The debut of J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” underscores a big problem faced by global brand managers – how can you synchronize the global release of a product? Rowling’s American publisher, Scholastic, struggled to keep the plot secret even as it printed 12 million copies for the U.S. market alone. That was a real accomplishment, since thousands of Muggles were involved in preparing non-American editions in English for other markets, translations into other languages, and the huge infrastructure of printing, warehousing, and then distributing the nearly 800-page book.

Most kept their mouths shut, perhaps afraid of Death Eaters but probably much more restrained by the fear of lawyers brandishing the non-disclosure agreements they signed. But not everybody kept the secret. Some people who got their hands on review copies discussed the book in the print media, online, and in the blogosphere — and spoiled the plot for some others. However, when the dust settled, Scholastic revealed that it had sold no fewer than 8.3 million copies of the U.S. edition in the first 24 hours. In its first 10 days in the bookstores, American readers snatched up 11.5 million copies of Rowling’s book. That was great news for Scholastic: The novel retained its value to readers even after plot details leaked.

Not so with more pedestrian products like mobile phones, MP3 players, and other personal electronics. Whenever a new version hits the stores, the current product immediately gets consigned to Overstock.com. To protect the value of existing inventory as new releases are readied for announcement and shipment, companies like Apple and Hewlett-Packard must coordinate the product information they make available to their channels and potential buyers. Their problem is typically broader and more frequent than Scholastic’s challenge because they roll out products to literally dozens of countries simultaneously, several times a year.

It’s not just marketing information. They also produce roll-out plans, product collateral, and website content for each product, in each of the languages of their target markets. Then they coordinate the translation, posting, and switching on of their multi-channel communications, marketing efforts, and sales channels across a wide array of countries. Consumers won’t buy the current item when a newer version is imminent. That’s why a single un-translated point-of-sale product sheet could hold up a release across 25 countries in Europe. When a regional office jumps the gun and prematurely announces a new product, store shelves sagging with the weight of the current product suddenly lose value across multiple world markets.

What lesson can we learn from Harry Potter? Consider the increasing globalization of your products, company, and markets. Think about how international roll-outs in many different languages will affect your product strategy and ability to deliver. Once you figure out your process requirements for simultaneous shipment, determine how can you automate them to ensure the levels of product concurrency, consistency, and correctness across all your target markets. The bottom line is that no one, not even a wizard, can manually manage the flood of content in multiple languages. This chain of thought will lead you to systematic content and integrated translation management, core elements of a global information management strategy.