language to use.
- Implementation process;
- Blue South liaised in detail with CCM before and during the translation process to ensure all issues within the text were correctly understood.
Translations were undertaken by Blue South approved translators located in Germany and Mexico, the target language countries. Translators were briefed about the target audience demographic, and the need for text to be easy to read and attractive for potential holiday visitors.
Translations were independently proof read, then further proofed to ensure local knowledge was correct.
Translations were then reviewed by CCM’s contacts, and no changes were made.
Blue South entered the main body text into the website using the Thrive content management system.
The 600 translated listings were entered directly using the Translator tool option within Thrive.
Blue South and Cabbage Tree jointly developed system messages which would work in the specified languages as well as in the constraints set by the site’s functionality.
Before going live, the site was proof read once again by the translators.
Blue South and CCM produced and implemented a practical and economic process of updating listings.
- Blue South liaised in detail with CCM before and during the translation process to ensure all issues within the text were correctly understood.
- Results;
- CCM have what is believed to be the first multi-lingual site in New Zealand with full search, enquiry and booking facilities in each of its languages. Additionally, CCM’s members can easily and cost effectively update their listings in each language through Blue South.
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Comment from Blair Hartland, International Marketing Manager, Christchurch and Canterbury Marketing;
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“I’d never been involved in a website translation project before and I was very impressed that the whole process flowed so easily.
Where I fall down is in the technical jargon. Yet Blue South not only managed that part of the operation smoothly and effectively, they were able to keep me informed in words I could easily understand. That’s important when you’re working together as a team, which is also something they do very well.
In translation, you have no choice but to put a great deal of faith in the company handling the work. Trust is one of the things we felt good about with Blue South. From our first contact we realised they are a very reputable business and they’ve proved that very strongly with us.
Their points of difference included a high degree of professionalism at all times; technical website understanding; very good tourism knowledge, and a general understanding across the board.
They’re very good at making general customer service calls whenever they’re in Christchurch, and that makes a difference. It’s very helpful to spend even 15 minutes with them going over things in general.
The market feedback has been excellent. Blue South have encouraged me to contact people in the markets and see what they think about the translations. They’re very flexible about meeting changes halfway as long as the translated message is put across correctly and maintains its integrity.”
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