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Translation for Global Markets

Global markets are people for whom you translate, not products. There may be global products for translation, but there are not global people. There may be global brands, but there are no global motivations. The paradoxes in Global Marketing Communications for buying those translated brands. The Sony Walkman is often used as an example of a global product, developed for global consumers with global needs, who would use it with similar motives. That is not true: There are two distinctly different motives for using that product.

Translating Japanese Intention

In the Western world, the motive for using a Sony Walkman is that of enjoyment of music without being disturbed by others. This was not the motive for Masaru Ibuka - co-founder with Akio Morita of the Sony Corporation - for inventing the Walkman - and when considering Japanese translation services. He wanted to listen to music without disturbing others. Global advertisers and translators take great pains to try to understand certain subcultures, such as youth culture, knowing that they can appeal to the young only if they translate and address them in the right way. When it comes to addressing adult women or men of different national cultures with very different value systems and languages, including German, many advertisers suddenly think one standard message is sufficient. This is paradoxical behavior.

Organizing Linguistic Ideas for Global Launch

The decision to standardize has more to do with corporate culture than with the culture of markets and nations. Many global advertisers who use translation services are not market oriented; they are product oriented. They search for that one universal great idea to sell their one standard product to assumed universal, global consumers. This is demonstrated by the fact that economies of scale are most often mentioned as cost-saving arguments for standardization regardless of whether you are considering Spanish in Spain or French in Canada. In reality, the cost of developing one standard idea that truly crosses borders is very high. In order to get consensus over a "great idea" or "global platform," product managers, marketing managers, professional website translators, country managers, advertising managers, account supervisors, account directors, and creative directors of international advertising agencies and the like in various countries such as Puerto Rico and Mexico Spanish, have to get together, have to organize meetings and travel.

Translating Advertising and Technical Copy

It appears that many adaptations are needed, even for technical translations. Voice-overs or subtitles have to be made, pack shots must be changed, and texts have to be translated and adapted documents, or rewritten documents. Slogans developed for global use have to be translated, and in the end some translations appear to include subtle changes of meaning influenced by culture. An example is how Philips's statement, "Let's make things better," was translated into Spanish as Juntos hacemos tu vida mejor, into Italian as Miglioramo it tuo mondo, and into French as Faisons toujours mieux. Not only do people of different countries speak different languages; their languages also represent different worldviews. Translations do not uncover the different world-views, different ways of thinking, and different intellectual styles. International advertising consultant Simon Anholt says, " Translating advertising copy is like painting the tip of an iceberg and hoping the whole thing will turn red." Advertising is more than words; it is made of culture.

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