According to a Common Sense Advisory study, around 87% of customers won’t buy products from a website that doesn’t communicate in the language they speak in. This shouldn’t come as a surprise and yet, to many businesses, it does. Anyway, the point is not everybody speaks the same language as you. We live in a diverse world, and people have their own languages and their own cultural identities. So, if you’re a global business that’s planning to market your brand and your product to territories outside of your own, you need to create a personalised campaign that caters to local tastes and sensibilities.
In other words, you need to localise. Now, we all know what localisation is, at least, as far as the basics go. However, a key mistake that many businesses make is to assume that localisation is the same as translation or rather, that market localisation simply involves translating messages into the target market’s language.
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But, that’s not the complete picture. Market localisation involves more than just translation. It’s about connecting with the local market on multiple levels. It’s about seeing eye to eye with them. To truly make an impact, you must be able to relate to the market.
So, how do you do that? Well, read on to find out.
Transcreation
Transcreation can be defined as a form of translation or interpretation with elements such as culture and emotions factored in. To put it more simply, it’s about putting things into context. You see, straightforward translation does not factor in the finer nuances of communication that might form a core part of the target market’s interactions.
Different things have different meanings in different cultures. So, it’s necessary to choose your words and your audio-visual content carefully before you send out your message.
Case in point
To give you an example, a fax company based in the UK ran a campaign in the US, once upon a time, to sell its new line of fast fax machines. The tagline chosen for the campaign read “Don’t go postal.” This backfired because “going postal” in the US meant something completely different. It meant going berserk, which was quite common among stressed US Postal Service workers at one point in time.
Mind you, both the UK and the US speak English, and yet, their interpretations of a tagline were so different. Now, imagine the same with two completely different languages.
This is why transcreation is at the heart of personalised marketing campaigns. Translation is only one part of the mix. To really make a mark, everything about your campaign needs to change, right from the images to the colours you use.
However, it must be done without compromising the core meaning of your message.
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