1. (Re)imagining Canada: Projecting Canada to Canadians through Localized Websites Julie McDonough Dolmaya University of Ottawa, Canada julie@mcdonough-dolmaya.ca www.mcdonough-dolmaya.ca

2. Millward Brown Optimor Most Valuable Global Brands 2009 (cf. April 29, 2009 Financial Times) Top 25 brands with Canadian website (from the top 33 brands) Various degrees of localization Sites considered “localized” when global gateway offered link to Canada site Methodology

3. Google Microsoft Coca Cola IBM McDonalds Apple GE Wal-Mart Nokia Toyota UPS Blackberry HP BMW SAP Disney Gillette Intel Oracle Amazon AT&T HSBC Pampers Nintendo Cisco Top 25 brands with a website localized for Canadians

4. Diversity French Canada Focus on websites localized for Canada

5. Canadian Diversity Images usually depicted people of various ages and ethnicities. Only 3 of the 19 sites with images of people did not include at least one photo of a visible minority: AT&T Canada UPS Canada BMW Canada

6. Multiculturalism ensures that all citizens can keep their identities, can take pride in their ancestry and have a sense of belonging. Acceptance gives Canadians a feeling of security and self-confidence, making them more open to, and accepting of, diverse cultures. The Canadian experience has shown that multiculturalism encourages racial and ethnic harmony and cross-cultural understanding, and discourages ghettoization, hatred, discrimination and violence (Citizenship & Immigration Canada 2008). Diversity in localized websites differs from “official” federal government’s narrative: Canadian Diversity

7. hsbc.ca pampers.ca walmart.ca nokia.ca cisco.ca Canadian Diversity

8. toyota.ca mcdonalds.ca walmart.ca nokia.ca mcdonalds.ca sap.ca ge.ca Canadian Diversity apple.ca

9. Are companies representing themselves or what they think their customers want to see?

10. HSBC site localized for French and English Canada

11. HSBC site localized for Chinese Canada

12. French Canada On the surface, French and English are equal 23 of 25 sites localized for English Canada and French Canada Layouts of English and French versions identical Textual and visual content usually identical

13. Multimedia sometimes available in English but not in French Microsoft Canada Pampers Canada Gaps in French/English content

14. Text within images sometimes not translated into French SAP Pampers Canada Amazon Canada Apple Canada Text within images sometimes contains errors Pampers Canada pampers.ca sap.ca amazon.ca apple.ca

15. Political implications of localizing for French Canada 2006 census: Canada’s population: 31.2 million English mother tongue: 17.9 million French mother tongue: 6.8 million Residing in Quebec: 5.9 million Ontario: 488, 815 New Brunswick: 232,975 Other mother tongue: 6.1 million Trends for translation of general and commercial texts: English into French

16. Conclusions Future studies: How do these sites compare to domestic (Canadian) sites? How are other website elements (e.g. environment, community involvement) depicted on the websites? What cultural and political implications do they have?