Marketing Translation Services Internationally: Exploiting it to Achieve a Smart Network

Abstract

An organization operates within a network of relationships with economic partners. The translation services market provides rich examples of networks in practice that connect a diverse range of customers who require translation services to a global array of translators ranging from individual experts through to organized groups. This paper examines the marketing strategy of a global translation company, Thebigword. In the case of Thebigword, the network is constructed around shared information systems that encapsulate and define the nature of relationships with both business customers and thousands of individual translators worldwide. The marketing problem for Thebigword is that it must be able to sense and react to changes and requests from large business customers around the world, whether this is a change to their website, or a request for a new document translation. In the financial services market, the request for translation services may also be very time sensitive. The focus of the paper is on how Thebigword has used information systems to create a smart business network that defines marketing channels along the key dimensions of target market, business processes, IT architectures and systems, and network intelligence. A range of business examples is presented that illustrate how the marketing and information technology concepts fit together, including that of an international bank and an airline company. The case also provides technology examples of portal technology, web services and e-procurement.