Finding the right reaction

Catalysts are used across a range of manufacturing processes in the fields of pharmaceuticals, agrichemicals, fine chemicals and nutrition. The highly specialised precious metal and enzyme based catalysts of the Catalysis & Chiral Technologies (CCT) business unit of Johnson Matthey Catalysts are a global commodity, used by not only in manufacturing but also in research and development.

Although targeting an international market, CCT only had a website in English in 2010. With Germany identified as a growth market, a project to translate the site into German was initiated. "There are some very good opportunities with good potential in Germany," explains Connie Schlegel, Senior Market Analyst at Johnson Matthey CCT.

"We wanted to make sure we provided potential customers with a German website to facilitate their understanding of our technologies." McFelder was invited to undertake the translation project.

Connie found the translation process very transparent. "Our web provider worked directly with McFelder, to build the new website. The project was completed quickly and accurately and required minimal direction and resources from the marketing team."

Working with a webmaster is common for McFelder, as director Fiona McCrae explains: "We make sure the web team receive text ready for uploading, so that our clients don’t need to worry about having to manage the process. We also double check the finished web pages in the final language to make sure it all works together."

Connie adds: "McFelder came with great reviews for the accuracy of their translations from other business units of Johnson Matthey.Our website is extremely complex and rich in technical information therefore, we needed a high caliber translation firm. When the translation was completed, our team in Dusseldorf reviewed the content and were very pleased with the quality of the translations.

"Not only were we impressed with the quality of the translation but also with the flexibility of McFelder to adjust to the changing dynamics of the project. This included the addition of information on a new line of products that were very dissimilar to the existing project. We outlined the scope of the additional work and McFelder ran with it while keeping to the original deadline."

The German website went live in May 2011 and the initial results are encouraging. "Even with minimal advertising, we saw an 18% increase in traffic driven from Germany in the first couple of months. We are seeing much more activity to the German website, when compared to not having it."

The global website is an important part of the communications mix for CCT. "We view our website as an integral part of our customer communication and as our business continues to grow in both Europe and Asia, we will also expand the languages available on our website," Connie says.