| name | blog-localize |
| description | Cultural adaptation for translated content. Run AFTER blog-translate completes. Adjusts brand examples, CTAs, legal references, and formality for the target market (German, French, Japanese, Spanish, etc.). Deep cultural adaptation of translated blog posts. Goes beyond translation to swap brand examples, adapt CTAs, substitute legal references, localize statistic sources where possible, and adjust formality (Sie/du, tu/vous, formal/informal). Built-in profiles for DACH, Francophone, Hispanic, and Japanese markets, plus a custom-locale template. Makes content feel locally authored, not translated. Use when user says "localize blog", "blog localize", "cultural adaptation", "adapt for Germany", "adapt for France", "lokalisieren", "localiser", "adaptar".
|
| user-invokable | true |
| argument-hint | <file> --locale <locale-code> |
| compatibility | Standalone within claude-blog. Invoked by blog-multilingual. |
Blog Localize, Cultural Deep-Adaptation
Takes a translated blog post and performs cultural adaptation so the result
feels like it was written for the target market, not translated into it.
This is the layer above blog-translate: it replaces examples, adjusts
tone, swaps references, and localizes the entire reading experience.
Key References
../blog-translate/references/cultural-adaptation.md, the shared cultural
profiles file with substitution tables for DACH, Francophone, Hispanic,
Japanese, and a custom template. Do not duplicate this file.
When to Use
- Right after
blog-translate produces a base translation.
- When existing translated content reads like "translated from English".
- When targeting a specific market, not just a language.
- When content needs local statistics, examples, and brand references.
Workflow
Phase 1: Locale Understanding
- Parse the locale code. Accept full codes (
de-DE, fr-CA, es-MX,
pt-BR, zh-TW) or plain language codes (de, fr).
- Load the cultural profile from
../blog-translate/references/cultural-adaptation.md.
- If the locale has a profile, use it.
- If not, follow the "Custom-locale template" section in that reference
to build a minimal profile inline.
- Read the translated post and identify adaptation targets.
Phase 2: Cultural Audit
Scan for elements that signal foreign origin:
| Element | What to look for |
|---|
| Brand examples | US or UK brands with no relevance locally |
| Statistics sources | US-only studies and surveys |
| CTAs | American-style aggressive calls-to-action |
| Idioms | Literally translated English expressions |
| Legal references | Foreign laws (CCPA, FTC) where local law applies (DSGVO, RGPD) |
| Cultural references | Foreign holidays, events, customs |
| Currency and pricing | USD without conversion or context |
| Tone | Too casual or too formal for the target market |
| Address form | Inconsistent Sie/du, tu/vous, formal/informal |
Output an audit report listing every target with severity (critical,
recommended, optional).
Phase 3: Adaptation
3a. Example Substitution
Swap foreign examples for local equivalents:
- Use WebSearch to find local case studies, brands, or scenarios.
- Replace inline, preserving the same argument and structure.
- If no local equivalent exists, keep the original but add local context
("In the German market, the equivalent dynamic is X").
3b. Statistics Localization
- Search for equivalent local statistics (
[topic] statistik [country] 2025 2026).
- If local data exists, swap the source and the figure together. Keep one
named source per claim.
- If not, keep the original stat but mark its geographic scope ("In the
US, ...").
- Never strip source attribution.
3c. CTA Adaptation
Rewrite calls-to-action per the cultural profile:
- Adjust aggressiveness level (DACH and JA prefer informational, US prefers
imperative).
- Use culturally appropriate action verbs.
- Adapt urgency framing.
3d. Tone Calibration
- Match formality per profile (DACH defaults to Sie for B2B, du for B2C
lifestyle; FR defaults to vous; JA shifts register sharply by audience).
- Ensure consistent formal or informal address throughout the entire
document.
- Match local content-style conventions.
3e. Legal and Regulatory Context
- Replace references to foreign laws with local equivalents (CCPA becomes
DSGVO in DE, RGPD in FR, LGPD in BR).
- Add local compliance notes where they help the reader.
- Remove irrelevant foreign regulatory references.
3f. Brand Example Swaps (Quick Map)
Profiles in ../blog-translate/references/cultural-adaptation.md provide
substitution tables. Common examples:
| Source (US) | DACH | FR | ES (Spain) | LATAM | JA |
|---|
| Walmart | MediaMarkt | Carrefour | El Corte Ingles | Walmart MX | Aeon |
| Target | Saturn | Auchan | Hipercor | Liverpool | Ito-Yokado |
| FTC | Bundeskartellamt | DGCCRF | CNMC | Profeco (MX) | JFTC |
| CCPA | DSGVO | RGPD | RGPD | LGPD (BR) | APPI |
Phase 4: Quality Verification
- All critical adaptation targets addressed.
- Tone is consistent throughout.
- No remaining foreign-origin markers.
- Statistics have valid sources (original or localized).
- CTAs match cultural expectations.
- Formal or informal address is consistent end to end.
- Content still supports the same argument as the original.
- SEO elements remain optimized (keywords, meta, headings).
- Word count is within the expected ratio for the language pair.
Phase 5: Save and Report
-
Save the localized version. Default: overwrite the translated file.
Optional: save as {slug}-localized.{ext} if the user wants to keep the
pre-localization version.
-
Present the summary:
## Localization complete: [Title]
### Target locale: [locale-code] ([locale-name])
### Adaptations made
| Type | Count | Examples |
|------|-------|----------|
| Brand examples | [N] | Walmart -> MediaMarkt |
| Statistics | [N] | US survey -> DACH survey |
| CTAs | [N] | "Buy now" -> "Jetzt entdecken" |
| Tone adjustments | [N] | Casual -> Sie |
| Legal references | [N] | CCPA -> DSGVO |
| Cultural references | [N] | Thanksgiving -> Weihnachtsgeschaeft |
### Cultural fit score
- Naturalness: [1-10]
- Market relevance: [1-10]
- Tone match: [1-10]
- Overall: [N]/30
### Remaining recommendations
- [Optional adaptations not applied]
Error Handling
| Scenario | Action |
|---|
| No cultural profile for the locale | Build a minimal profile from the custom-locale template, proceed |
| File is not in the expected language | Warn the user, offer to translate first |
| No local statistics available | Keep the original stat with a geographic-scope note |
Locale code ambiguous (e.g., pt) | Ask: "Did you mean pt-BR (Brazil) or pt-PT (Portugal)?" |
Cross-References
- Pre-step (translation):
/blog translate <file> --to <code>
- QA across language versions:
/blog locale-audit <directory>
- One-command pipeline:
/blog multilingual <topic> --languages <codes>
