MarTech Interview with Phrase CMO Jason Hemingway

Hi Jason. Welcome to our Interview Series. Please tell us a little bit about your role and responsibilities in your current company. What is Phrase and how does your technology help brands looking to grow into new markets?

I’m Jason Hemingway. I am the Chief Marketing Officer at Phrase and joined the company in August 2022.  My key remit is to build the Phrase brand and execute the Phrase vision to grow the business and further strengthen its global leadership position in localization technology.

In terms of what Phrase does, we provide a new approach that harnesses the latest thinking in localization technology to push the boundaries of automation and artificial intelligence to power high-quality, scalable, and fast localization for teams of any size. Our Phrase Localization Suite includes the enterprise-ready Phrase TMS (translation management system), Phrase Strings (a collaborative software localization platform), Phrase Translate (our machine translation add-on), Phrase Orchestrator (a customizable workflow automation builder), and Phrase Analytics (providing real time localization analysis and data).

The challenge of unlocking new opportunities in new markets comes hand in hand with meeting ever-increasing levels of customer expectations across the globe. It’s a challenge that many businesses have struggled to overcome, relying on a fragmented ecosystem of people and technology for localization that’s traditionally cumbersome, costly and disconnected.

We believe that localization should be seen as a strategic business driver for all companies. We believe that an intelligently designed, scalable, flexible, configurable, integratable localization suite can be used by multiple business units in a company, and thereby become an indispensable value-add layer woven throughout the customer’s organization.  And that’s what you get from the Phrase Localization Suite.

We have introduced a quarterly cadence of market disruptive technology launches. In May the company launched a range of connectivity enhancements for its global customers. These new features and integrations connect customers to the latest technologies, enhance connections across the Phrase Suite and improve how users connect to Phrase’s technology, resulting in faster delivery times, higher quality translations and better cost control.

In addition, the company also launched its GPT beta programme which explores the power of AI and Large Language Models, and the opportunities they can unlock within the field of localization.

In February, with our largest ever wave of releases, we launched Phrase Orchestrator and Phrase Analytics, two powerful new additions to the Phrase Localization Suite helping businesses improve global customer experience and unlock international growth. This followed our November launch of Phrase NextMT and the company’s announcement of its new Phrase brand identity, formally bringing together Memsource and Phrase under one unified brand, and its technology under the Phrase Localization Suite.

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You are one of the most trusted and highly ranked localization solutions in the industry. Could you please elaborate more on your products and which industries you currently serve?

We are extremely proud that over the past 12 months Phrase has maintained its leadership position on the G2 Grid, as the highest ranked Translation Management System on the market. In fact today, the Phrase Localization Suite which includes Phrase TMS and Phrase Strings, ranks in the number one spot across twenty-three G2 categories for SMB and Enterprise (as of July 2023). We have also been recognised as a market leader by Featured Customers and received a Top Rated badge from TrustRadius.

The Phrase Localization Suite is the most comprehensive language technology on the market combining localization capabilities with Machine Translation tools and the very latest in workflow automation and analytics. It brings together our software localization platform for designers and developers, and our market-leading Translation Management System for localization teams and marketers, to cover every aspect of localization across an enterprise in one single platform. It is completely flexible and has been designed with connectivity to other systems and technology in mind, making it highly adaptable to the needs of any industry and organization looking to expand into new territories quickly and cost effectively. Furthermore, being partner agnostic, an organization’s existing technology and partner ecosystem can leverage our open API and pre-built integrations to speed up the implementation process.

Over the next 12-18 months, we are planning substantial investment in the further development of AI, Large Language Models, Machine Translation, and Translation Quality Estimation. These investments will ensure that our Phrase Localization Suite remains at the forefront of next-generation localization software. The combination of this cutting-edge  technology in one integrated platform will empower our customers to capitalize on the incredible potential AI and LLMs offer, providing tangible value to their businesses.

Localization is vital for many industries, and that’s reflected in our global customer base, which spans, among other industries, Automotive, Technology, Media, Retail, Gaming and Travel. How do you bring localization and Machine Translation (MT) together under one roof? What is the vision behind this unique combination and how does this benefit businesses?

