Globalisation through the internet has introduced new social and eCommerce tools, resulting in a reversal of the rules for companies: the always-connected customer is in control of the relationship with companies, to whom it offers an opportunity to better understand their tastes and needs.
Sdl Trados’ infographics report interesting data demonstrating the positive influence of localised website translation on purchases, including:
- 73% of consumers in Japan and 61% of those in France say they only buy on sites translated into their language;
- 9 out of 10 non-English speaking buyers prefer to purchase products available in their native language;
- 80% of mobile users prefer locally relevant advertising and 75% take an action after seeing a localised message.
- 82% of people surveyed are more likely to buy if the promotional material is written in their language;
- 74% of people are more likely to buy the same brand again if the after-sales service is in their language;
- 56% of people say that language is a more important factor than price.
All marketing texts, from product names to product descriptions, from newsletters to brochures, etc., must address a target audience. Once we are clear about who we are addressing, we can create a tailor-made text for our readers that attracts them and encourages them to read.
Honda: 4 countries, 4 different webs
Different countries, different languages, different cultures
A potential customer living in China will obviously have very different cultural references and interests from one born and raised in Italy, so the message we provide will have to be different. It is not enough to translate our marketing text from Chinese into Italian, but we have to make sure that we arouse the interest of the Italian reader and therefore change the cultural references, the tone of voice and so on.
This operation is called transcreation: a specific type of translation involving a real rewriting of the text, localised for the target audience, and requiring in-depth linguistic and cultural knowledge.
Inside Out – Pixar
In the film, INSIDE&OUT we see the main character eating and hating broccoli, but in the Japanese version they changed it to peppers, a vegetable that Japanese children hate; and that was not the only change made in the film to adapt it better: while the father was watching a football game, something very widespread all over the world, in certain regions it was changed to hockey, something that also made sense since they were from Minnesota.
Imagen: Inside Out Film, Pixar
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