Global Content Operating Model Transforms Traditional Content Strategies for International Brands

88 of the Top 100 Global Brands Now Work with SDL to Create, Translate and Deliver Content and Overcome Challenges Across the Content Supply Chain

Maidenhead, UK
11/1/2018 7:00:00 AM

SDL (LSE: SDL), a global leader in content creation, translation, management and delivery, today announces it is helping leading brands develop their own Global Content Operating Model (GCOM), addressing their most complex content and language challenges as they engage with global audiences. 

Companies are struggling to handle the growing volume and velocity of content, relying too heavily on a collection of disparate systems, applications and processes to build their customer experiences. Alongside internal departmental silos, the knock on effect of all these issues include fragmented customer journeys, and enormous inefficiencies for companies engaging with global audiences across multiple languages. 

A Global Content Operating Model integrates all the elements of the content supply chain, breaking down departmental silos and bringing information together in a way that helps companies automate and optimize content delivery across the entire customer journey. This opens the door to communicating with, and understanding, employees and potentially millions of customers in their own language, and on their device of choice. 

A GCOM involves six steps, each designed to further align departments, people and processes, helping brands move from manual to autonomous across their content supply chain. These steps start with ad-hoc activities without a GCOM in place, before moving towards a repeatable model where an enterprise may have documented manual steps but is not fully equipped to scale. From here, enterprises may start to deploy managed workflows, integrating process, technology and automation to scale, which become more optimized as they centralize their GCOM strategy across budget, roles and technology that span the entire process. Autonomous is the final stage, where an enterprise is well positioned to deploy artificial intelligence to support day-to-day operations for creating and delivering global content. With this approach, companies stand to gain improved productivity, higher customer engagement, increased conversion rates, and increased customer satisfaction. 

“We want everyone to understand – and have the ability to engage – with anyone in the world, regardless of the language they speak. By evolving your GCOM, you will become better at delivering these experiences through natural alignment between departments, people and processes across your business,” said Peggy Chen, CMO at SDL. “This approach makes business sense, and offers enormous efficiencies in the way content is managed and delivered to worldwide audiences.” 

At SDL Connect, its annual global content conference taking place in Santa Clara, CA, on November 7 and 8 2018, brands including Philips Healthcare and NetApp, will be taking the stage to talk about their own GCOM experiences, and how they have moved from a siloed approach to more optimized processes with better governance, to drive more connected experiences and customer journeys. 

For example, Tim Paiva, Senior Learning Products Developer, MR Patient Care at Philips Healthcare, will provide insights on how his team has developed new processes to improve large volumes of translations for both instructions and software, while retaining mandatory high levels of quality. There will also be a panel discussion, “The Nuts and Bolts of a Global Content Operating Model,” where experts and customers from across the globe, will offer practical insights on best practices they've learned while improving their companies' respective GCOMs. 

Today SDL is helping some of the globe’s leading brands deploy a GCOM strategy. Top airlines such as All Nippon Airways and China Airlines have turned to SDL to overcome their language and content challenges involved with engaging with millions of multilingual customers globally. Other highlights include: 

  • A leading media services and streaming company is using machine learning to organize content, and a range of SDL solutions, to automate translation of rich media – including subtitling – to millions of customers online. 
  • A top five accounting and professional services firm turned to SDL to provide critical support in achieving its digital vision. Around 80,000 auditors will benefit from instant access to any information across the business – in their own language. 
  • A global manufacturer of tools and machinery for the mining and metal industries is working with SDL to develop a GCOM strategy to automate their global processes, people and technologies across their content supply chain. 

With 88* of the top 100 global brands as SDL customers, (Interbrand’s recent 2018 Best Global Brands Report*), SDL can solve today’s disconnection between content creation, translation and delivery, working closely with brands to develop a GCOM framework that unifies platforms, processes and people. A combination of SDL’s software and services support a GCOM framework, helping companies to progress – through regular evaluation and optimization – from manual to autonomous across their content supply chain.

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About RWS

RWS Holdings plc is a unique, world-leading provider of technology-enabled language, content and intellectual property services. Through content transformation and multilingual data analysis, our combination of AI-enabled technology and human expertise helps our clients to grow by ensuring they are understood anywhere, in any language.


Our purpose is unlocking global understanding. By combining cultural understanding, client understanding and technical understanding, our services and technology assist our clients to acquire and retain customers, deliver engaging user experiences, maintain compliance and gain actionable insights into their data and content.


Over the past 20 years we’ve been evolving our own AI solutions as well as helping clients to explore, build and use multilingual AI applications. With 40+ AI-related patents and more than 100 peer-reviewed papers, we have the experience and expertise to support clients on their AI journey.


We work with over 80% of the world’s top 100 brands, more than three-quarters of Fortune’s 20 ‘Most Admired Companies’ and almost all of the top pharmaceutical companies, investment banks, law firms and patent filers. Our client base spans Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa and North and South America. Our 65+ global locations across five continents service clients in the automotive, chemical, financial, legal, medical, pharmaceutical, technology and telecommunications sectors.


Founded in 1958, RWS is headquartered in the UK and publicly listed on AIM, the London Stock Exchange regulated market (RWS.L). 


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