In the Office

Communicating with Ethnicities – More Than Just Translating

Often when trying to reach a new market in a foreign country, businesses tend to think all they need to do is simply translate their marketing materials into the native language. However, it is not enough to only translate marketing materials – especially when the target audience are consumers.

It is imperative that businesses understand the culture of the target audience they are trying to reach – this is critical to the success of an international marketing campaign. I recently attended a conference via Businesswire entitled “Communicating with Minorities” in which understanding the culture of your target audience was a key focus from one of the most engaging speakers – Blaire Borthayre – of Hispanic Marketing Resources. While language is a huge component of culture – it is only one part of our culture. Culture encompasses holidays, customs, slang, manners, greetings, gestures, popular figures, etc. More »