Transcreation faux pas: Apple Siri goes bottom up in Japan
By Gordon Husbands | Conquest, International marcoms | 2 responses so far
Not really a fitting epitaph for Steve Jobs, but a search for “Siri buttocks” on Twitter will quickly reveal a missed opportunity for transcreation.
Clearly someone, somewhere did not do any copy/concept testing in key markets before going ahead with the launch creative etc.
Transcreation: just good customer service?
By Gordon Husbands | Conquest, Cultural sensitivity, International marcoms, Transcreation | 2 responses so far
Over recent months there has been a rush by translation companies to jump on the ‘transcreation bandwagon’ and even a few blog posts calling it a new service or just spouting dubious sales-speak. But surely the question of when to transcreate versus translate is really more about what level of customer service we want to deliver in which country or to what target audience?
Firstly, the word ‘transcreation’ – it’s not new
At Wordbank we have been providing this service since the mid ’90s – our Conquest™ service was launched in 1997 specifically to offer a better way of adapting creative copy to different local markets. Indeed, I first heard the term back in 1996. It was coined by a European advertising agency executive laboriously making a point about how marketing should be properly adapted rather than just translated.
Smacks more of trans-plagiarism
By Gordon Husbands | Conquest | No comment yet
Advertising breaks during the US annual Superbowl – American Football – continue to generate huge attention and publicity – often for the wrong reasons.
The wardrobe malfunction
Witness the infamous and shocking (was it really?) Janet Jackson exposed nipple incident at Super Bowl XXXVIII with Justin Timberlake in 2004!
Accident or deliberate?
This year’s commercial break has again got the ad. industry buzzing – LinkedIn was awash with comment almost immediately and Adage soon ran the story.
“Does Coke’s Super Bowl Ad Look a Lot Like Old Israeli Dairy Spot?“
To many Israelis this ad and the music look very similar to an ad run in Israel for Yotvata, a dairy in the Israeli desert. And yes, it was for another cold, refreshing drink.
