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This is a guest post from Aniello Attianese from Language Reach. 

The world of business is changing rapidly. A trend towards globalisation and expanding businesses abroad, especially with the recent growth of internet, is something that I, working for a professional translation agency, personally see rather clearly. A lot of the businesses from every corner of the world, even small and medium sized, see a truly great opportunity in approaching new international customers and exploring new markets. Many business owners who require our professional translation services however do not realise that translating word for word sometimes simply isn’t, and shouldn’t be, the whole answer, especially when working on marketing material, such as websites; this is where localisation comes into play.

Budgeting for Localisation on a Global Scale

Companies and businesses around the world now spend great portions of their budgets each year for marketing efforts; paying close attention to crafting the perfect message, choosing the right colours or even the right font. But what if they were only to discover, that their perfect marketing material which worked flawlessly in one country, causes offence in another? Having marketing material which is culturally inappropriate will certainly cause more damage than good.

In simple words, localisation amends and adopts content, such as websites or brochures, in order for it to be suitable within a specific market by removing any local sensitivities. Global companies such as Apple or McDonald’s have values and ideas which they like to communicate to consumers across the world, without causing any misunderstandings within any country specific market. This is the reason each of their campaigns is not only very carefully translated, but also localised to suit their specific foreign target market.

The Trouble With Ignoring Localisation

American Airlines on the other hand are a perfect example of a company who decided not to trouble with localisation, and only to translate their marketing material word-for-word. After introducing their new stylish leather seats on the planes, AA came up with a slogan which in America worked perfectly fine: “Fly in leather”.  Not carefully localised for the Mexican market however, the message caused the operator to blush slightly as “Fly naked” wasn’t very appealing to the Spanish speaking customers…The lack of localisation in the above example is pretty obvious, and not only caused the airline to embarrassment but also to money loses.

Words however aren’t the only thing which can be a cause for concern if marketing material wasn’t carefully localised. Another great example would be the use of colours. Did you know, that in China the colour white is associated with death? Now, you wouldn’t want your products or services to be associated with such, would you?

Benefits of Localisation

Going back to McDonald’s example, you’ll be able to see good, if not great, use of localisation services. The fast food chain restaurant not only localised all of their marketing messages, but they also went a step further and localised their menus, which are perfectly localised for each of their markets. And so in New Zealand for example you will be able to order a Kiwi Burger while McDonald’s India offers chicken Maharaja!

Giving that both U.S and Sweden are rather specific markets, with different cultures, values and ideas, localising marketing material for the Swedish audience should really be a priority for any U.S business thinking of approaching the Swedish consumers. Taking into the account any local sensitivities such as religious, political or cultural differences can have a significant impact on the success of your brand in a foreign market, and although localisation simply cannot guarantee an instant success, the lack of it can guarantee instant failure.

Aniello Attianese comes from Pagani, Italy. He speaks Italian, French and German fluently and has just started learning Swedish. He currently works for Language Reach and Translation Services 24 as a translator and a project manager. In his spare time he enjoys travelling and good music as much as he enjoys learning languages.

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Do you know what your business slogans are saying to the world?

With advances within social media and technology, word of mouth truly has become ‘world of mouth.’ Most businesses centralize their global Twitter and Facebook efforts. It has huge benefits, yet it also is vital that you have involvement at a local level; from those who really understand the marketplace language and nuances. We reside within a global economy and therefore it is critical that we have an understanding of our world.

Here are 11 examples of translations of marketing material that went wrong:

1. The successful ‘Got Milk’ campaign that came from The Dairy Association as utilized in Mexico brought lots of attention, as it translated into ‘Are You Lactating?’
2. The company Coors Brewing’s campaign slogan ‘Turn it loose’ as converted to Spanish actually means ‘Suffer from diarrhea’.
3. Clairol introduced a curling iron named ‘Mist Stick’ within Germany. Mist in German will be slang for manure. It turned out that manure sticks are not popular in Germany.
4. Panasonic and Matsushita were to introduce a computer that had an Internet browser within Japan. They were supposed to run a massive marketing campaign utilizing Woody Woodpecker, the cartoon character. Their campaign was placed on hold as an American worker figured out that the translation actually was ‘Touch Woody – Internet Pecker.’ It’s bad in American slang.
5. In China, Pepsi translated their campaign slogan, ‘Pepsi will Bring You Back to Life.’ In Chinese, this slogan means, ‘Pepsi will Bring Your Ancestors Back from the Grave.’
6. In France, Colgate introduced toothpaste underneath the name Cue. That is, unfortunately, the exact same name as one ill-famed porno magazine.
7. In Mexico, Parker Pen wanted its ads to parlay ‘It will not leak in your pocket and embarrass you.’ The company instead believed that the term ‘embarazar’ (to impregnate) was supposed to mean to embarrass, therefore the advertisement stated: ‘It will not leak inside your pocket and make you pregnant.’
8. Frank Perdue’s statement, ‘It will take a rough man to make a tender chicken,’ is somewhat different within the Spanish language – ‘It will take a sexually stimulated male in order to make a chicken affectionate.’
9. Braniff Airways had a desire to spotlight ‘Fly in Leather’ yet in Spanish it actually said ‘Fly Naked.’
10. A Scandinavian vacuum cleaner, Electrolux, utilized the following within the United States: ‘Nothing will suck like an Electrolux.’
11. In Southeast Asia, Pepsi lost its market share as it changed its vending machines from a deep blue to a light blue. Unfortunately, in Southeast Asia, light blue includes a symbol of mourning and death.

The lesson to be learned here is that mistranslations are sloppy marketing. Therefore, when translating your marketing material or anything business related, it is best to contact a professional translator. A professional translator will ensure that everything that is presented to the public is appropriate and suitable for the intended audience.

If you are marketing to Sweden, contact Swedish Translation Services to make sure that your slogans and marketing materials come across as intended.

Check also:

• Is It Worth Hiring a Professional Swedish Translator for Your Marketing Materials?
• The Role of Translation in International Marketing
• Understanding My Professional English to Swedish Translator Certifications