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Everything You Need to Know About Marketing Translation

In this blog, Wolfestone Group looks at what marketing translation is, the importance of it, and how brands have failed to use it in the past.

Firstly, what is Marketing Translation?

International business needs global marketing. Marketing translation makes this possible through multilingual communication. But what does this mean?

Businesses with brands in a variety of countries rely on translation to communicate effortlessly with customers in their language, through social media, email, web content, and more.

Why is it Important?

Marketing translation supports your business in becoming multilingual, helping you connect with customers on an international level. Below are three reasons why you should introduce translation into your campaigns.

  • Increase Brand Awareness

By translating and localizing your marketing content, your brand will reach its intended market. The more people from your target countries that engage with your content, the more aware they will become of your brand as a whole. This will positively impact your sales revenue and will make you stand out from your competitors.

  • Enhance Customer Experience

Did you know that 75% of consumers prefer to buy from websites in their native language? By introducing additional languages, you will enhance your customer experience through messaging that has been tailored to their culture and preferences.

  • Boost Engagement

When creating a website, you will tend to only make it available in one language. However, when you think about expanding and making your brand international, you will need to consider making your website accessible in multiple languages.

By combining marketing and website translation, you can appeal to the 40% of consumers who only buy from websites that use their native language – boosting conversions and engagement.

Top 3 Brands That Needed Marketing Translation...

Without marketing translation, companies like Mercedes, Coca-Cola, and Rolls Royce would struggle to maintain their strong branding on a global scale. How do we know? Well, let’s look at how they’ve struggled in the past…

1. Mercedes

When Mercedes first entered the Chinese market, it launched its vehicle ‘Bensi.’ Due to Mercedes being new to this market, they didn’t think what the translation of Bensi would be in Chinese. In this language, Bensi meant ‘rush to die’. Understandably, this car fell flat with China making a unanimous decision not to purchase the car.

However, as soon as Mercedes noticed their mistake they renamed and remarketed the vehicle as ‘Benchi’ which can be translated to ‘running quickly as if flying.’ This had a much better impact on the Chinese market and has continued to grow its presence in China.

2. Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola created the jingle ‘Have a Coke and a Smile.’ This jingle was added to marketing and advertising campaigns globally, but there was a lot of confusion when this entered France.

Have a Coke and a Smile translated into French as ‘have a Coke and a mouse.’ This turned a lot of heads for all the wrong reasons with the people, not knowing if they were going to get an unwanted surprise in their drink. This led to customers turning to competitors like Pepsi.

Coca-Cola did fix the problem; sales have grown over the years, but many still remember the issue. If they had used marketing translation services, to begin with then this would never have been a problem.

3. Rolls Royce

Rolls Royce created a luxury car that needed a name to match. ‘Silver Mist’ was everything Rolls Royce wanted, it gave an element of elegance and sophistication to the brand.

However, during the manufacturing process, someone pointed out that ‘Mist’ in German meant ‘Manure.’

Due to this blunder being noticed at the point of production, the name could be simply changed which led to Rolls Royce avoiding a disaster. The vehicle was proudly renamed ‘Sliver Shadow’ and is now a marketing translation success story. Silver Shadow became one of Rolls Royce’s most popular cars with more than 25,000 being made.

Marketing translation has positively impacted many brands entering international markets. You could be next to reap the benefits.

Wolfestone Group has been focused on making content available in over 220 languages across the globe. With a 99.15% customer satisfaction rate, we are proud to offer marketing translation as one of our business services.

Are you interested in working with an award-winning company? Contact Wolfestone Group today.

Information Correct: 20/09/2022

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