Marketing Translations

If you are marketing your product or service well, you’d have thought about the emotions and feelings you want your target audience to have when seeing, reading or listening to your marketing copy; and you’d have created this copy so it triggers those types of emotions.

When it comes to marketing a product or service to a foreign audience, those emotions and feelings will probably differ from one country to another – sometimes even within country regions! This is because of the key role culture plays in people’s reactions, behaviours and yes, feelings!

For example, did you know that, in Greece, the thumbs-up sign is offensive?

If you are marketing to a foreign audience, a literal translation will probably have no or little impact on your overseas marketing strategy. You will need an experienced and specialised translator who can translate, localise or transcreate your marketing material, taking culture and your objectives into account.

What is Localisation?

Localisation is the translation of web-based products such as websites and apps, and which also involves the cultural adaptation of their content and navigation (e.g. menus).

Think about coding, formatting, symbols, images, colours, and any other aspects of how cultures communicate and engage online.

What is Transcreation?

In short, transcreation is creative translation for the advertising industry. Although it’s been around for a while, it’s becoming increasingly popular and demanded. Here are some transcreation facts:

• Transcreation is a creative process. Translators become copywriters with a high level of creativity, an attractive (writing) style and a passion for words. They become ‘transcreators’;
• Unlike translation, where the goal tends to be to inform, in transcreation the goals are to attract, to convince and, ultimately, to sell;
• Reaching your target audience is more important than being faithful to the source text, so it’s common to see a completely different text in the target language that evokes the same emotions as the text in the source language;
• Cultural adaptation is a must if your brand really wants to reach the target audience as described above. TV ads of successful brands are a complete re-make in each country;
• Every transcreation project comes with a brief that is as important as (if not more important than) the actual source text. This brief will contain descriptions of the brand, the target audience, the campaign and its purpose, the type of media (TV, banner, etc.) and other relevant concepts and requirements;
• Transcreators are normally required to provide a few translation alternatives presented in order of preference, with a literal back-translation of each one into the source language and the reason why it was chosen.

What can I help with?

Here’s an example of the type of marketing collateral I am often asked to translate, localise or transcreate:

• Websites, microsites and blogs
• Product listings
• Online advertising campaigns
• Social Media content
• Infographics
• Newsletters and press releases
• Slogans
• Banner ads and posters
• Brochures and leaflets
• Business cards
• TV ads and promotional videos
• Demonstration and sales scripts