As a B2B marketing manager in an increasingly globalised business landscape, the challenges and opportunities that you encounter are truly unique. Your communication must reach and resonate with not just individuals, but entire organisations across different industries and countries. One vital aspect of this multi-layered communication is the translation of your marketing content into various languages.
However, it’s important to understand that the task doesn’t end with translation. It’s not just about changing words from one language to another; it requires an in-depth understanding of the cultural nuances, tone, style, and humour of your target audience. This fine-tuned and nuanced approach to translation is known as localisation.
Localisation ensures that your message is not just understood, but that it also resonates with your audience, fostering a sense of familiarity and trust. Without proper localisation, even the most meticulously crafted marketing campaign can miss the mark or, worse, offend the audience it aims to engage.
In this article, we explore some key considerations for B2B marketing managers when it comes to the art of localisation in marketing translations.
Each of these elements carries substantial weight in determining how your translated content is perceived and can make the difference between a successful campaign that boosts your brand and a failed one that could potentially harm it.
Let’s delve deeper into these aspects, shedding light on their importance, and providing practical examples from the B2B world.
The Pitfalls of Direct Translation in Marketing
Direct translation, or translating text word for word, often fails in marketing contexts due to cultural, contextual, and idiomatic differences between languages. For instance, a popular slogan for the Dairy Association’s milk campaign in the US was “Got Milk?”. When directly translated into Spanish for the Hispanic market, it read as “¿Tienes Leche?”, which could also be interpreted as “Are you lactating?” A mistake like this can confuse and potentially alienate customers.
In a B2B context, HSBC Bank once launched a campaign with the tagline “Assume Nothing.” However, when directly translated into various languages, it was interpreted as “Do Nothing.” HSBC ended up having to conduct a $10 million rebranding campaign to rectify the error.
The Importance of Cultural Nuances in Marketing Translations
Every culture has unique aspects that influence how people perceive and interpret messages. Therefore, effective localisation must account for these cultural nuances.
A classic example of successful cultural product localisation is McDonald’s menu changes based on the country. In India, where a large portion of the population doesn’t eat beef due to religious reasons, McDonald’s introduced the McAloo Tikki, a vegetarian burger with a spiced potato patty, appealing directly to the local palate. Although this is not a language or translation adaptation, it represents a true market-orientation change that is important to note.
An excellent example of successful cultural localisation in the B2B sector is Cisco Systems. Recognising the importance of localisation, Cisco maintains different versions of its website for various countries, considering not just language, but also content relevant to each market.
Maintaining Consistent Tone and Style
The tone and style of your message play a crucial role in how your brand is perceived. If your brand voice is playful and informal in English, it should maintain the same feel in all languages. For instance, Innocent Drinks maintains its light-hearted and humorous brand voice across all markets by working closely with native translators who have a deep understanding of both the language and the brand’s unique style.
IBM, a B2B giant, is renowned for its consistent tone and style across languages and cultures. Their content always maintains a professional, knowledgeable, and helpful tone, irrespective of the language or region.
Translating Humour in Marketing Campaigns
Humour often relies heavily on language-specific idioms, cultural references, and puns, making it one of the most challenging aspects to translate. Yet, when done correctly, humour can make your brand memorable and endearing.
Take, for example, the Swedish furniture giant, IKEA. For their product names, IKEA uses uncomplicated, Scandinavian words, some of which have amusing or odd connotations in other languages. But instead of shying away from this, IKEA embraced the humour, even creating a ‘Retail Therapy’ advertising campaign where products were renamed after common Google searches. This clever campaign not only went viral but demonstrated IKEA’s ability to incorporate humour into its global marketing strategy effectively.
Another memorable B2B example is MailChimp’s playful ‘Did you mean MailChimp?’ campaign. The company created nine peculiar short films and mockumentaries that played on various mispronunciations and misspellings of their name. While this form of humour may not translate directly, MailChimp used the concept of linguistic confusion to make a universally relatable and humorous campaign.
Conclusion
As a B2B marketing manager, understanding the art of localisation in marketing translations is essential in today’s global marketplace. Successful localisation goes beyond language proficiency; it requires cultural understanding, creativity, and deep knowledge of your brand’s voice and style.
Here at Bubbles Translation Services, we understand the power of effective localisation. Our team of expert translators doesn’t just translate your message but adapts it to resonate with your international audience, ensuring that your marketing campaigns are as impactful abroad as they are at home. Connect with us today to discover how we can help you unlock the full potential of your global marketing campaigns.
