SLLC Postgraduate Taught Programmes Assessed Coursework Marksheet & Feedback

ID No.: ?5 | Li i t D L Course Unit Code &Tit le: ELAN 60192 Commercial Translat ionTit le of Essay or Assignment: Assignment 1 ot 2

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1. Understanding of Topic:

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Introduction

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Globalizing Strategy in Advertising Translation

1rntroduction or* t$5"/One of the most significant current discussions in commercial translat ion is 16

adaptation in cross-cultural advertising. The rapid development of technology has made it easier to

expand business to every corner of the world; yet meeting the needs of or creating demands for

people with diverse cultural backgrounds was consequenttVft"ro*" a new challenge that

businessmen in all industries face. It is known that the brand name of each company adds value to

its productsrand brands have become an incentivegflpeople's purchasing behaviour. France, in

Carolyn Sumbelg's 'Brand Leadership at Stake'(2004), is viewed as a brand which is to be' . w,lil'" ,.promored inEry@na. But from the fact that the number of Erlglsh tourists in France have

decreased, and that Spain has replaced France as the country whic|.British most desire to visit, it

becomes apparent that there are some problems with the promotion of the brand, France. Viewing

this phenomenon, Sumberg (2004) argues that one of the problems with the promotion is the

translation of the tourism brochures. She claims that "in spite of the fact that advertising texts need

to fulfil a precise function in the target culture, translators still seem to aim for linguistic

equivalence rather than localising or adapting to target language conventions" (2004:329) and by

examining and analyzing the translation strategies of some brochures that introducef French cities

that are translated into English, and comparing the translated brochures to those that are originally

written in English to introduce cities in the UK, she validates her assertion. However, her research

is limited in the tourism industry and the location and language is limited in the United Kingdom

and France. Could similar examples be found in other industries, countries and language pairs? To

address the above question, this essay aims to examine the validity of the above assertion within a

different context' --

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jj" la)t cu..a^/ l^uru2. Scope of the essay @\l

Munday (2004) has given very detailed explanation of what translation of advertising is and

its current situation infdsociety nowadays. The translation of advertising requires strategies that

are different from the translation of technical, religious and literary texts. The difficulties of the task

and the degree of creativity one needs for rendition might be similar to the translation of poetry. But

the function and purpose of commercial advertising is to persuade people to consume, which is also

what the translation should prioritize and achieve. To ensure the effectiveness, text, along with

image and sound need to be put into consideration as a whole when translating adverts. This is why

Munday asserts that culture, instead of text, should be the unit of translation for advertisements

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(2004). Despite the importance of viewing all elements presented in the source adverts as a whole

that gsd should be translated all together, the discussion in this essay restricfitself to the

comparison of textual pairs only'. -J.-nf cerhtu f- I1*^ ol"^"'n"?'

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3. Definition of key terms gr<r>olrT t* r-f,-l d ./'Gt\L (,F

Since the translation of advertising hab crossed into the other disciplines, the translation

theoriesthatweredevelopedinthepastwillevidentlyn""aE@ffi| 'm,ofother

disciplines. The translation strategies of advertising that translators apply can be categorized into

three types. The first one, as in Sumberg's (2004) assertion mentioned above, is localization. And

the second type, as opposed to the first type is, in Sumberg's words, to "aim for linguistic

equivalenc e"(20A4329). This tendency may be favoured or disliked depending on the context in

which it is applied. For Venuti, this method has the advantage of arousing awareness to the pre- ^aft

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existing cultural values and belief in the target language (1993:68). Venuti recognizes it as a y?r"W

strategy called, "foreignizing", which is a useful ethnodeviant method that would help balance the/,F'ffi)

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However, when the purpose of the translation is to persuade rather than challenge the target readers, 61r{w-

foreignizing could be the worst method for it risks the effectiveness of the adverts. The third HhffI

strategy, which neither follotor violatJthe conventions of the target language and culture, isAg".A

globalizing. This is a notion that I bonowp'ftomAlden, Steenkamp and Batra (1999). They

propose that there are three types of strategies for brand positioning: local consumer culture

positioning (LCCP), foreign consumer culture positioning (FCCP), and global consumer culture

positioning (GCCP). To fuither explicate the strategies, I will take the adverts of beer in Taiwan for

example, and look at how the three strategies are applied on the textual level. By textual level, I

mean the slogan or catch phrase of each of the brand's printed ads. The slogan ofAsahi, a Japanese

brand, is "Htr!" [back translation: ohlhow sweet!]. The word, 'tf ', which means 'sweet', sounds

the same as'ffi', which is a very colloquial Taiwanese phrase for 'cheers'. This association of the

brand with the Taiwanese phrase is clearly a strategic approach of LCCP. The slogan that represents