The Phrase Localization Suite combines both AI-powered Machine Translation and Localization capabilities and tools with an easy-to-use customer interface. Our advanced MT capabilities are embedded in our translation management platform and support some 30+ translation engines, working together to streamline translation workflows, improve translation quality, speed up product development and the GTM process, and enable businesses to reach new markets quickly and cost effectively.

We recently launched Phrase Next MT for even higher quality translations—a 50% increase in translation quality through adaptation. Phrase NextMT is the first neural machine translation engine to be developed with a translation management system in mind, providing Phrase customers with a greater degree of customization, automation, integration as well as superior reporting.

We have also added Phrase Orchestrator & Advanced Analytics to the Phrase Localization Suite.

These enhancements provide groundbreaking workflow automation and a comprehensive range of self-service analytics for superior quality, efficiency and control of localization efforts for companies of all sizes seeking to improve global customer experience and unlock international growth.

We recently commissioned a report with Forrester to demonstrate the huge ROI companies can expect when using our technology. The study highlighted many benefits and a fantastic 527% ROI*.

What are the key takeaways from the Forrester report that every business leader looking to invest in a TMS should know?

This report was commissioned to examine the potential ROI enterprises can realize by deploying Phrase, with the objective of providing readers with a framework to help evaluate the hugely positive financial impact of Phrase on their organization.

Key findings for a composite organization using the Phrase Localization Suite include:

• ROI of 527%
• Reduced translation costs of almost $2.8 million over 3 years
• Efficiency increased by 30%
• Workflow and process improvement of $400,000 over 3 years (present value benefit for the composite)
• Ability to scale and grow quickly and cost efficiently, evidenced by an 13 fold increase in translation volumes

You offer 50+ integrations to customize localization workflows. Which ones would you like to emphasize on for our readers to get started with their TMS journeys?

Phrase provides unprecedented volume when it comes to integrations, and the flexibility of the Phrase platform to adapt to differing business needs and ecosystems is something that sets us apart from many technologies in the space.

The connectivity of Phrase TMS with other tools and technologies in a brand’s stack is a core component of our platform. As you noted, we have some 50+ integrations across the marketing, sales, product and service applications. Some examples include  Figma, Github, Contentful, Sitecore, Marketo, Hubspot, Braze, WordPress and Zendesk.

Could you tell us about the unique challenges faced by your customers? How did using Phrase improve business outcomes for your customers?

Our customers’ challenges vary according to the needs of their businesses, but the most common themes underpinning these challenges have to do with consistency, manual processes, efficiency and productivity. We have a number of great examples of how we’ve helped customers overcome these challenges.

For gaming pioneer NEXON, Phrase helped to transform  the player’s gaming experience with consistent translation to provide a seamless gaming experience for its players. The mobile games team at Nexon America uses Phrase TMS to streamline its localization process, handling different workflows simultaneously.

Consumer electronics company Huawei leverages Phrase technology to translate across 20+ languages and has seen an 80% reduction in its turnaround times as a result.

Fast-expanding language service provider OXO wanted to centralize and homogenize its workflow for greater efficiency by getting everyone on the same tool and using it consistently. After trying out other tools, the company found that Phrase TMS fit its criteria for user friendliness. Scalability was also an important factor when choosing Phrase TMS. By using templates, automatic notifications, and assigning multiple resources to a project, OXO has been able to further automate their workflow, resulting in an estimated 25% saving in time.

How can localization be a major contributor to scaling business? Could you highlight the business risks of no or poor localization? How does partnering with Phrase future-proof businesses from these risks?

Even in an uncertain global economic environment, growth is still the name of the game for today’s enterprises, and one of the surest ways to unlock new opportunities is via market expansion and increased customer engagement. By making a product or service available in new markets when existing ones get saturated, companies can tap into new revenue, new audiences and new potential avenues for future growth. The key to success, though, is a strong approach to localization.

Approaching your localization efforts with a good solutions suite gives businesses a centralized platform to manage translation projects, automate many manual tasks associated with translation, integrate with other systems, build translation memory and terminology databases, and provide real-time reporting and analytics. These factors contribute to scaling a business, enabling businesses to deliver localized content faster and more efficiently, reduce costs, and improve translation quality.

