Why Are Some Marketers Still Lost In Translation?

One of the aspects of my career I like the most is the opportunity to mentor young professionals, and a few days ago, I received a request from someone asking for my advice. She has been asked to help her employer, an ad agency, translate a creative idea created for the “general market” (which means Anglo Caucasian consumers) from English into Spanish to target Hispanics with it.

The task itself was not a problem. While she is not a translator and her current job description doesn’t include translating materials to Spanish, the work was relatively simple for someone who is a native Spanish speaker, as she is. What concerned her was the fact that the idea itself was not something that would be relevant to Hispanic consumers, and no matter how well she could do the translation, the ad could still be ineffective, and she might be blamed for it.

Based on my experience, I can share that this scenario happens almost every day across agencies. What is behind it? Sometimes, the excuse is that there are not enough funds to hire experts (agencies) to do the “right” job; you know, “budgets are very tight.” In other instances, it’s the fact that old misconceptions are still prevalent, such as the one that confuses Hispanic marketing with marketing in Spanish.

Either scenario can be reinforced by a General Market agency desperate to increase or retain revenue, telling their clients that their ideas work for all consumers, and a translated version of their ads could be generated for free, thanks to a great Spanish-speaking creative team they just hired.

Unfortunately for clients, translation strategies based on efficiencies and cutting corners may ultimately sacrifice effectiveness. While on paper it may seem to deliver savings, the cost is greater, as this strategy tends to use the bulk of the budget on media plans airing subpar and less relevant ideas that may even damage the brand’s reputation. Most clients that use translation as a strategy may end up achieving something between irrelevance and negative ROI.

Below are a few reasons translation is not a viable strategy when approaching diverse segments:

1 – Translation doesn’t reflect a different culture

Most translated executions reflect the environment and culture of the target for which they were created. Most ads in America are created by and for Anglo Caucasians, and they tend to reflect a world seen from an Anglo Caucasian perspective.

That doesn’t mean that this world is better or worse from a different reality lived by a diverse consumer; it’s just a different reality and could be reflected in a choice of casting, dialogues, music, and even the story narrative. This gap between lived experiences and marketing messaging may create a perception that the brand in question “doesn’t get” the consumers they are trying to reach.

Also, it is important to mention that the opposite is hard to achieve, as sometimes clients ask their agencies to create “the most inclusive and representative creative idea ever” and risk making an ad that doesn’t resonate with anyone, as it looks artificial and unauthentic.

2 – Diverse segments may offer a different business opportunity

When brands automatically assume their existing creative campaigns may work with diverse segments by just translating them, they may be making the dangerous assumption that diverse consumers perceive and use their products and services the same way white Caucasian consumers do.

For instance, many brands may have a marketing objective of increasing frequency of consumption, while household penetration amongst diverse consumers is still below the national benchmark. Hence, a translated ad focused on increasing frequency towards diverse segments may not work well.

3 – Translation may not capture humor correctly

One of the most underestimated aspects of communications to diverse segments is how relevant humor can be to create authentic narratives and increase the probability of higher effectiveness. Humor is compelling as a catalyst of cultural subtleties and offers a range of possibilities that varies from more traditional to a more contemporary and fresh approach.

4 – Translation ignores the contextual/situational aspect of a creative idea

Also underestimated when crafting a creative message to diverse segments is how effective the nuances of a creative idea can be in creating a stronger connection between message and consumer/prospect.

A simple example could be a creative idea that requires a small family gathering at home. If you want to feel more authentic in the eyes of a Hispanic consumer, this “small” family gathering would probably showcase at least ten different people, including multiple generations of a household and some extended family members (and some other non-blood related friends we are used to calling ‘tío” and “tía”).

5 – Translation is about efficiencies, not effectiveness

For all the reasons above and many more, it’s been documented by different market studies like Nielsen and ANA/AIMM that translating an ad from the general market to diverse segments may be 3x to 4x less effective than crafting original ideas.

While budget restrictions may make a translation approach viable or acceptable, they may only make it harder for brands to capture the full potential of marketing to diverse segments since the limited budget would have a low probability of a positive ROI. Worse, this failed experience may fuel the negative perception that marketing to diverse segments doesn’t work.

For years, marketers were concerned about being “lost in translation” and failing on a campaign because they used the wrong words in their translation. But it’s 2022, and gone are the days when campaigns could be translated to Spanish as an effective way to connect the Hispanic segment. Nowadays, a marketer is lost by just considering translation as a strategy.