FCCP rs"W,# , Wffi" [back translation: joy, drink freely] by American beer brand, Miller. These

phrases are of "low-context", which as Hofstede claims. is the characteristic of communication style

in individualism-oriented culture (1991). This low-context slogan, when placed in Taiwanese

society whose culture is more dominated by collectivism, is thus seen as associating with the

foreign consumer culture. Finally, Heineken, as a globally positioned brand, has "green your heart"

as its slogan. It reflects the need of people living in the globalized world, who are under the

pressure of rapid changes and fast pace, to relax. Resorting to the global consumer's common value

Wi

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is one aspect of GCCP strategy, the use of English words is another, for many languages portray

certain images that are stereotypical (1991:77). While the Taiwanese associate French and ltalian

with romance, English is associated with globalization. Hence all three types of consumer cultural

positioning can be found in beer brands advertising in Taiwan. Parallel to the strategies of

translation, LCCP would then correspond to localizing and FCCP to foreignizing. I argue that there

'tJE.-is a translation strategy that corresponds to GCCP, which would be 'globalizing'. This translation *:Wstrategy can also be seen as the concrete manifestation of the metaphorical framework, introcultural

theory, advanced by Ho (2004:228). In this theory translation is identified as a eugenic baby, which

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'r"a -art'lis constructed by the best genes, or the strengths ofboth source and target culture through the v

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$;,Hprocess called 'introcultural', as the introgression process of genetic engineering.

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Having identified the existence of a new type of strategy, it is now possible to examine the

application of it with the real examples. For the purpose of this essay, three websites are Lrrot,|rgJ -U

. jneg@Theselectionoftourismwebsitesisbasedmainlyontwolevelsof

categorization: the first is based on the ownership of the websites, i.e. whether they are privately-

owned or government-owned (official websites); the second kind of categorization is based on who

the publisher is, i.e., whether the publishers are foreigners or domestic citizens. The three websites

are: TTNews, a privately-owned tourism website published by local Taiwanese; Taichung Compass

city guide, a privately-owned website published by two foreigners (Douglas Habecker and Courtney

Donovan Smith); and Taichung traveling guide, the official Taichung (a city in the middle of

Taiwan) tourism website published by local govemment officials. Because of the constraint of time

and space, only the sub-categorizations on the homepage of the three websites will be examined.

The analysis sequence is to first compare the two privately-owned websites'homepage and find out

the differences of the sub-categories and discuss how culture plays a contributing factor regarding

to the phenomena. Next, I will see if the differences appear in the Mandarin and English version of

the official website as well.

Both privately/owned websites are promoting the same brand, Taichung, but their strategies

are different. Compass'brand positioning strategy is FCCP, and TTNews'brand positioningt , ,

strategy is LCCP. From Table # i" the appendix" cultural differences can be analyzed. First of all,

gastronomy is categorized differently. While Taiwanese value snacks, westerners value afternoon

tea. Shopping information is very different as well. Much more information is provided for the local

people. The categorization of leisure activities is also different. Especially note the inclusion of

night life in Compass while it is not mentioned in TTNews.

"l

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Then as we examine if the differences of the cultures appears in the English and Mandarin

versions of the government's website, we can see from Table ft t"the appendix that there are

basically two features. First, food is condensed into one category, which reduces the importance of

different kinds of food. It is a globalizing strategy because it emphasizes the brand but does not risk

discouraging consumers that might find all the subcategories unattractive. Second, the theme of

shopping is not one of the sub-categories in the English version of this website. It shows that global

tourists aim for understanding diverse culture when they travel, for in this globalized world, where

export and import are done much more rapidly and frequently, people can buy products from all

over the world without the necessity of traveling.

5. Conclusion

English is the offrcial language of many countries which have distinct cultures, so it is" ,.rnclcor-do t,r. d; '1rs:rbL v a{c/\ Jagv,,K+' 7

possible to, or even 'shoulff' localize the'translation accordingly (the offrcial French tourism website

is a typical model of this localizing translation strategy, for the homepage of the American,

Canadian and British version, which are all written in English, have different sub-categories).

However, for administrative districts that do not have sufficient people with high language

competency, it is hard to adopt the localizing strategy. The best they can do is to prevent

foreignizing their translation, which means making the target texts neutral, informative, and clear.

