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The Art of Translation: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Hello, 你好, ciao and привет.Welcome to the inaugural issue of Multi-BUZZ, the newsletter which seeks to launch you into the smorgasbord

of Multicultural Australia, a new reality in culture and commerce. Our cars are Japanese, our pizzas Italian, our beers are German, our shirts Chinese, and even the staunchest anti-migration traditionalist will gladly buy a kebab after a few drinks. In all aspects, multiculturalism has completely transformed the Australian landscape.

Consider that by the time you’ve finished reading the first article; four more migrants would have arrived in Australia, four of them are professionals with higher than average salaries and they will have a total income in excess of half a million dollars within 2 years of arrival. And as we reach a new society with new opportunities, business and marketing will require a new understanding. Former US President, Jimmy Carter once said of multicultural societies: “we become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic, different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams.” We hope to provide to you the expertise in navigating these beliefs and yearnings, hopes and dreams.Enjoy the rest of this newsletter and until next time, αντίο, addio, 再见,

good bye and a Happy Chinese New Year.

Two years ago, we wrote the article “Hall of Shame: The Art of Translation” showcasing the importance for marketers and advertisers to engage experts in translation and transcreation. The key message was to avoid embarrassing social, lingual and cultural gaffes when marketing to multicultural audiences by considering all angles. It seems that times change, yet human folly is eternal. The following is our updated list of notable translated advertising and marketing materials: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

The Good

Chinese translation is one of the most dangerous in multicultural marketing, as brands which are phonetically translated will always carry a new meaning. Mercedes-Benz, to their credit, phonetically translated their brand “Benz” into 奔驰 (phonetically: ben-chi), which means “speeding flight”. Another Chinese example is the French hypermarket chain Carrefour, who’ve done wonders for their brand presence in China with their translation into 家乐福 (phonetically: jia-le-fu), which means “Family, Joy and Blessings”.

The Bad

Car manufacturer Chevy’s attempt to market the Nova model to South America failed as “No-Va” means “it doesn’t go”. The telecom company Orange launched in Ireland with the slogan: “The future’s bright, the future’s Orange”. In Northern Ireland however, the term Orange suggests the Orange Order. The message implied that the ‘future is bright; the future is Protestant (and loyalist)’. This message didn’t sit well with the Catholic Irish population. Nike’s 1997 “flaming air” logo drew controversy from the Muslim world as it looked too similar to “Allah” in Arabic. 38,000 pairs of sneakers were pulled from the market.

The Ugly

Coffee franchise giant Starbucks became a little too intimate with millions of Germans, with giant billboards reading “Enjoy Your Morning Latte”. Translation experts could have informed Starbucks that “latte” is the German term for erection. Coors released their beer in Spanish speaking markets with their tried and true refrain to “Turn it Loose”, which in Spanish means “Get Diarrhoea”. In an unintentional illustration of the danger of marketing to Chinese speaking customers, Pepsi’s slogan in Taiwan – “come alive with the Pepsi generation” was met with bewilderment as in Chinese it became “ Pepsi will bring your ancestors back from the dead”. In an age where so many people are bilingual and even a click of a button can translate a copy, many marketers neglect to engage experts who specialise in the culture of the audience. Language translation in context is meaningful and enhances both brand image and market positioning. However, translating directly without an eye on the marketing context, can be harmful to the brand. It is increasingly clear that there are few aspects of marketing as seemingly simple yet full of pitfalls as translation. Look out for the next Multi-BUZZ issue and read about the Art of Stereotypes.

From the Editor’s DeskFebruary 2011 BUZZ #1

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Asians in Alternative Media A quick quiz to those in PR, social media and digital marketing: who is the most popular YouTube star in Australia? Natalie Tran of course, a Vietnamese Australian at 824,000+ subscribers and over 318 million views, making viewers laugh and question the intricacies of life simultaneously. And who is the most subscribed vlogger (video blogger) in the world? That would be Ryan Higa, a Japanese American with almost 3 million subscribers and over 626million views.

“When traditional media gives no one for young Asian-Americans/Australians to identify with, it seems the youth will create their own stars via alternative media such as YouTube.”

Today, there is a common feeling from Ethnic East Asians in English

speaking countries that they are drastically under represented in

media, whether in TV, Films or pop culture; the cultural

factor is totally ignored. Studies show 2.7% of on screen characters in US shows, and even less in news media are Asian, compared to the general population where over 5% are Asian.

When traditional media provides no role model

for identification for young Asian- Australians to identify

with, it seems the youth will

create their own stars via alternative media such as YouTube. Of course, this claim supposes, controversially, that at least part of the success of Natalie and Ryan is that they are Asian. But compared to YouTube stars of similar statures, Natalie and Ryan seem almost too ordinary. They do not sing or play a musical instrument. They don’t star in comedy productions or engage in cutting edge political discussions.

