Translation for Marketing

Translation for marketing, or 'creative translation', requires a lot more attention to detail than you might think. When you employ a clever play-on-words, you are using your intimate understanding of language, and that of your fellow native language speakers, to humorous effect. Such use of words often doesn't translate particularly well. For example, a Scotch whisky producer was trying to use the phrase 'the Spirit of Life' in a German advertisement. They would have been better advised to drop their original English slogan for the German advertisement, as the dual meaning of spirit does not work in German. Instead, they persisted with a phrase that ended up making Germans think the whisky in question had something to do with ghosts!

Before planning a multi-lingual marketing campaign, call us and let us see the themes and slogans you're proposing. It's worth checking that they will be translatable with the professionals!