Translation brings unique challenges depending on the particular sector and purpose of the material that is being translated, and marketing is one of the most difficult sectors to effectively localise.
Whilst it is not as critical to be exact with a marketing slogan, unlike with legal and medical documents, mistranslating marketing materials can lead to embarrassing situations or even unintentional offence.
A good example of this is the Hyundai Kona car, a name which in Polish literally translates to “Hyundai is facing an agonising death”. This is somehow one of the least offensive translations of Kona in various languages.
Whilst there are a lot of ways to translate a marketing slogan, typically they can be grouped into three main methods, each with their own positives and negatives.
Literal Translation
Brands tend to prefer a synergistic approach, where the same general slogan is used everywhere, typically translated as close as feasibly possible into the target language.
The positives to this are that it is easier for marketing teams to come up with a single slogan and it helps to provide a unified brand identity in every single market, which in turn implies a similar unified experience.
The drawback is that literal translation is so easy to get wrong, as the connotations of certain words need to be taken into account in order to avoid clunky, clumsy wording or even causing offence.
The most infamous example, albeit one that has never been confirmed, was Pepsi’s “Come Alive” campaign, which allegedly translated into Chinese as the cola having necromantic abilities to bring ancestors from the grave.
No Translation At All
Sometimes, brands will avoid translation entirely, which is often used to convey the opposite effect to a literal translation. Instead of a unified global identity, the brand is trading on its national identity.
However, whilst it can sometimes create curiosity or an association of a brand with a nation, it can also create the wrong kind of distance and stop a brand from effectively communicating with its target audience.
Creative Adaptation
The most complex and most rewarding approach, working with regional offices and local translators fluent in the target language to create a new marketing campaign will adapt the brand messaging of a particular campaign to the needs of a particular market.
Polish Translation and Interpreting Services
