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Game of Tones: how brands can capture global audiences through language

By Jessica Florez, Content Director

Unbabel

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December 1, 2022 | 7 min read

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Global brands can be plagued by challenges when navigating the nuances of their messaging across multiple languages and cultures - but those who localize properly are getting it right, writes Jessica Florez of Unbabel.

Game of Thrones Crown

Language is a key component for building brand loyalty across global audiences.

Unbabel's Global Multilingual CX Report revealed that 74% of global consumers would switch to a new brand entirely that markets products or services in their native language. Words matter more than ever: it’s imperative to speak your customers’ language, and in the case of Game of Thrones (GoT) audiences – quite literally.

And although winter is coming, your audience is already here. Before you ‘dracarys’ your marketing strategy, let’s turn to the experts to elevate your multilingual marketing strategy.

With 33 million viewers per episode, across TV sets in the homes of more than 170 countries, HBO’s Game of Thrones knows firsthand the importance of investing in authentic connections with audiences, and using language to unlock access to worldwide popularity.

When deciding to breathe fire and life into its fictional books, and position GoT on a global stage, it enlisted the efforts of professional conlanger, David J. Peterson to coin the Dothraki and High Valyrian languages. This ultimately sparked a community of super fans that helped propel it to the number-one TV show in the world, and made it a cultural phenomenon.

It garnered so much fame and recognition that, in 2019, Duolingo understood the assignment by partnering with Peterson to launch a High Valyrian course, empowering fans across the globe to learn the mother tongue of Valyrian Freehold and ditch the series’ subtitles. And with the recent launch of House of the Dragon in 2022, Peterson revamped the program by introducing 150 new words and more than 700 new sentences. Currently, there are 845,000 active learners on the platform.

On Wednesday, December 14, via LinkedIn Live, you are invited to hear success tactics from the genius behind the languages himself: Peterson, alongside his conlang partner, Jessie Sams, as they team up with Unbabel to present ‘Game of Tones: capturing global audiences through language’.

Unbabel Event Poster

As pioneers of the language operations platform, which combines artificial intelligence (AI) and human intelligence to enable hassle-free global dialogue, Unbabel shares in a similar mission: to help brands provide a consistent multilingual customer experience, grow to new markets, and build trust around the world.

Peterson and Sams, along with Vasco Pedro, chief executive officer and Joao Graca, chief technology officer of Unbabel, plus a powerhouse of other linguistic researchers and technology innovators will join forces for two jam-packed sessions. Together, they will review language as a key component for building brand loyalty across global audiences, and maintaining quality and consistency as it evolves, as well as how brands can implement these practices within their own marketing campaigns.

Topics include:

  • Success tactics from GoT and how to create brand superfans through language

  • The creative inspiration and technical process of new language creation

  • Why quality assurance matters when implementing language for audiences worldwide

  • How Dothraki and High Valyrian compare against other hit fictional languages.

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In addition to Game of Thrones, Peterson has created languages for shows and films, including Netflix’s The Witcher, the CW’s The 100, Netflix’s Shadow and Bone, Freeform’s Motherland: Fort Salem, Marvel’s Doctor Strange, and Disney’s Raya and the Last Dragon. Sams co-created languages found in Vampire Academy, Paper Girls, Motherland: Fort Salem, and more.

This virtual event follows closely on the heels of Unbabel’s recent LangOpsUniverse: Big Bang CX, which displayed in-depth discussions from big CX industry players like GoCardless, Farfetch, Springer Nature, and more on how brands can successfully, and cost-effectively, build out custom global CX strategies that resonate across local markets on a global scale.

Click here to save your spot today.

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