The last one decade has been marked by a great evolution of how advertisements are translated. This process is currently known as “advertising localization” and focuses on dealing with having a successful translation of adverts from one language to another without changing the objective of the particular advertisement (Malmkjær & Windle, 2012). The act of advertising is an important tool when it comes to informing the consumer on the diversity of the products present in the market (Chidiac & Saliba, n.d). Various factors have led to the evolution with some including the trade intensification and the globalization of the economies. As a result, different companies are required to communicate to different consumers who have different cultures using different languages. In advertising, however, a lot of concepts get lost in translation whereby, “a poorly conceived ad in one market can damage the entire brand” (Wind, Sthanunathan, & Malcolm, 2013, par. 1).
Creating a relevant and timely advert is not an easy venture. That is why it is often hard for the global brands to bring out characteristics that are idiosyncratic thus failing to fit into every available market. However, all is not lost as there is a new strategy of advertising commonly known as “glocal” advertising strategy, where local adverts adapt core ideas that are considered global. Three pillars govern this strategy. They include adopting a strategy that is motivated by the universal human; adopting a brand vision which is unified hence respects the local nuances and using an organizational architecture that includes resources, a technological platform, and culture (MaxPoint, 2013). With that in mind, it is important to consider an example of an advertisement that brings about the idea of translation in any delivery platform.
Tuscany per Donna is an Italian perfume, which is famed for being as shiny as Italy (“Tuscany per Donna Aramis for women”, n.d). It is been advertised in different languages ranging from French to Arabic. This specific case focuses on translating the advertisement from French to Arabic. To start with, the background of the advert was transformed into the socio-cultural environment of the country of origin, which was different from the international market. Whatever was considered as a “family scene” in Italy would not apply to the Mediterranean region. The developers of the advert had to consider what was considered as normal for the Arabic market, and this could include using “cafes and their terraces” (“The Translation of Advertisements”, n.d).
On one hand, the adaptation of the graphics was dependent on the meaning of the selected background in different versions of the advert while on the other hand, it was a relationship between the background selected and the actual product. As for the iconographic level, both the original and the translated version of the advertisement had a similar screen shot taken from the same angle. Here, the bottle of the perfume was at the top of the screen while the advertising character who happened to be a woman was moving across the screen displaying a smile (“The Translation of Advertisements”, n.d).
Despite the similarities, some differences are worth noting. As the translation takes place from the French version to the Arabic version, there is a difference in the indoor and outdoor lighting. The transition from a poorly lit indoor in the French version to a well-lit outdoor in the Arabic version signifies moving from the family scene in French to a street scene in Arabic. Also, the transition from a house backyard to a busy street helps to build the difference in the backgrounds. Although there are some differences, the graphic similarities help to maintain the unity of perspectives in the advert.
The graphic stratification applied changes the meaning in the two languages. Originally, the perfume brand name is a reflection of the identity of the product which guides the advertising message. Seduction takes over the privacy of the house while a flirtatious laughter replaces the family smile. This leads to a different interpretation of the advert where the complicity female attitude in the French advert is replaced by a playful character in Arabic. While the woman turns away her eyes from family in the Arabic advert, she turns them from a young man in the French one. Therefore, although the advert tends to have the similar angle of shooting it is altered in such a way that it alters the global meaning depending on culture (Guidere, n.d).
References
MaxPoint . (2013, April 11). A Practical Take on “Glocal” Advertising. Retrieved July 16, 2016, from MaxPoint: http://maxpoint.com/us/digital-advertising-company/onpoint-blog/2013/4/11/a-practical-take-on-glocal-advertising
Chidiac, R. S., & Saliba, M. T. (n.d.). Influential Translation of Advertisements from English to Arabic for Arab Women Cosumers. Retrieved July 16, 2016, from Future Academy: http://www.futureacademy.org.uk/files/images/upload/8-iccsbs_4232_6531_fullText_1_26.pdf
Guidere, M. (n.d.). The Translation of Advertisements: from Adaptation to Localization. Retrieved July 16, 2016, from Translation Directory: http://www.translationdirectory.com/article60.htm
Malmkjær, K., & Windle, K. (2012, September). Advertising and Localization. Retrieved July 16, 2016, from Christophe Declercq: http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199239306.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199239306-e-019
The Translation of Advertisements. (n.d.). Retrieved July 16, 2016, from Baidu: http://wenku.baidu.com/view/ab430321192e45361066f56d
Tuscany Per Donna Aramis for women. (n.d.). Retrieved July 16, 2016, from Fragrantica: http://www.fragrantica.com/perfume/Aramis/Tuscany-Per-Donna-122.html
Wind, J., Sthanunathan, S., & Malcolm, R. (2013, March 29). Great Advertising Is Both Local and Global. Retrieved July 16, 2016, from HBR: https://hbr.org/2013/03/great-advertising-is-both-loca/
