||1:With Barbie, Mattel tried to localise in the wrong way.||2:A former Chinese manager at the American company calls its promotion of a line of cheaper, flimsier dolls “arrogant”.||3:Because no effort was put into making her locally relevant, Barbie held none of her usual aspirational appeal, even for spendthrift Chinese.||4:In 2009 Mattel opened the world’s largest Barbie shop on a luxury shopping street in central Shanghai, stuffed with 800 dolls.||5:The six-floor pink colossus confused Chinese parents by offering mothers a spa, designer fashion and “Barbietini” cocktails, and their daughters more age-appropriate attractions.||6:It was a flop and shut two years later.

||1:而美泰针对芭比娃娃的本地化方式则是错误的。||2:这家美国公司的一名前中国经理将该公司推广的一系列更便宜、更轻薄的玩偶称为“傲慢”。||3:由于没有努力让芭比在当地变得有影响力，芭比没有像往常那样吸引人，即使对挥金如土的中国人也是如此。||4:2009年，美泰在上海市中心的一条豪华购物街上开设了全球最大的芭比专卖店，店里塞满了800个芭比娃娃。||5:这家六层楼高的粉色巨型酒店为妈妈们提供水疗、设计师设计的时装和“芭比尼”鸡尾酒，以及对女儿更有吸引力的东西，这让中国家长感到困惑。||6:这个举措很失败，并在两年后闭店。

But China already has strong electronics retailers like Suning and Gome: Media Market can hardly hope to out-localise the locals.

但中国已经拥有苏宁电器（Suning）和国美电器（Gome）等强大的电器零售商：MediaMarkt很难指望自己比本土公司更本土化。

In [the Middle East] one family alone may be enough to definitively localise a gene.

而（在中东）只对一个家庭进行研究，可能就足以确定基因所在位置。

So enterprising start-ups simply copy the ideas and graphics, and localise them to suit Chinese tastes.

那些富有进取心的创业者仅仅是将创意和版面复制过来，然后使它们本土化，以适合中国人的口味。

“For vehicles in the Rmb40, 000-60, 000 range ($5, 200-$7, 800), you have to localise , ” he says.

他表示：“对于价格介于4万元人民币到6万元人民币（合5200美元至7800美元）的汽车，你必须实现本土化。”

“The more you localise , the better your cost structure will be, ” he says.

他表示：“你的本地化程度越高，成本结构也就越合理。”

Localise your merchandise mix, store identity and marketing

在产品种类、商店身份和市场推广加入本地元素

Third and most important, Medtronic “just had to localise ” , says Mr Li, because it faced sudden and intense competition from local rivals.

最后也是最重要的一点，李炳荣说美敦力必须本土化，因为它面临着来自当地企业突然而又集中的竞争。