A wrong translation can make your business lose its brand

Globalizing a brand can be daunting! Advertising and marketing play a key role in grasping the global market. However, word-to-word translation service can ruin your marketing effort. Every top brand has a unique one! In fact, the specific approach makes a brand popular among the mass. However, globalizing a brand is beyond translation! Companies need to identify the multi-faced culture to make the best of the brand message.

Hence, localizing a brand requires proper market research and in-depth analysis. Of course, translation is pretty convenient and less expensive! But, trading the quality of marketing can result in huge blunders.

Learn From The Global Marketing Translation Blunders

HSBC

Back in 2009, this bank invested $10 Million in a rebranding campaign. In the name of damage recovery, they adopted poor marketing choices. Their slogan ‘Assume Nothing’ was translated into ‘Do Nothing’ in many places. Hence, they exploited the potential options for translation.

Parker Pens

The popular slogan of parker pens, “It won’t leak in your pocket and embarrass you,” was the epitome of success. Even though it got a hit all over Spain, it turned into a big blunder when translated into Spanish. Not only does it lack the click of localization, but it also becomes inept. The slogan was translated as ‘it would not leak your pocket and make you pregnant.’

Pepsi

The brand has gained popularity with its enticing branding tone. When it was introduced in the Chinese market, the slogan Come Alive with the Pepsi Generation translated into Pepsi bringing your relatives back from the dead. It was not only a failure but also saw offensive inclination.

Apart from these giant brands, many small firms have faced a big trial in international marketing. On the other hand, some brands have done well in adapting the right translation strategy. Brands like McDonald’s, Redbull, etc., have focused on the local market and got a tight grip.

The Right Approach To Global Marketing

The first area of translation is to discover whether it can be translated into the target language. Then you need to contemplate its acceptability in the socio-cultural scenario. In a few cases, the translated message might not fit the targeted market. For example, the famous whiskey brand ‘Canadian Mist’ failed to establish a strong marketplace in Germany as Mist means manure in German.

Stay Unique and Timeless

Brand identity should be unique no matter what your target language is! It must represent the brand and send the right message to your viewers. You need to focus on your marketing aim. The marketing tone should target a large audience.

Legal concern

Of course, the brand name is one of the most vital concerns while doing any translation. However, experts should translate some specific regions into a specific language. For example, one should print firm names in French in Quebec. It helps to get the registered trademark. At the same time, one needs to also consider the local legitimacy of any brand message.

Over To You

Finally, language experts should take a strategic and creative stand to globalize the brand. With a bit of effort and research, one can easily grab the market’s stand.