Ryan meanwhile even classes himself as “Asian” on the “style” section of his YouTube channel. As the popularity of these alternative stars grows, businesses are becoming increasingly interested. Both Natalie and Ryan currently get paid six figures a year to essentially say “dear diary” in their spare time, and this is whilst YouTube is still truly figuring out its place and purpose in the commercial world. Ryan and Natalie’s fellow video blogger “Fred” is currently making a movie with Nickelodeon. It’s all on the table for these stars: sponsorships, media appearances and brand ambassadorships. So what happens then, when for an entire segment of the population, alternative becomes the new mainstream?

Multi-Buzz Insight: Lunar New Year The Year of the Rabbit for the Chinese and the year of the Cat for the Vietnamese community!

Chinese New Year’s marketing potential is great. It’s like Christmas retail time for the Asians. Just make sure to not forget the 1 million Chinese Australians, the 500,000+ Vietnamese Australians and 120,000+ Korean Australians, who also celebrate Lunar New Year.

 

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Multicultural Marketing Case Study: Ikea’s Journey to the East Written by Hansen Ding As host to the world’s single largest cultural segment, China is often considered to be the sought after Holy Grail in multicultural marketing. In Ying Fan’s seminal “A Classification of Chinese Culture”, contemporary Chinese is said to be so unique that it bears no resemblance to Western OR Eastern cultures. It has eight categories and up to seventy one core values.

The key to longer term success is not to wholly adapt to Chinese values or sternly maintain Western principles, but to build a harmonised and mutually understood relation with Chinese culture as a whole. Swedish furniture giant Ikea’s marketing strategy exhibits not just superficial changes aimed at placating Chinese consumers, but a more holistic cultural understanding.

It is the usual law of supply and demand that companies can raise prices during times of greater demand. Yet Ikea in China will sell umbrellas at half price on rainy days. Aside from the obvious benefit of drawing customers into the store on rainy days, there is a subtler branding effort at work. Ikea is aware that in Chinese business culture, providing something in times of need in favour of short term gains goes towards building a longer term mutually beneficial and reciprocating relationship with clients and partners. True to this ideal of reciprocation, in the month prior to Chinese New Years in 2007 Ikea also promised to donate 10RMB to Unicef China as a gift for each soft toy purchase during the period.

Chinese culture associates the cost and quality of packaging with the quality of products. Though quality is a key positioning of Ikea, rather than bending their principles to adapt to Chinese culture, they didn’t mind going an extra mile and turned their public relations efforts. They informed their Chinese consumers that their current packaging is not because they’re focused on cost cutting, but because it is more environmentally friendly. In this way the patrons have come to know Ikea as socially conscious and down to earth, once again fostering the long term relationship between Ikea and Chinese consumers.

By promoting mutual harmony and understanding over a complete extreme cultural adaptation or resistance, Ikea has managed to continue growing, both in operations and sales, and in the hearts and minds of the Chinese people as a whole. Sourced from Fan, Y. (2000) “A Classification of Chinese Culture”, Cross Cultural Management-An International Journal, 7, 2: 3-10 and Pan, Y. (2007) “Marketing Across Cultures: case study of IKEA

Meet Multicall’s Miss Chanel April Zhang, Multicall’s Account Executive

1) Tell us a little about your role at Multicall Connexions?I love my work as an Account Executive here, working closely on one of our major clients’ Asian strategy & programs. My work also involves looking out for hidden flaws in Chinese ads and publications in order to avoid advertising faux pas like the ‘Ugly’ ones mentioned in this newsletter. 2) What do the Chinese people love as gifts during Chinese New Year?Hong Bao is the traditional Chinese term for gift cash. Cash inside a traditional red paper packet is a welcome gift during the New Year.

3) Do you dream/think in Chinese?Yes! 80% of the time. I love my culture and my language. 4) Touching upon the latest article in a leading newspaper about Chinese parenting being stringent, did your mother ever threaten to burn your soft toys if you didn’t achieve a certain mark in your HSC? Never. I am lucky to have come from a liberal family. Both of my parents are busy working professionals. Being born under China’s one child policy, I enjoyed all my parents’ attention. They never forced me to do anything I disliked. During school, I was never the top-student in class, but my mark sheets were consistently good. My pocket money was often doubled if I did better at school. Overall it was more of a laissez faire style of parenting than the narcissist style described in the article. 5) You’ve got to tell us the secret behind Chinese names? We heard from someone that the children are named on the sounds of a vessel thrown to floor! For many generations now, the Chinese people use the Family name book. They have a certain first name for the next generation babies of that family and nobody can change this. Parents normally name kids according to the time the baby is born, the season and the gender. My name April should tell you when I was born. The vessel naming is more of a rumour!

Happy Chinese New Year to all Multi-Buzz readers!

Multi-BUZZ is brought to you by Multicall. Multicall is a 360° integrated and award winning agency specialising in multicultural marketing and advertising communication. If you are interested in communicating about your products and services with the rapidly growing 10 million + multicultural consumers, you are invited to visit www.multicall.com.au