By admin | February 20, 2017 | Categories:
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London Fashion Week 2017 has drawn to a close after showcasing many of the UK’s finest emerging and established fashion brands. It offers these brands tremendous exposure, with every seam and cut discussed in detail online. However, does this attention translate globally?
The problem is that the majority of this coverage, attention and output is in English. The reality of the global market, however, is that English is not as widely used as many think. In fact, only 28% of people online speak English [1], so getting a brand’s message across is not as simple as it may at first seem.
The internet is a natural home for fashion, offering instant access to a global market hungry for the very latest products. Leading to events like London Fashion Week live streaming shows and using social media to create ‘hype’ more efficiently and effectively than ever before to exploit this.
However, brands often overlook just how challenging it is to communicate with these global markets. Online, over 90% of consumers prefer their own language [2], which means having output in just one language (such as English) may not be enough for many brands.
If a brand has spent considerable time building a reputation for style, innovation or other values that are relevant to the consumers they are targeting, then they need to be sure that this translates. Under these circumstances, one language or simple, direct translation into the desired languages may be insufficient.
Getting these more intangible brand elements and values across to your audience requires more understanding and more creativity.
Brands working in a global market need to be sure that their translated messages promote their ethos and beliefs while remaining sensitive to local cultural and social expectations. This is exactly what localisation and transcreation services are designed to do.
So, any brands wanting to translate London Fashion Week attention and excitement into global success need make sure they consider their audience. If their brand has a message or attitude it wants to convey, then using right words and tone in the right language is imperative. As sometimes such nuanced messages can get lost in translation (or lack of), if not done with consideration.