The role of translation in marketing and internationalization strategy
The
role of translation in marketing and internationalization strategy
Developing its brand internationally is a major factor for a company’s progress and success. That is why it needs to be very thorough and to give attention to detail. Before setting up in a new country, a study about the environment and the culture has to be done if they want to avoid a mistake that could kill the brand before the development in this country has even begun – how to adapt to new consumers? Is the name of the brand offensive, funny or rude in the country’s language? Does it have a negative connotation? In this context, automatic translation or artificial intelligence is not enough and the need for a professional translator is inevitable. Why? Because the company wants to avoid mistakes like this:
Here
the Swedish company translated literally. Unfortunately, in informal English,
“to suck” is to be bad at something or to be of poor quality.
The
creation of a brand, a logo and most especially a slogan is a difficult process
that involves different jobs, including a translator. They use a method called
transcreation – a process of adapting a message to another language while
maintaining its intent, context and tone. An adapted message is considered a
success when it evokes the same emotions and carries the same implications in
all the languages. Transcreation is more and more used in international
marketing and advertisement as companies try to transcend the boundaries of
language and culture.
In global marketing
When their brand already has a
certain notoriety, companies can decide to have the same marketing policy on
every market, without even translating their slogan. Usually, their name is
easy to pronounce and to remember. Here are some examples:
However, in some countries like
France for instance, laws about communication in foreign languages are very
strict and specific and companies doing such marketing are required anyway to
have an asterisk with the translation of the slogan on their advertising
posters or their commercials. Therefore, there is a need for translation, even
if it is only for legal reasons.
In local marketing
When a company chooses to have a specific and adapted marketing policy for each of the different markets, it is called local marketing. This is when the need for a professional translator specialized in the country’s culture and communication is the most important. A translator specialized in medicine, judicial or technical translation tries to be as faithful to the original text as possible and keeps its style and format. A marketing translator however, has to translate into the target language with subtlety so that it will fit the cultural aspects of the country and sound authentic and not translated. If the company decides to translate even the name of the brand, it needs to be careful with not only the linguistic aspects but also the graphic adaptation. Its design has to match the original one so it can still be associated with it:
For
example, even though this Coca-Cola logo is in Chinese, we easily recognize the
brand thanks to the use of the same style and the lines in the top and bottom
of the logo.
In glocal marketing
It is a combination of the global
and local marketing – it uses a global strategy with local adaptations. For
example, a company can keep the same name and the same logo but change the
slogan to adapt it to the target country’s social, cultural and linguistic aspects.
McDonald’s, a world-known international brand, chose this marketing strategy:
For each of its markets the brand
has adapted its slogan by translating it into every country’s language and has
sometimes changed its colors as well (the French logo became green in 2010 in
reaction to the increasing interest in ecology,
organic products and the origins of ingredients in French society). Keeping the letter “M” in all
of the different logos is a way for the brand to be recognizable in all the
countries where it is established, and translating the slogan allows it to adapt
to the local customers and to their language and social characteristics.
Emmanuelle De Grave
Very interesting article. This proves – again – the need for human translators. But also the fact that it does not have to be a lonely job. I guess they have to collaborate closely with marketing professionals to come up with a good translation because finding an advertising slogan is a profession in itself, and not an easy one.
RépondreSupprimerAlexia you are absolutely right, translators working with companies in their marketing teams are specialized in translating slogans and/or logos. I even read that some translators want to participate in the conception of the slogan to understand it better to keep the message that the marketing team is trying to send to the customers as genuine as possible. Emmanuelle D.
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RépondreSupprimerEmmanuelle, thank you for this information, I finally figured out why the french version of the Macdonald's logo is green. :)
RépondreSupprimer-Kristina Sh.
Kristina, you're welcome! Glad I could help. Before visiting Russia I thought the logo had become green everywhere. Emmanuelle D.
RépondreSupprimerTranslation is indeed a key-issue when it comes to advertising worldwide. As you showed it with the example of Electrolux, the slightest mistake can be highly detrimental to a product and undermine the efforts made to promote it. Not to mention the time and money invested in launching the product... Consequences can be disastrous for companies willing to launch new products. As a conclusion I would simply say "No innovation without a good translation!". Good job Emmanuelle. Just a remark though: your last paragraph is entitled "In glocal marketing" - It is a mistake, I suppose? Jean Paul C.
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