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Marketing Your Product Internationally

My personal favorite has always been the US campaign from Swedish vacuum cleaner Electrolux: Nothing sucks like an Electrolux. The last thing your company wants to discover after spending tens of thousands of dollars on marketing and promotion is that your product name is unacceptable in your target market.

Certainly one of the most dangerous strategies is simply translating your company slogan. A literal translation of your company slogan may lead to silly, nonsensical or obscene results. How can your company avoid such disastrous and expensive mistakes as these?

First, be careful of product names or slogans that contain plays on words, double entendres or slang. These are notoriously difficult to translate and still maintain the same meaning. An equivalent slogan might be possible in the target language, but it would have to be tested in all the target markets where the product would be sold.

Certain expressions in the same language can even have different meanings in different countries. Just think of the British terms for elevator, car trunk and fender: lift, boot and wing. Though you immediately recognize these words, they would be misconstrued in advertising directed toward the US.  

The best way to be sure that your product is successfully marketed to non-English speaking consumers is first to ensure that the product name is easy to pronounce in the given language market(s) and has no offensive or unintended meanings. Pronouncability varies with language, but a good rule is that words containing successive consonant/vowel combinations are always acceptable because all languages contain this pattern. This technique is used in many automobiles, for example: Camaro, Malibu and Corona. Occasionally a difficult to pronounce foreign word makes it into US advertising. Remember the VW slogan Fahrvergnügen? It means “driving pleasure” in German.

Next, any slogans, mottos, logos or trademarks should be considered. It is often unwise to attempt to translate such things as the meaning is frequently lost or obscured. However, if necessary, the English concepts can be studied by a team of translators to come up with a suitable equivalent in the target language, not a translation. It is also worthy of note that trademarks are only legally valid in the original language.  

Imagine the potential disasters if the following slogans were literally translated. "We are driving excitement"  Pontiac; "The better stain getter" Ultra-Biz Detergent; and "The best a man can get" Gillette. This clearly demonstrates the importance of reconceptualizing the product and slogan for the particular market.  

If your company is considering entering a foreign market, let The Foreign Language Company
provide the necessary language support and consultation to ensure that both your company’s image and products do not suffer in the translation. We offer product branding in most languages at reasonable rates. At least ten different translators will analyze your product or slogan to be sure that it integrates seamlessly into the target market.

Language in Focus: Dutch

Did you know that Dutch, the official language of Holland, is the closest living language to English? There are roughly 16 million native Dutch speakers in Holland and 6 million more in Belgium. It is also spoken in Suriname, the Netherlands Antilles, and in parts of the Caribbean and South America.

Dutch, like English, is a member of the West Germanic family of languages, which also includes German and Yiddish. It is known for being a difficult language to learn, but this isn’t really true. For English speakers it is no more difficult to learn than German. In fact, if you already know German, learning Dutch will be quite easy. Furthermore, the pronunciation is similar to English, with the notable exception of the guttural “g”.

Dutch generally can speak English very well. Eight years of English are required in school. Furthermore, nearly all English TV programs in Holland are subtitled, not dubbed, because the Dutch prefer to hear the original English, rather than read a dubbed version. This enables them not only to have amazing idiomatic English, but also a lingua franca that serves them throughout Europe.

Some Dutch words which we use in English include: brandy, cole slaw, cookie, cruiser, dock, easel, freight, landscape, spook, stoop and yacht.

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Upcoming Local Events

• International Violin Competition of Indianapolis  September  6-22
• 7th Annual Irish Fest at Military Park in Indianapolis September 13-15
• Fiesta Indianapolis festival held American Legion Mall September 21
• WEDJ 107.1 FM Hispanic Fair “La Herencia” on Amer. Legion Mall Sept 28
• International Art Festival on Old Meridian Street in Carmel  September 28-29
• Oktoberfest downtown at the Athenaeum  October 4
• “Día de los Muertos”  Indiana State Museum  October 1
• International Festival October at the State Fairgrounds  Oct. 31- Nov. 3
• Budapest Strings with Frederic Chiu at the Indiana Historical Society November 6

Team Focus: Carmen Judith Mejías

 
In this fall edition we would like to introduce you to Carmen. In November she will have been with us for two years. She works as both one of our project managers, and as a Spanish translator and interpreter. She has a preference for interpretation because she loves the interaction with different people and situations. In fact, Carmen usually spends half of her week interpreting for clients throughout central Indiana. Carmen is frequently called on many law firms to provide interpretation at depositions.

She is a native of Venezuela and has been living in the US since the late 90s. In her free time, she enjoys reading, crafts, cooking and music. Her husband is a lawyer and also from Venezuela.

Five Reasons to Learn a Foreign Language

• Proficiency in a foreign language can increase your earning potential.
• Speaking two languages makes you as useful as two people, speaking three makes you as valuable as three people and so on.
• There are five billion people on Earth and only 10% of them speak English.
• You automatically become a more interesting and international person.
• Traveling to foreign countries is no longer confusing or frustrating, but fun!

If you would like to learn a foreign language, let The Foreign Language Company
help you.
We offer intensive instruction in all major European and Asian languages.

Call us for more information or to set up an evaluation.

317. 924.5175