When translating some special business documents, especially technical documents and marketing material, it’s very important the translator understands the terms of the industry, or in the case of marketing material, can understand the message the marketing material is conveying. In marketing material, tag lines and phrases can often include play on words or local sayings that wouldn’t convey the same message if translated directly, word for word.
For example, when Schweppes launched their tonic water in Italy, they translated it as “toilet water” instead of tonic water, and Pepsi used a slogan in China that read “Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the dead”, instead of the equivalent english slogan, “Come alive with Pepsi”!
And some companies used local traditions in their marketing, which flopped when used overseas. For example, when Proctor & Gamble started selling its Pampers diapers in Japan, it used an image of a stork delivering a baby on the packaging. This caused confusion in Japan and only when it was too late, they figured out that the Japanese weren’t linking on with this at all – in Japan, giant floating peaches bring babies to their parents!
It also costs companies money – HSBC had to spend 10 million USD to totally re-brand after their tagline “Assume Nothing” was translated in many countries as “Do Nothing” – sound advice from a bank!
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