Cultural and linguistic audits provide in-depth, local insights which can be used to determine how best to communicate with a particular audience. By reviewing communication materials and assessing the scope for change, we can provide a more seamless and efficient localisation process.
Areas we’d recommend for frequent localisation review are:
- Gender stereotypes: Different cultures look at gender in different ways. With public perception constantly changing across the globe, content needs to be reflective of these changes in attitudes and aware of local differentiation.
- Images and visual cues: A love heart symbol might be little more than a ‘save to favourites’ shopping icon in one culture, but can resemble something much more meaningful in another. It’s important to know the differences and where it’s appropriate to use certain images.
- Colours: Colour can be used to convey a wide range of messages and emotions, but these can differ drastically from culture to culture. Black, for example, might be chic in Europe, but in China the colour represents death—two very different perceptions.
During our auditing process, you’ll be in the hands of cultural and linguistic pros. Our intricate process enables both agencies and global companies to fully understand the cultural pitfalls they need to be aware of in order to communicate with impact in all markets.
How does it work for marketing content?
For marketing materials, we’ll take a deep dive into your collateral. Auditing everything from brand colours to whole creative campaigns to understand how likely they are to engage your audience in certain markets.
For example, in some markets, informal language is appropriate and works effectively, whereas other markets prefer brands that are more formal in their tone of voice. A cultural and linguistic audit would identify where a campaign that uses casual language may not be appropriate, so a revised tone for can be developed early on.
What is involved in Training and Learning programmes?
In the case of learning and training, we help to identify where the challenges might lie with translating source material. We also identify where topics or phraseology may run into difficulties in certain cultures, meaning you can make decisions early about how to overcome them.
As an example, in English material, it is becoming more common to use the phrase ‘partner’ to ensure inclusivity. In some markets, both culturally and linguistically, this phrase can be misinterpreted and therefore problematic. In identifying this early on, design decisions can be taken about how to manage this issue prior to starting the translation process.