With roots dating back to 1913, Wilson Sporting Goods Co. has made a name for itself as the world’s leading ball sports equipment manufacturer, with the widest breadth of products. Wilson Sporting Goods’ rich tradition brings with it an earned, world-wide legitimacy in each sport it participates in.
Backed by generations of athletes, Wilson has been an influential player in shaping games around the world. With customers in over 100 countries, Wilson set out to make their products more accessible to each of their local markets.
The Challenge: Creating a Translation Process from Scratch
When Wilson Sporting Goods made the business decision to expand their presence globally, they had to start from scratch in regards to translation. With no prior experience working with translation management platforms, Wilson looked to find a solution to drive their translation strategy and expertise.
- No translation strategy. Once the decision was made to expand their eCommerce sales outside of North America, Wilson needed to lay the groundwork for creating a translation process. Having no prior experience with translation platforms, Wilson had the opportunity to establish a process from scratch.
- Complicated business process. With a hard-won eCommerce infrastructure put in place, Wilson was worried about further hindering daily workflows with a new technology platform and process. With the expansion into new countries, Wilson was looking for a flexible technology to work with their existing translator pool.
- Small localization team. With a localization team of two, Wilson needed to find a way to manage the large volume of translations needed with limited resources.
The Solution: Smartling
Using Smartling’s cloud-based translation management system, Wilson realized the following benefits:
- Smartling’s translation infrastructure. Wilson’s primary goal when evaluating other translation platforms was to find one that wouldn’t hinder their current eCommerce business process. With Smartling’s Global Delivery Network, Wilson was able to seamlessly add a new translation infrastructure to their eCommerce website with minimal disruption to their eCommerce workflow.
- Reduced project management. With Smartling, Wilson realized a reduction of project management efforts through automation and custom workflows. With limited resources and a small localization team, Wilson was able to have a transparent view of all translations - including on cost estimates - and push content through the door on schedule with frequent product releases.
- Easy onboarding for translators. With Smartling’s versatile and flexible platform, Wilson was able to quickly and easily onboard their translators, with minimal changes made to their existing business infrastructure.
- Increased translation velocity. Leveraging Smartling’s centralized, cloud-based platform, Wilson has seen a 57% increase in translation speed. With the use of automation, Wilson’s localization team is able to move relevant content quickly through workflows. With no concerns about experiencing repeated issues for every language, Wilson was able to cut review time and publish content with greater velocity.
With a solid, scalable translation strategy in place, Wilson is prepared to expand further into EMEA and APAC in the near future.
Note: This Case Study has been authored by and is the product of Smartling. Wilson Sporting Goods Co. makes no representations as to the accuracy of these statements. Any and all questions or comments regarding this Case Study shall be directed to Smartling and not Wilson Sporting Goods Co.
