ChapterPreface

Let’s be honest—how many times have you sat in a campaign meeting and heard, ‘We’ll just translate it’ as the plan for reaching a culturally diverse audience?

If that’s ever made you pause or feel unsure, you’re not alone.

I’ve worked in the language industry for almost twenty years, and one thought has bugged me persistently: what’s ethnic and foreign to you is native to someone else. It seemed so obvious to me but I didn’t see it translated in the real world.

Yet we constantly refer to marketing outside the ‘mainstream’ as ‘ethnic’, ‘foreign’ or ‘multicultural’. In community and government communication, we still see these labels used in briefs, reports, and strategies. Why aren’t we considering the native experiences of these audiences? Why aren’t we approaching our translation, marketing, and communication efforts from a native-first—that is, audience-first—perspective? Even worse, why are we treating these audiences as an afterthought by simply translating English content and then being dumbfounded when we don’t get the results?

I couldn’t ignore the disconnect anymore.

As the founder and CEO of LEXIGO, Australia’s leading partner in translation services, technology and multicultural communication, I’ve witnessed firsthand how culturally intelligent marketing enables government, enterprise and purpose-led teams to connect with audiences and accelerate communication across 171 languages. Native Experience Marketing (NX) is the culmination of years of research, brainstorming and practical application. It’s my answer to that thought that kept nagging at me and a blueprint for marketing strategies that truly resonate—strategies that are NATIVE: Notable, Authentic, Trusted, Inclusive, Versatile, and Evolving.

By ‘native’, I mean the lived cultural and linguistic experience of your audience—not how long someone has lived in Australia, but how they interpret the world.

If your work involves engaging communities—whether you’re a communications officer, policy writer, campaign strategist, media advisor, community engagement lead, health promoter, program designer, or anyone working in government, public services or the non-profit sector—this book is written for you.

This book offers practical guidance for communicating across cultures, languages, identities, and lived experiences. It goes beyond translation and messaging to explore how equity-led communication can shift understanding, open conversations and strengthen relationships.

From the streets of London, where campaigns like Nike’s ‘Nothing Beats a Londoner’ capture the city’s vibrant spirit, to the fewer than 1,000 Iraqi Turkmenistan making up one of the target markets in a national health campaign, NX is about exploring native experiences to allow campaigns to generate more inclusion and understanding amongst communities and audiences.

NX Marketing is a testament to the power of cultural empathy and competency. Through three phases—THINK, DESIGN and GO—this book lays out a roadmap for creating campaigns that are seen, heard, felt, and remembered.

Whether you’re part of a multinational corporation, a government department, a community organisation, or a non-profit, these principles remain the same. This book aims to equip you with the tools to not only reach your audience but to truly connect with them.

I invite you to explore, learn, and embrace the power of native marketing as we embark on this journey together. Let’s change the face of modern marketing and public communication, one native experience at a time.