Don’t let your international brand get lost in translation
After achieving success in the U.S., you made the decision to introduce your brand on an international level. While global expansion will give you the opportunity to profitably grow your business, you need to ensure that the image you painstakingly built doesn’t get lost in translation – or worse, have a negative effect on your brand and bottom line.
Successfully reaching international customers requires careful planning that can be both daunting and charged with potential language translation and cultural mishaps. With your reputation on the line, you want to avoid marketing translation blunders at all cost. A quick trip down memory lane provides a few language translation snafu’s that resulted in negative press, and in some cases revenue loss.
- In the late 1980’s, Braniff International Airlines sought to promote their first class leather seating. Using the catchy slogan ‘Fly in Leather’, they expanded this promotion to include Latin America. While the Spanish translation, ‘Vuela en Cuero’, successfully got the message across the majority of Latin America, it didn’t fare as well in Mexico. In Mexico, the expression can also translate to ‘Fly Naked’ – not exactly the message or image Braniff intended.
- When it comes to slang, Swedish vacuum maker, Electrolux, got a lesson that wasn’t quickly forgotten. To emphasize the vacuum’s exceptional power, their campaign focused on the tagline ‘Nothing sucks like an Electrolux’. This slogan had the opposite of the intended appeal in the U.S., making Electrolux a vacuum that didn’t gain traction with U.S. consumers.
- Who can forget The American Dairy Association’s long-lived ‘Got Milk?’ campaign? While it did well in the U.S., it didn’t fare as well in Spanish-speaking countries, where the direct translation was ‘Are You Lactating?’
While marketing translation blunders can be humorous, they have the potential to negatively impact the company’s brand image, result in an unsuccessful launch into new international markets, and ultimately have a negative effect on revenue.
This article takes a look at the four things you need to know to ensure brand success across international borders.
Crossing language barriers
1. Translation: The goal of taglines, slogans, advertisements, campaigns, marketing copy, and marketing videos, etc. is to generate the same buyer appeal and emotions as it does in its original language. When taking marketing and advertising material to a global audience, more than due diligence is needed. It’s imperative that when translating the source content to the target language that the message retains its intended power, while being culturally appropriate.
In essence, marketing translation is different than any other types of translation. For example, technical translations require the highest degree of accuracy and need to remain as close to the source text as possible. Marketing translation, on the other hand, relies on the translator having creative liberties to produce engaging and effective communications, while not being culturally offensive. This is where the difference between translating becomes more complex and transcreation services are essential.
2. Transcreation: The art of effectively ensuring international marketing content achieves its desired goals relies heavily on transcreation. A sophisticated form of translation, it combines translation and creation to craft content that resonates with the target audience and fits local culture. To adapt the style and tone of marketing material for new audiences, transcreation should always be used.
The start of the transcreation process begins with a creative brief that informs the copywriter of the concept and the ‘spirit’ in which the message is to be conveyed. To create the intended emotion, while staying in line with the brand, the transcreation process may also include imagery and colors. With all things taken into consideration, transcreation balances language and culture with the company’s brand and message.
3. Localization: Like transcreation, localization goes beyond translation to reshape the material for local audiences. It takes into consideration numerous aspects such as units of measurement, date formats, text length and page sizes.
Even in regions or countries that have the same official language, localized versions of the content will be required. Take for example, a comparison of the word ‘lift’ between the U.S. and Australia. In the U.S. the term means to raise to a higher position, whereas in Australia it’s the term used for an elevator. Although a complex process, it’s vital for international appeal.
4. Idioms and slogans: Idioms and slogans are widely used across marketing material and both require thoughtful consideration. As with all idioms, the figurative meaning is much different than the literal meaning. For example, the Japanese idiom ‘my cheeks are falling off’ means ‘the food is delicious’ and the U.S. idiom ‘break a leg’ isn’t referring to bodily injury, but wishing someone ‘good luck’.
Both idioms and slogans can be tricky to translate. While they are widely accepted by local audiences, their very nature of being culturally dependent makes them problematic for international audiences. For idioms and slogans, as well as metaphors, puns and humor, transcreation is the best option.
Marketing translations can be complex and require expertise, precision and attention to detail to reach and engage international markets.
If you’d like to learn more about how BURG Translations helps you ensure high quality marketing translations, contact us today.
