Globally Speaking

A direct translation can be accurate and still creatively dead.

Stu Davison, Creative Director at RWS, joins the Cultural Intelligence Podcast to show us what happens to a big creative idea when it has to cross a border, and why the adapted version doesn't always have to be identical to the original.

His distinction between translation and transcreation says it all: translation carries the word, transcreation carries the idea. Creative work lives in nuance, rhythm and cultural references. Get that wrong and your big idea doesn't just lose impact, but it can actively damage your brand.

Stu also tackles two questions every creative is sitting with right now: what's the one thing AI will never do in the creative process? And what's the most expensive mistake a global brand can make with AI?

Spoiler: it's signing off on a global campaign without a single person from the local market in the room…

For years, the localization industry has told a story about speed, cost and quality. But as AI transforms how content is created and translated, that narrative and those metrics alone are no longer enough to define the value of language expertise.

In our latest Cultural Intelligence Podcast episode, Maria Schnell, Chief Language Officer at RWS, explores why this moment is unlike any other in the history of language expertise. While many see AI as a replacement for translation, Maria argues that this view fundamentally misunderstands what language professionals actually do.

Translation isn't the exchange of words. It's the transfer of meaning, intent, and context from one audience to another. The real value of language expertise lies in understanding culture, nuance, and human communication; capabilities that become even more important as AI becomes more powerful.

This episode challenges the industry's long-standing narrative and asks a more fundamental question: what is the true value of language expertise in an AI-driven world? And as AI takes on more of the execution, how can human expertise evolve to guide the systems that increasingly shape global communication?

In IP, getting the language wrong isn't a quality issue but a legal one.

James Lacey, CEO of Protect at RWS, joins our latest Cultural Intelligence Podcast episode to talk about something that rarely makes it into conversations about IP strategy: context.

Not just the legal context of a jurisdiction, but the full lifecycle context of a portfolio; where every decision, every filing, every ownership update is connected to what came before and what comes next.

A Chief IP Counsel James met in Taiwan put it simply: IP is too often seen as a cost centre managing legal rights. The shift is towards treating it as a value centre managing strategic assets. That reframe changes everything, including how you think about where AI fits in.

The human in the loop isn't a safety net. It's the whole architecture.

Building a story that lands in one market is hard enough. Getting it to work everywhere, simultaneously, is where most global launches fall apart.

Erin Roesch, Global Product Marketing Manager, joins the Cultural Intelligence Podcast to talk about what it takes to go global and why the biggest mistake teams are making right now has nothing to do with budget or bandwidth. It's about the story.

As a "Builder PMM" who turns complex capabilities into clear positioning, Erin knows that business needs rarely change across markets. What changes is the trigger; the legislation, the culture, the pressure a customer is feeling. And if your story doesn't reflect that, you're not just missing an opportunity. You could be pushing people away without realizing it.

Erin brings this to life through her own experience as an American living in the UK, a near-miss campaign launch in Germany, and why one country rarely equals one version. Her closing definition of Cultural Intelligence is worth the listen alone.

AI has handed marketers speed and scale they've never had before. But is this really a differentiator when everyone has access to the same models?

Emma Fisher, VP of Marketing at RWS, and Sal Mohammed, Head of Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) at LangSync and former Googler, join our latest Cultural Intelligence podcast episode to explore what modern marketing looks like in the age of AI – and why the best campaigns have very little to do with how fast you can generate content.

From "we're all on a rocket ship with no way to get off" to the CMO's evolving role as orchestrator, warrior, and tastemaker (curious yet?), just make sure you buckle up. Emma and Sal dig into the rise of AEO, what it means for brand visibility as search shifts to generative AI, and how Cultural Intelligence shapes whether your content gets surfaced… or ignored.

You'll also learn why relevance, resonance and trust are the only valid metrics when everyone is publishing at the same speed, and why too many content leaders are still measuring success against the wrong scorecard.

If you’re interested in learning more about the ‘Content Unlocked’ report, you can find it here: [https://www.rws.com/about/content-unlocked/lp/ ](https://www.rws.com/about/content-unlocked/lp/)