Language Barriers
Language
barriers can be a major issue when using a standardised marketing strategy;
this is because an organisation is marketing its company’s products/service to
a multi-national market. Because of this there will be many different cultures
and languages used. A company, when using a standardised marketing strategy,
needs to find a way for their organisation to be understood worldwide, with as
little confusion and misunderstandings as possible. These can lead to
catastrophes within the company which are quite quickly publicised and viewed
as a sign of incompetence. In a global marketplace, language barriers, when
marketing a product/service can be a difficult obstacle to avoid. According to
bbc.co.uk/languages, “It’s estimated that up to 7,000 different languages are spoken around the world.” Because
of the large amount of languages spoken globally, marketing a product/service
is difficult because of the communication barriers that are formed through
these thousands of languages. It is very difficult to market and advertise a
product/service globally when there are numerous amounts of languages spoken.
Many aspects that can’t be displayed visually for a product/service can be lost
in translation to foreign spoken viewers/potential consumers and customers.
Here is an
example of an organisation which has failed at global business due to language
barriers.
"All
pictures or symbols are not interpreted the same across the world: Workers at
the African port of Stevadores saw the "internationally recognized"
symbol for "fragile" (i.e. broken wine glass) and presumed it was a
box of broken glass. Rather than waste space they threw all the boxes into the
sea" (Neil Payne, 2008, proz.com). This demonstrates a loss in
communication within an organisation due to language barriers and cultural
differences.
Another
example but from a higher end of the business spectrum, from a managerial and
chairman level is when “After meeting recently with President Obama to
discuss the Deepwater Horizon oil-spill disaster, Svanberg informed the world’s
media, “We care about the small people. I hear comments sometimes that large
oil companies, or greedy companies, don’t care. But that is not case in BP; we
care about the small people.”
The problem is that Svanberg, a Swede, is a fluent
English speaker but not a native one and appears not to have consulted a
professional linguist making his pronouncement. So, while Svanberg was trying
to sound caring, humble and apologetic by saying that that BP cared about the
ordinary folks affected by the oil spill, his clumsy use of English ended up
making both him and BP instead sound lofty, remote and out-of-touch, if not
arrogant and condescending.” [online]www.translationswave.com
This shows a language barrier between an English
spoken, Swedish born chairman of the BP oil company, trying to give a sincere
apology, but instead, due to bad English, offends thousands. The product of a
scenario like this is bad publicity to the company, and a reputation of being informal
and heartless.
Another product which was lost in translation is
the 1971-1980 Ford Pinto, according to James Sunshine,
after release of the product the Brazilians shortly turned away the opportunity
as “'pinto' is slang for 'tiny male genitals' in Brazil”
According to GNN money reports, “Coors' slogan
"turn it loose"” translates to Spanish, “get loose bowels”” and for a
company which produces alcoholic beverage which are often enjoyed in a social
environment, this translation could sway a Spanish speaking customer far away
from that product.
References
·
[online] viewed 2013, Top 10 translation blunders of international marketing, PR and branding,
http://www.translationswave.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=63:translation&catid=34:articles&Itemid=41
·
[online] James Sunshine, 8/11/2012, ‘11 Brand Names That Sound
Hilarious In A Different Language’ at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/10/lost-in-translation-brands_n_1765812.html#slide=1362544
·
[online] GNN money reports, 8/11/2012, ‘11 Brand Names That Sound
Hilarious In A Different Language’ at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/10/lost-in-translation-brands_n_1765812.html#slide=1362544
Appendix
An example of a product that has been badly
marketed rather than a business and its employees is America’s leading brand of
baby food “
best-known makers of baby food but “gerber” can also be translated into French
as “to vomit” – somewhat limiting for the brand’s next global marketing push. Wisely
therefore, the name is not marketed in France” [online]www.translationswave.com
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