Oslo, Norway – 15 May, 2017 – International companies tend to centralise the production of marketing materials. These texts are usually written in English and then translated into multiple languages afterwards. But when this is done by professional translators, more often than not the result simply does not cut it. A well-written marketing text that has originally been produced in English may actually not sell the company’s product or service in the target country; not even when the translation is error-free, grammatically correct and a perfect rendition of the source text.
Why is this so? It is due to the cultural differences between countries, which are sometimes subtle and other times surprisingly evident. A convincing argument for buying a particular brand of toothpaste in the USA, for example, may have little or no impact on a Norwegian audience.
So what is the solution? Well, it certainly isn’t to use a translator who is trained to stick to the source text. The answer is to use a native copywriter who understands the local market and is skilled at adapting the source language. Sometimes, this requires only basic adjustments. Other times, it requires a full rewrite.
“A company’s global headquarters usually sends translated texts to local country offices for approval. These texts are often found lacking in their ability to engage the local market. The local office then spends a lot of man-hours editing and sometimes even re-translating the marketing texts from scratch. Even then, if they do not have a local copywriter, the result may still not be as good as it should be,” says Samtext’s Creative Director Line Jacobsen. “Using a professional local copywriter with a sound understanding of the source language ensures company time is not wasted in this way. The copywriters at Samtext do this for a living, and strive to write the very best texts for the customer. Our philosophy is simple: to provide a text that actually works.”
Maintaining the company’s gold
“The importance of quality when it comes to the company’s products and services is fully understood by any management. Successful marketing conveys that quality. Our view is that the company’s standards must not be degraded by poor handling of cultural differences using mediocre translations. Any marketing text in any language can be rewritten so that it is just as effective in another language and country, if not more so,” concludes Samtext’s CEO Trond Samstad.
For more details about Norwegian copywriters, go to http://www.samtext.no/tjenester/samtext-creative/tekstforfatter/
About Samtext
With its unique positioning in the Nordic market, Samtext is one of Northern Europe’s leading providers of language services to business. The company is headquartered in Norway, and has offices in Finland, Sweden, Denmark, the UK and Germany. Samtext’s services include copywriting, editing, proof-reading, translation and production design in many specialist fields.
Media contacts:
Line Jacobsen
Creative Manager
+47 22 80 52 15
line.jacobsen@samtext.com
Trond Samstad
CEO
+47 22 80 52 10
trond.samstad@samtext.com
Media Contact
Company Name: Samtext
Contact Person: Line Jacobsen
Email: line.jacobsen@samtext.com
Phone: +47 22 80 52 15
Address:Grenseveien 97 NO-0663
City: Oslo
Country: Norway
Website: www.samtext.no/tjenester/samtext-creative/tekstforfatter