Advertising and communication
Is it possible to translate advertising texts? No, it is not. When reading a brochure, a webpage or an advertising slogan in your native language, have you ever found yourself thinking “No one would say it like that! That has to be a translation.”
Sometimes, that which would be seen as artistic freedom in the translation of a novel or a poem, something which would be expected, discussed, even praised in that situation, elicits the comment “but that is not what it says in the source text” in connection with the translation of an advertising text. This is often an indication that someone has underestimated the creativity of advertising, and thus of advertising translation.
What can be done? One option is to send the job to an advertising agency in the target country; however, that tends to be rather expensive and is often complicated by the foreign language aspect. The other possibility is to have your advertising or promotional texts translated into the foreign language, tweaked and, if necessary, conceptually interpreted by specialised translators whom you know and trust. Our translators have the right instinct for these kinds of text. Rather than adhering blindly to the source text, they focus on how people actually say things in the target language.
