How Language And Culture Boost International Commercials

After doing our market research, market intelligence and the like, we matrix down the results to determine which international segments that we can serve to satisfaction from the cheapest means possible. Therefore we need the just one commercial that would appeal to all our segments when we are delivering our message without offending those around them.

The factors that influence appeal to an international audience are diverse and cannot be distinguishably grouped by just countries. Some of these factors are shared among countries while in others they totally defer with countries which gives a tricky task for marketers to develop a commercial. However translation agencies have discovered that language and culture attributes can be used to contract and harmonize all country attitude disparities to deliver an international media message successfully.

Some of the following language and cultural factors can be traced in Coca cola commercials and that could be the reason they are globally successful.

Language

Language can be selectively used to a wider coverage. Although English comes 3rd as an internationally widely spoken language after Chinese Mandarin and Spanish, yet the adverts made in English for the globe popularize more than the two languages.  Mandarin and Spanish have biggest number of speakers than English but are not commonly used for international commercials because they are concentrated only in Europe and Asian countries as English covers the whole globe including Africa. The most global entrepreneurs are employing translation services to boast their commercials. Of course most cases English is used because much as it may not be actively spoken, it is actively understood but it is very rewarding to translate your commercial into the local language of the target audience

Language can be tuned to appeal to social classes of people.  Here language is further distributed among the demographics. The educated mostly prefer formal language to jargons while the uneducated prefer localized jargons to formal language. However the language used in international commercials should be neutral to both classes. Research shows that both classes would prefer an educational language for a commercial, for example telling impacts that could be avoided if one used their company’s product.

 Language is a symbol of cultural pride. Therefore one international commercial can be translated into several native languages to get attention of the native speakers who think that their language is superior to other languages.

Cultural

Culture can be used to appeal to international demographics. It is important for an international advertiser to look for the culture that cuts across the entire globe and bases on that to deliver their message. For example the culture of teenagers across the globe is outing, partying and dancing. The most popular global adverts around the latter captivate the youth’s attention to listen to the message and further buy the product.

Cultural achievements. The uniqueness of a certain culture to the globe can facilitate an international commercial to succeed. For example the commercials for world cup are set around Brazilian cultural dance to reflect hospitality and entertainment that the spectators should expect to receive during their stay in Brazil because globally the Brazilian dance is recognized as greatly entertaining.

 The culture attitudes that cut across the target audience have to be considered.   For example most parents in Africa disapprove teenage dating or skimpy dresses. An advert made with such a background would not appeal to the elders in Africa and would provoke a lot of judgments. In London it’s a universal culture that prevails therefore exhibiting one’s native culture in a commercial for such a place may be unappealing to the public.

The cultural universalism can used to link your commercial for appeal. The western culture is generally and globally perceived as simple yet stylish; from the dress code to language. Therefore an international commercial set in the western culture tend rank more to cultural specific ones. Most airline companies situate their commercials to portray the kind of hospitality service that travelers will receive inside the plane to be a western culture one because it is more universally appropriate for any person in a new place than other cultures, although it always to backed up with the native culture of where the journey is destined.

Business that target foreign markets are encouraged to utilize translation services to boost their market potential. However, culture is very critical in this case. We have heard of many advertising and marketing translation blunders and therefore culture should be keenly observed while undertaking any marketing or advertising translation for a specific audience. Business can avoid this by employing the services of a professional translation agency rather than dealing direct with individual translators. This is because translation agencies often have a pool of qualified and professional linguists capable of translating advertising or marketing materials in a way suitable for the intended audience.