Advertising and marketing translations

Marketing is a critically important topic within any organization, and in which considerable resources are invested. The effort that goes into the design and production of communication materials, including those for foreign markets, must be valued by a proper translation and localisation strategy in order to best promote a brand’s image and reputation.

This specialised area also includes all copy used to advertise a product, brand or event: from press releases and websites to catalogues, social media, videos and advertisements.

Marketing translations vary widely in terms of length, complexity and style: one more reason to avoid improvisation and rely on a team of professional translators who can skillfully navigate all the linguistic nuances, who possess the appropriate knowledge of a company’s specific business sector and who are familiar with the principles of copywriting and persuasive writing, along with the strategies of digital marketing.

Translating advertising means writing copy that is relevant to the specific cultural context of the target country so that it is enjoyable and enaging for your audience. It may sometimes happen that a phrase or expression that in one language is effective or amusing, in another language is meaningless, unsuitable or even vulgar. These situations require a step that goes beyond translation and is called transcreation, a process more akin to copywriting and content creation. Creative translation aims to recreate the same effect as the source text (surprise, making people smile, excitement, creating musicality), regardless of the form. It results in solutions that may be very different from the original but always coherent with the company’s personality and communicative intent, and therefore appropriate, meaningful, effective.

Read more about the translation project: Magazine for CMP