Hispanic/Latino Market: Lost in Translation
As a person who is Spanish/English bilingual and bicultural, there is nothing more frustrating than picking up a product, magazine or advertisement where the words were changed into Spanish, using an auto-translation program. The mere gesture of changing the words from English to Spanish is not translation and it is not enough for me.
I’m a Mom, small business owner, well read, well traveled, and head of household. I am Spanish/English bilingual and bicultural. I am your target market. At the store, I pick up a product from Company-A. I read both the English and Spanish labeling (remember, I’m bilingual, as are many of the approximately 52 million Hispanics/Latinos in the United States). If I see that Company-A has changed the words from English to Spanish while syntax, context, and grammar are wrong, I will promptly put your product back on the shelf.
Instead, I will buy the product from Company-B (next to yours) with an English only label. Company-B is not insulting my intelligence, language and culture. Although Company-A initially captured my attention; ultimately, their poor translation makes me think and feel that they are not as interested in me, the Hispanic/Latino consumer, as they may expect.
Company-A wants to sell the product, I get it. But think of it this way, your marketing department would never allow you to advertise and market a product in Maine exactly the same way you would in Texas, right?!
So why assume that using an auto-translation application to change your message from English to Spanish, verbatim, will work?
Why assume that Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans and Argentinians (to name only a few) use the same colloquialisms or eat the same comfort foods. We are many cultures with differing traditions. Each market is specific.
My tip to any business or company hoping to cash in on the US 52 million strong Hispanic/Latino market: Splurge and use a real, Spanish speaking person to translate!
Better yet, if you are marketing your products to groups of Mexican descent, use a translator from Mexico. If you are targeting Puerto Ricans, use a Puerto Rican (and so on for each of the countries).
This way, you won’t lose my business and nothing will get lost in translation!
This post was original published by Ivonne Vazquez – VIVA Virtual Assistants on May 3, 2010.
INFORMATION, CONTEMPLATIONS AND MUSINGS OF A VIRTUAL ASSISTANT
Ivonne Vazquez is Principal of VIVA-Virtually Indispensable Virtual Assistants, LLC, located in Maine, USA www.vivavirtualassistants.com
