Marketing and PR Translation Services

Translation Marketing Blunders

Finger Lickin' Good, Mist Stick, Nova.... So what's all this about then? Well, quite simply they're blunders. Big embarrassing costly ones too. The slogan "Finger Lickin' Good" literally translates to "Eat Your Fingers Off" in Chinese. Clairol branded their hair curling tongs "Mist Stick". It's a shame that when they forayed into the German market, it meant "Manure Stick" in German. And finally, General Motors (all the way back in the 70s) entered the Latin American markets and decided to leave their car model name "Nova" unchanged. Except that "No va" means "doesn't go" in Spanish. Well, the Chevy story isn't that straightforward, the executives knew about the name but decided to go with it anyway but it got a bit complicated to say the least.


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Translate Your Message the Right Way

Choosing your message is one thing. Sure, you want it to mean the right thing (especially after it's translated). After all, you've spent time and resources coming up with a targeted marketing campaign; perhaps a great slogan and a slick brochure. And you want your campaign to reach your foreign market just the way it has succeeded in your domestic market. The last thing you want is for some translator to go and mess it up. And yes, it does happen and you probably won't see the funny side of it either.


Have you produced advertising copy that's a bit edgy? Does your sales literature pack a punch? We understand that you don't want this lost in translation. And it won't be. We will make sure the stylistic and technical elements are localised to your target audience on cue. And we will also make sure that your translation doesn't negatively impact on the target culture.


Targeted Marketing Translation

For a start, all of our Marketing and Public Relations jobs are handled by our translators who work only into their mother tongue. Asia Translate only uses native speakers - this is the first major step in any professional translation. The subtleties, shades of a language and tone can be easily lost if the speaker isn't native. Cultural norms, idoms, methaphors and other aspects also play their part in delivering the message successfully and clearly. We will only assign translators with extensive experience in Marketing, PR and Media to your project. From the outset, we work with your glossaries and terminology to deliver your message exactly the way you intend it to be heard.


These are some of the common software programs they work with:

  • Indesign
  • Publisher
  • QuarkXpress
  • FrameMarker
  • Photoshop
  • Powerpoint
  • Flash
  • Freehand
  • UltraXML (limited translators)

Our Translators

All of our translators have a minimum of 3 years professional translation experience, a recognised university degree and always translate into their native language. Our senior translators hold membership to an accredited translation association (such as ATA, ITI, ATLF, WATA etc). We set every translator a test before they join us as well as making qualification, background and job reference checks. And we've worked it out that we turn away an average of 6 out of 10 applications.


Confidentiality

We are fully aware that confidentiality is especially critical in Marketing and PR projects. Asia Translate agrees and acknowledges that your documents will be subject to strict confidentiality and privacy procedures throughout the entire translation process.


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