Hence my argumentation is that the use of English itself can be viewed as a globalizing translation

strategy, which is not, in Sumberg's words, "adaptinglrget language conventions" but adapting6

target culture-conventions. The finding here is somehow based on qualitative research v#iehmight

Wi,ffigh.Thusfurtherquantitativeresearchisrequiredtogainthevalidityand

objectivity of this finding. ?. \6o.'r i

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word count: 1800

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,d'References

DanaL.,Jan-Benedict E. M. Steenkamp & Rajeev Batra (1999) 'Brand Positioning

ThroughAdvertising inAsia, NorthAmerica, and Europe: The Role of Global Consumer

Culture' The Journal of Marketing 63(l):75-87.

2. Chan,Ding-Yu (2006) 'A Culture Exploration on BeerAdvertisement: Case Study ofAsi4

Europe, and America Brands in Taiwan' Journal of Jing Yi Univ ersity 3 6:l -21thJU (,>

3. Compass Taiihung City Gu-ide: http:iiuuw.tair.ranlun.corl/centralitaichung/indcx.htnt [last

accessed 12 March 20101.

4. Ho, George (2004) 'TranslatingAdvertisements across Heterogeneous Cultures',TIte Translator

10(2):221-243.t/^'

5. Hofstede$z(tf tl Cultures and Organizations: Sortware of the Mind,New York: McGraw-Hill.

6. Mnnday, Jeremy (2004) 'Advertising: Some challenges to translation theory', The TTanslator 10

(2),199-219.

7. Sumberg, Carolyn (2004) 'Brand Leadership at Stake Selling France to British Tourists', Zfte

Transl ator l0 (2) :329 -3 53 .

8. Taichung Traveling Net: http:r'ltravel.tccg.gov.trr'/englishihome.asp fiast accessed 12 March

20101.

9. Taichung Traveling Net Chinese version : http:/itravcl.tccg.gor'.trlr'home.asp [last accessed 12

March 20101.

l0.Venuti, Lawrence (1993) 'Translation as Cultural Politics: Regimes of domestication in English',

Tbxtual Practice 7 .208-23.

/

1. Alden,

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Appendix

THEMES Compass TTNews

gasuonomy DININGTEA/COFFEE

,J.nZ*A [snack]+Af+Ig [cuisine]trF#+A finternational food]

general introductory text/news ARTICLESINFORMATIONTRAVELHEADLINESWHAI'S ON

tA +'frtr*f ffi [raichunetraveling news]

lR trfir<ffi*#E U G EU [spec ialtravel planl

shopping SHOPPING *fR@H [sales and coupons]

^6+4fR*R*R lsales in

Taichungl

ffitfrffiffitrZ [recommendedshopsll5ffiA#+n [shopping]H+ H+g ffashion shopping]ffiEFFt€tr€ [shoppingareas guide]

accommodation REAL ESTATE Tx..fftttr [travelaccommodation]

leisure ARTS/LEISURE,MOVIESMUSIC SCENENIGHT LIFE

t6 +4.itr'ftffi ltaichuneleisure activitiesl

tfr +gliffEj: [taichungart activitiesleH)f'f H [tourism activities]

things that the other websitedoes not include

HUMOURCLASSIFIEDSPERSONALSLANGUAGE EXCHANGEABOUT USMAGAZINESUBSCzuPTION

*f HfHffi fnews photosgalleryl

Table 1

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THEMES Chinese version Enslish version

gastronomy AEi6F lTaichungcuisine]

Cuisine Guide

general introductorytext/news

fr-ffifi?ffi [thematictour]fixffiHifl [travelinformationl

"*Kffi-fr F lget toknow Taichung]A tffi [bulleting]F*fiH,H' [news]frHorFFJ lhotdestinationli6Fr{R;R [activitiesnews]ifi-ffitftffr [travelingnews]

+EffiI1TE[recommended tourplanl

welcome to TaichunsTour guideLocal expert guideTourist informationTop 10 tourist attractionsTravel ServiceHot newsHot spots

shopping ffififfiW fshoppingareas]

accommodation /-i- r=+ti*IT lFI fE I+J

[accommodationguidel

leisure

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things that the otherwebsite does notinclude

ifrE EE [activitiescalenderlffiXHf,* [shopregistrationltfuW6^ [streetartistsltr F"EVffi [servicesfor citizens]

IE*'€AH leafletsand brochures]PATT+ tu lsearchshopsl'tfr#rt#ffi [activitiesgalleryl!-tHnE=+Et rJI ' tJEJ fX

[subscribe e-newspaper]+E4frtEffi [inks]

E-mapAction [ink]

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