Marketing translation: a nuanced exercise with strategic implications

In an increasingly globalised world, businesses and organisations need to expand their audiences and capture new markets. Producing marketing and communication content is key, and translating it is strategic.

Your needs and goals

> Reputation

Your marketing content has a direct impact on how your brand is perceived internationally. Any faux pas can prove costly, so the quality of the translations must be up to par.

> We can put together an experienced and creative team who leave nothing to chance to give optimal visibility to your content with reliability and accuracy, and help you achieve your aims.

> Suitability

Your new markets and target audiences deserve a translation that is adapted to their global context. You expect perfect command of the subtleties of intercultural communication and in-depth knowledge of the target culture.

> We can localise your content in light of your audience’s sociological context. Our linguists only translate into their native language, within their own sociolinguistic context.

> Impact

The marketing messages you create for your own market are designed with care and leave nothing to chance. Their localised version must meet these exacting standards to have the same impact.

> Whether translating or transcreating, our linguists familiarise themselves with your tone, your language and your world, so they can grasp all the nuances and subtleties, and adapt them with flair.

> Adaptability

Your marketing strategy is based on various channels, and your content can take various forms. You must be able to count on a service provider who can support you beyond the linguistic side of things.

> We offer services that provide comprehensive support for your international expansion projects: content strategy consulting for each country, multilingual layout (DTP), dubbing and subtitles, multilingual SEO and social media posts.

Examples of relevant content

A few articles on this subject

Case studies

Our client is an American software publisher that sells the leading software in purchasing and expense management. Its communication strategy relies on meticulously drafted content, as well as on strict editorial guidelines. With its polished language and short and snappy sentences that get straight to the point, the English version manages to convey simplicity while being highly sophisticated.

Another difficulty was that the website was designed with the English text in mind, favouring short blocks of text below illustrative icons. Therefore, we had to maintain the same tone in the translated content, while being mindful of the tendency in French to use longer, and more descriptive sentences (generally 20% longer than in English).

Lastly, another significant challenge was balancing these requirements for brevity and impact with the technical accuracy needed to enable prospects to immediately understand the features offered and the benefits that come with them.

This long-term project lasted several months and involved two different services: in addition to “classic” marketing translating-editing, the client opted to use transcreation for its website, its main online window to the world. Instead of just translating the content word for word, transcreation adapts it in a creative manner to preserve the spirit, key ideas and impact, while using expressions, puns and references that will resonate with the target audience.

We put together a dedicated team of linguists and appointed a lead linguist for this project. This lead linguist met with the client’s French sales teams, so they could really soak up the terminology used in the company’s day-to-day work. They also attended an important meeting with the company’s sales teams and clients. This immersive experience, which is unfortunately becoming increasingly rare, enabled the lead linguist to acquire in-depth knowledge of the software and to understand who the clients were and the company’s sales pitch. Over three months, the lead linguist supervised the team handling the translation and transcreation. A professional transcreator reworked the previously translated texts extensively so that the French version followed the client’s editorial guidelines perfectly.

The result:

A clear and striking website providing clear and appealing information for internet users.
Cultural references adapted to France in order to create a real bond between the brand and its clients and users.
A brand image that stands out from the competition, with punchy language that reflects the software’s innovative nature.

Our client, a renowned communications agency and the subsidiary of a leading global group, manages press relations for major IT companies in France. These highly proactive companies publish very frequent press releases on acquisitions, new commercial partnerships and innovative product launches. These press releases follow precise rules, both in terms of style and form, and are usually written in English by the communications department. Our client needs these press releases to be translated into the leading language of each of the markets in which the companies operate.

Translating press releases mainly from English to French for different organisations involves adopting a specific style for each business while respecting very tight deadlines. On the one hand , our linguists must have a solid grasp of each company’s environment, products and various solutions, but they must also incorporate the vocabulary, or jargon, specific to each company.

For each of the companies it manages communications for, our client sent us a very detailed brief. From there, our in-house team selected a pool of translators who are both specialists in the IT field and also have an excellent writing style.

To translate the press releases almost immediately, we need to constantly maintain a certain flexibility in our production schedule and when rallying our resources. Throughout the year, Version internationale handles around ten press releases per week just for this communication agency. This enables us to publish content that is perfectly in sync with each company’s news updates in the French market.

This internationally renowned airline wants to encourage its clients to travel by publishing cultural articles about the main tourist destinations it flies to around the world. They showcase a new destination each week. The text is written in English and must then be translated as quickly as possible, so it can be published the following week on the company’s website.
This involves translating around ten articles every week at short notice but for the best value for money.
These marketing texts must sound like they have been written in the target language and not like a translation. However, as these are seasonal articles, they must also fit within a limited budget.
Lastly, production must be fine-tuned, as there is no room for delay, even at times when our in-house or external translators are unavailable.

We put together a team of translators who work on these texts on a recurring basis. The linguistic team understands the tone to be used (guaranteeing a consistent style week after week) and the translation requirements. A set of reference documents (guidelines, glossaries, termbase, reference material) was compiled to ensure consistent and high-quality translations every time. Thanks to this flawless system, Version internationale was able to deliver translated articles that had been adapted to our client’s audience. By delivering ready-to-publish articles, we saved our client a time-consuming proofreading phase, and they were able to meet their publication deadlines. The client is completely satisfied and has been able to strengthen its market positions by working on marketing content.

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