Need a translator to interpret your business without altering your slogan? Here you are in the right place. This article explores guidelines of ensuring your slogan is maintained during translation.
Wrong translations have been witnesses across the world more so when companies choose to go global. No matter how much harmless such translation can be to the locals, it always has severe consequences if they appear in an organization’s communication slogan. Wrong slogan translation may alter the meaning of the original context hence creating a negative branding, and the customers can regard your business as a joke. For example, the original Pepsi’s slogan that means feel lively with Pepsi, was translated into Chinese to say that the drink brings the ancestors back to life from the dead. Was that a joke?
Now imagine if you’ve gone international, and your business slogan is intact, and sales are rapidly increasing due to a quick understanding of the translated slogan! Below is what you require to keep your slogan relative to its original form when you go global.
Evaluate the Professionality of Your Target Translation Agency
Many people see no need to select a professional translator to interpret their global company’s marketing and communication materials. Therefore, they come up with preferences that may put the business in jeopardy. For instance, here is a quick glimpse of what you may hear from them.
- Get the specific individual who’s been staying in the target country to translate
- Use Google to translate
- Make good use of the quickest and cheapest translation agencies
Even though the tips mentioned above can help you translate your communication material to the foreign target market, the information may be misappropriated hence failing vehemently. You need a professional translator to keep your business relevant within the target market segment.
Moreover, it is worth noting that being familiar with a language does not automatically render you an eligible translator. Therefore, hiring an individual with a target country native language fluency without translation experience may hurt your business a great deal. In an international capacity, the translator should have the experience of translating linguistic nuisance into the native. Thus, ensure that the used words coincide with the cultural context of the natives for the business to be of relevance to them.
A professional translator has what it takes to interpret your marketing text and make your text work within the global context. An expert will ensure that he/she uses an articulate language besides considering the target audience and their cultural context. Moreover, professionals know the variety of aspects to consider in their translation and how to come up with a viable solution if the words involved has more than one meaning. Therefore, to ensure that your slogan is unaltered, evaluate the certification, experience, and specialization of the translator.
Analyze the Confidentiality of the Translation Procedures Used By the Agency
Even though the evolution of translation machines has brought hope in global marketing communication, the tools have not yet proved efficiency. Using computerized translation tools has experienced a significant challenge when it comes to interpreting language nuances, slangs, and irony. Therefore, this makes it even harder for the message to reach the audience in the context intended since the computer cannot factor out cultural diversity and customer instructions. Hence, using machine translation may cost your company significantly since the message may be misinterpreted to give your brand an awkward appearance within the market environment.
What’s more, using language translator tools deprives you of the confidentiality required for the text. For example, the moment you upload your text to google translate, the ownership changes to become Google’s property accessible to everyone. If you hire an agency that offers machine translation services, your text is only limited to a specific type of interpretation that requires only literal translation. Therefore, the most significant part of your slogan may be omitted hence presenting an incomplete message to the audience.
Even though the machines have registered an overwhelming growth in translation, they cannot work independently. To be confident with your global business slogan, you require a professional with vast translation skills and experience besides using the online tools. Therefore, the use of interpretation tools alongside skilled human translators enhances the confidentiality of the interpreted text and also saves time.
Do Not Underestimate the Importance of Translation
In some situations, an individual may be reluctant to interpret the global company’s slogan to the locals clinging to the fact that the inhabitants are natives of the language used. For example, some businesses may see no reason for interpreting English in a native state since it is widely spoken worldwide. However, it is arguably true that 17 % of the world comprises of native English speakers; the rest are struggling to understand English or speak it as an acquired language.
Therefore, even if the message you are conveying targets the natives of the relevant language, some words and language nuances would be perceived differently by the locals. Therefore, focusing on the translation of the slogan to the native in a way that fits their context is a significant global marketing tool that should not be underestimated. Even if your slogan is drafted in the native country’s language, it is still important to interpret it to the inhabitants while considering the cultural difference and how to adapt the text to the local context.
For example, even though English is widely used in a variety of professional settings, it doesn’t mean that English natives have overwhelming cognizance with English nuances. Hence, to communicate your slogan effectively to the audience and make them feel and understand the message to its last bit, appropriate interpretation is required. Make your audience understand your business word-phrase in a relevant way appropriate to their environment and invoke their buying ability.
Moreover, when you want to sell a product, it is very important to communicate your business plans and merchandise in the local language. Study confirms that customers are more inclined to purchase products they are more conversant with and written in their native language. Therefore, boost your sales in the international market by choosing expert translation agencies to interpret your marketing slogan. It is too expensive to ignore the implication of translating your business tagline to the locals since failure may plunge your business into a quick closure due to a lack of sales.
Do Not Select an Agency Because It’s Readily Available and Cheap
As the need for translation intensifies, numerous translators emerge within the translation market. However, most of them do not understand either what you require or what makes a translation of quality standard.
Therefore, before selecting an agency to assist, take your time to counter check a variety of aspect that determines the accuracy and professionalism of a company. Spare a great deal of your time trying to find the right deal for your task. However, your perfect deal depends on your priorities, expectation, and wishes in terms of pricing, service, and quality. Therefore, before hiring a translation agency, revise your expectations, requirements, and wishes that’ll trigger an appropriate corporation and impeccable results at the end.
See to it that the agency you are about to select offers services that coincide with your expectations and your minimum requirements. Even though you have found a professional agency based on their past services delivered, it is still important to dialogue and reaches a leveled decision of the requirements for the work to be done. Do not underestimate the power of giving the translation agency brief instructions on how the service should be done. Failure to brief the expert may lead to the production of unexpected results; hence, you’ll have to restructure the texts back and forth to feet the required context.
Therefore, do not be in a rush to have your slogan translated to the native language that coincides with your global marketing intentions. Take your time to research about the professionality of some of the renowned translation agencies. Choose a list of 5 and figure out the best of them that fits your review factors based on their services, prices, and time. Like the adage goes, cheap is expensive, do not go for cheap because it is readily available. Study the reputation of the agency while figuring out whether it can fulfill your translation needs to the required context without putting your business in jeopardy.
Keep Your Business Slogan Intact and Thrive in the Global Market Index
With all this information, finding the best slogan translator becomes easier. Therefore, compile all these guidelines to come up with relevant tips to help you figure out the most appropriate slogan translator who’ll impact your business positively. Communicate your slogan properly within the global market and stand a chance to prevail and enhance sales turnover today.
Disclaimer: This content does not necessarily represent the views of IWB.