One production, every market: the economics of localisation
One production, every market: the economics of localisation
A second shoot per market is the most expensive way to say the same thing twice.
A second shoot per market is the most expensive way to say the same thing twice.
Storyflow team
Localisation Lead
·
·
6 min
read
One approved post, opened in a fourth market. The edit took minutes because the master was built to travel.
On this page
Where the budget actually goes
Designing masters that travel
What the numbers look like
In short
Share
Copy link
A twelve-market launch usually starts with one production day. By the end of the quarter it has quietly become six productions, four agencies and a translation budget nobody planned for. The campaign looks consistent. The invoices don’t.
A twelve-market launch usually starts with one production day. By the end of the quarter it has quietly become six productions, four agencies and a translation budget nobody planned for. The campaign looks consistent. The invoices don’t.
None of that spend is waste in the moment. Each market needs work that feels native. The waste is upstream: masters that weren’t built to be adapted, so adapting them costs as much as starting again.
None of that spend is waste in the moment. Each market needs work that feels native. The waste is upstream: masters that weren’t built to be adapted, so adapting them costs as much as starting again.
Where the budget actually goes
Where the budget actually goes
Where the budget actually goes
Look at a year of social spend line by line and the pattern is clear. Most of it isn’t making new ideas. It’s remaking the same idea in a new size, a new language, or a new tone for a market that was never briefed properly.
Look at a year of social spend line by line and the pattern is clear. Most of it isn’t making new ideas. It’s remaking the same idea in a new size, a new language, or a new tone for a market that was never briefed properly.
The cheapest adaptation is the one the master was designed for.
The cheapest adaptation is the one the master was designed for.
From the Localisation Engine brief
The cheapest adaptation is the one the master was designed for.
From the Localisation Engine brief
Designing masters that travel
Designing masters that travel
Designing masters that travel
Masters that travel are planned that way on the shoot day. Clean plates, text-free versions, alternate crops and local hooks captured at the source. It adds an hour to production and removes weeks from every market.
Masters that travel are planned that way on the shoot day. Clean plates, text-free versions, alternate crops and local hooks captured at the source. It adds an hour to production and removes weeks from every market.
One master, three languages, no reshoot. The plates were captured on the original production day.
One master, three languages, no reshoot. The plates were captured on the original production day.
What the numbers look like
What the numbers look like
What the numbers look like
When adaptation replaces remaking, the cost per market drops sharply and time to post shrinks from weeks to days. The bigger change is quieter: local teams spend their time on judgement, not production.
When adaptation replaces remaking, the cost per market drops sharply and time to post shrinks from weeks to days. The bigger change is quieter: local teams spend their time on judgement, not production.
In short
01
Most localisation spend is remaking, not adapting.
02
Masters that travel are planned on the shoot day.
03
Adapting frees local teams to use their judgement.
In short
01
Most localisation spend is remaking, not adapting.
02
Masters that travel are planned on the shoot day.
03
Adapting frees local teams to use their judgement.
Operating models
Essay
Essay
·
·
8 min
8 min
Why local teams rebuild what HQ already made
Read article
→
Governance
Field note
Field note
·
·
5 min
5 min
The Golden Triangle: a better test for every social decision
Read article
→
Governance
Essay
Essay
·
·
5 min
5 min
Approvals that scale without becoming the bottleneck
Read article
→
Let’s talk
Let’s talk
Let’s talk about your structure specifically.
Let’s talk about your structure specifically.
Thirty minutes with a strategist. We look at your structure, not a slide deck.
Thirty minutes with a strategist. We look at your structure, not a slide deck.