Do Not Make These Mistakes in Översättning Från Engelska Till Svenska

Becoming global can seem very lucrative to many companies. Such development help companies gain new contracts, meet new customers and suppliers alike. However, in order to become global, companies need to understand many unfamiliar cultures in depth. Many companies in the past have made disastrous marketing mistakes in an effort to become global. Companies with a global ambition should hire a

• versättningsbyrå

to communicate with a new culture. Without professional help, companies can face considerable credibility and monetary losses in an unfamiliar territory. The following is a list of such mistakes made by various companies in the past.

IKEA in Thailand

Swedish chain, IKEA wanted to introduce their famous beds and sofas to Thai consumers in 2014. IKEA used the term ‘Redalen’ to introduce its assemble-it-yourself product. This term translated in Thai meant ‘getting to the third base’. Such translations posed considerable problems for IKEA as the firm relies on tongue-twisting Scandinavian names to introduce its furniture products. IKEA also used ‘Jättebra’ term for identifying a plant pot. The loose translation of this term meant sex in the Thai language (James Hookway, IKEA'S PRODUCTS MAKE SHOPPERS BLUSH IN THAILAND, 2012). Such mistakes can be embarrassing for companies and can also cause irreversible damage to a product line. Hence, whether a company requires översättning Svenska till Engelska or Swedish to Thai, it should hire quality translators.

KFC in China

It is important for companies to present their best side during a launch. KFC could not achieve this during their launch in China. KFC introduced itself with the famous slogan "Finger-lickin' good" in China. However, due to mistranslation, the slogan was changed to ‘eat-your-fingers-off’. However, KFC recovered from this blunder very quickly. Today, it operates more than 4,400 restaurants in more than 850 cities in China (Chad Brooks, Lost in Translation: 8 International Marketing Fails, 2013).

Electrolux in USA

Translators can make mistakes and cause embarrassment for companies because they do not understand the cultural context. For example, Swedish home appliances brand, Electrolux attracted negative attention towards their vacuum cleaners in USA. Their tagline for their vacuum cleaners was ‘nothing sucks like an Electrolux’. This is grammatically correct, but a poor tagline for introducing a product in USA. The usage of ‘sucks’ in English has come to mean something or someone of a poor quality or build. Similarly, American Beer company Coors, introduced its slogan, ‘turn it loose’ in Spanish. This also received negative attention as this phrase in colloquial term is used for having diarrhea. Such poor translations can establish a brand image as less than knowledgeable or impolite in a local culture. Hence, it is important for companies to hire translators who also understand the cultural context. Translators can be hired who have experience in the local culture. Similarly, Vicks introduced its cough drops in Germany without identifying that the local pronunciation of "v" is "f". This error turned "Vicks" into a slang for sexual intercourse (Geoffrey James, 20 EPIC FAILS IN GLOBAL BRANDING, 2014).

Such errors can not only be embarrassing for companies but would be difficult to erase from public memories for a long time. Such errors can also cost considerable marketing investments to resurrect a brand image. Therefore, whether companies are looking for översättning från Engelska till Svenska or English to Arabic, companies should hire professional translators. One company which provides such translations in a wide variety of languages is Novoterm.