If businesses don’t employ a robust Translation Management System in their localization efforts, the resulting business problems can be significant. Inconsistent translation quality, brand inconsistencies, delayed time-to-market, and increased costs can really weigh companies down. In addition, companies can face challenges with legal and regulatory compliance, loss of market share, and – perhaps worst of all – poor customer satisfaction and engagement.

Partnering with Phrase can help future-proof businesses from these risks thanks to our expertise and experience, our scalable and flexible Phrase solution, cutting-edge technology, and commitment to continuous innovation. We pride ourselves on our deep expertise and experiences, scalability, flexibility, cutting-edge technology, and emphasis on continuous improvement.

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Please tell us how using an AI-powered TMS (Translation Management System) accelerates product development cycles for CMS and Multilingual software users?

An AI-powered TMS can accelerate product development cycles for CMS and multilingual software users by automating translation workflows, integrating with CMS and software, improving collaboration and communication, building translation memory and terminology databases, and delivering localized content faster to target markets.

The benefits of Phrase’s AI-powered TMS is evident with our customer Bürkert, a manufacturer that handles a lot of technical documentation. The company implemented Phrase TMS to make their localization process more streamlined and centralized. Leveraging our tools for translation across 16 languages, the company saw a 20% saving in costs and experienced a boost in productivity of around 20%.

What is Phrase NextMT? How does it influence quality of content translation? Could you share some real-life examples of how customers benefited from onboarding with Phrase NextMT?

To answer this question, let’s take a look at what machine translation (MT) is. MT is the process of using AI to automatically translate content from one language to another without any human interaction. It’s only in the past decade that machine translation has become a viable productivity tool in more widespread use. Advances in natural language processing, artificial intelligence, and computing power all contribute to this increasingly useful technology.

Phrase NextMT takes this automation to the next level as the first neural machine translation engine developed by Phrase with a translation management system in mind. It provides customers a greater degree of customization, automation, and integration, as well as superior reporting. It offers a unique combination of the latest innovations in MT, together with an unprecedented level of integration, which promises high-quality outputs surpassing leading MT providers and improving translation quality by up to 50%. This powerful engine empowers businesses to drive growth at speed and scale.

Phrase NextMT is offered in addition to our existing 30+ third-party MT engines, which will all remain available via Phrase Translate. Phrase’s innovative Autoselect capabilities will leverage this expanding range and continue to apply the best MT engine by detecting the content type and language pairing.

What would be your recommendations to business leaders looking to change their translation workflow strategy? What steps should business leaders take to start with Phrase TMS and optimize their translation processes?

Business leaders looking to change their translation workflow strategy should start by assessing their broader strategy and reviewing where localization should fit into their business growth plans. They need to bring in experts to help with that process and how it can be made as efficient as possible. Once they have a handle on their needs and opportunities, they should evaluate their existing teams, processes, and tools to identify opportunities to improve operations and harness the latest technology. Business moves fast, and leaders need to stay on top of these opportunities.

At Phrase, we offer a comprehensive onboarding and implementation process that includes training and support to help business leaders optimize their translation processes. Our team works closely with business leaders and localization teams, to ensure that their translation workflows are aligned with their business goals and requirements, and we provide ongoing support to help businesses adapt to changes and new challenges.

What is your take on the future of AI-based localization and translation management services? What’s next for Phrase in the coming months?

With its recent launches, Phrase is really changing the localization landscape. Never before has an enterprise-grade localization suite been paired with powerful orchestration, machine translation and analytics.  The combination of Phrase Suite, Phrase Translate, Phrase NextMT, and the all-new Phrase Orchestrator and Phrase Analytics combined with our cross platform and 3rd party connectivity, sets a completely new standard for a holistic and inspiring vision of how the future of localization technology will evolve, and it effectively raises the bar for what customers should and can expect.

In addition, Phrase is offering customers the unique opportunity to be part of its GPT Beta Program to experience the latest advances in artificial intelligence first-hand. This exclusive program provides customers with early access to Phrase’s integration with large language models to experience the benefits of this cutting-edge technology.

We have a number of initiatives we are working on to continue to disrupt the localization market and to proactively meet the changing demands of our customers and the needs of businesses and organizations globally ensuring localization forms an integral initiative within a business’s strategy. For this to happen, the continued development of Machine Translation and Workflow will be key, along with growing our already-vast portfolio of integrations and connections.