Click a button, get a translation. That’s what a lot of people think, and who can blame them? So we thought it would be instructive to put a marketing text through a machine and see what happens. What’s the output like? Is it creative? Let’s click ‘n’ see!
Our example: a travel brochure on a small resort town in French Canada. For simplicity’s sake, we took a single French sentence and asked the machine to translate it. This is what it wrote: “Take a stroll along the main street and discover the friendly, welcoming nature of the residents.” Sounds fine, doesn’t it?
But the interesting thing about our example was that a human had already translated the copy. Here’s what the human wrote: “Soak up the cozy friendliness of small-town Quebec with a walk through the old town.”
Wow, that’s not the same! What happened?
Unlike the machine, the translator knew how to target the copy to an audience of English-speaking tourists:
- Remind them they’re in “small-town Quebec” for its exotic appeal.
- Tell them how cozy and friendly it feels and that they’ll want to “soak up” the atmosphere.
- Don’t just say “the main street”—tell them it’s the “old town” where you get a sense of history.
The translator understood that English-speaking visitors to the town might not be looking for the same things as their French-speaking counterparts. The former may want to experience something new and different, whereas the latter may already be familiar with the small-town vibe and just want to shop!
So yes, the machine can translate your marketing materials, but not very effectively.
Part translator, part copywriter
Our example reveals an important truth: you can’t just “translate” a marketing text, as in switch this word for that. You’re not really translating words at all, you’re translating emotional reactions to words.
To do it well, you need a human translator who thinks like a copywriter, someone who knows your audience—what they want, what makes them laugh or cry, what really connects with them. Machines know none of this.
AI and marketing
That’s not to say that marketers aren’t already using artificial intelligence (AI) to draft original copy, such as social media posts. It can be a time saver. But in those cases too, you need a human expert, because things can go wrong—a misstatement, a misconstrued word, missing information—or the style can be tedious or contrived or just plain wrong.
Translation adds an extra layer of complexity. What’s fun and engaging for a US audience could be completely unfamiliar to people elsewhere.
Ask yourself a few questions
Can my translator rhyme a slogan? Can they tell a joke? Can they match our corporate tone and style? Can they talk to teenagers? How about retirees? You need someone who juggles words as easily as you juggle work commitments.
Marketing translators need to have a feel for the local culture. Who are its pop stars? What are its quirks and foibles? What is everyone talking about these days? Machines may know this too, but they have no idea how to use this knowledge in a marketing translation.
An entire marketing division
