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Machine translation vs cultural localisation

Machine translation (MT) converts language quickly. Cultural localisation decides whether the brand still works in that market. Marketing teams need both concepts, clearly separated.

What MT is good at

MT is excellent for drafts, internal understanding, and high-volume low-risk text. With glossaries and human post-edit, it can power product help and long-tail content.

Raw MT is a poor final owner of brand campaigns. It does not inherently understand your voice, your do-not-translate list, or whether an image is culturally fit.

The industry confusion started when MT quality jumped. Cheap fluency made teams forget that marketing quality is not only fluency.

What cultural localisation adds

Cultural localisation wraps language work in brand systems: voice, TM, creative context, and market fit. The output is meant to ship, not merely to be understood.

  • Brand voice replication across languages
  • Creative-file and in-context workflows
  • Cultural fit for text and visuals
  • Human-in-the-loop gates for high-stakes launches

A simple decision test

Ask: if this asset is slightly off-brand, what do we lose? If the answer is almost nothing, an MT draft may be enough. If the answer is trust, ROAS, or brand safety, use cultural localisation.

Also ask whether design handoff matters. If someone must rebuild the file from a bilingual spreadsheet, you are paying a hidden tax that MT demos never show.

How to choose

If the cost of being slightly off-brand is low, MT drafts may be enough. If the asset is customer-facing creative, invest in cultural localisation. Nativ uses AI models inside a cultural localisation system rather than offering bare MT as the product.

Go deeper on the category page: What is Cultural Localisation?

FAQ

Does Nativ use machine translation?

Nativ uses AI models as part of a broader cultural localisation stack that includes brand voice, TM, style guides, and creative workflows. The product is not “raw MT in a box.”

Is cultural localisation just MT plus editing?

Editing helps, but cultural localisation also includes brand systems, creative-file workflows, and market fit for visuals. Post-editing alone does not fix a broken operating model.

Next: What is Cultural Localisation? or explore Features.

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