Do you wish your company could be successful throughout Switzerland, but have so far only been able to make a breakthrough in one language region? There are two possible reasons for this: either you’re only advertising your products and services in one language, or you’re relying on unprofessional translations that aren’t tailored to Swiss marketing. Read on to find out why it pays off to invest in a good marketing translation.
“Grüezi! Merci! Ciao!”
Switzerland is well-known for being a multilingual country. In addition to its four official languages (German, French, Italian and Romansh), the languages spoken by immigrants are playing an increasingly important role – particularly English, Portuguese, Spanish, Serbian, Croatian and Albanian. If you want to appeal to all Swiss residents, you need to communicate with them in their own native language. In these parts, it’s unlikely that any marketing department could manage without having their content translated. But beware – not all translators are familiar with Swiss marketing conventions.
Marketing translations: From Switzerland. For Switzerland.
To ensure your company succeeds, your marketing translations must have the following characteristics:
- The customer should find the text idiomatic.
- The customer should be able to identify with the texts.
- The customer should feel that the texts were written for them and their language region.
Simply employing a translator from Italy to produce a marketing translation for Switzerland means it’s easy for a ‘wrong’ word to slip in. A client in Italian-speaking Ticino will notice it straight away. In the best-case scenario, the faux pas will raise a smile. Phew! That was a lucky escape. In the worst-case scenario, the customer won’t understand what you’re trying to say and will lose their trust in your brand. Winning back this trust will cost you more time and money than just investing in a professional translation from the start.
Pitfalls of language variants
The example above shows quite clearly that it’s important to use the right Swiss language variants, especially in marketing translations. That’s because there are differences in vocabulary, grammar and spelling, to name just a few. The tables below give you some examples of how Swiss vocabulary differs from its counterparts in Germany, France and Italy.
German | |
Switzerland | Germany |
Velo | Fahrrad |
Garage | Autowerkstatt |
Lavabo | Waschbecken |
zügeln | umziehen |
parkieren | parken |
French | |
Switzerland | France |
déjeuner | petit-déjeuner |
dîner | déjeuner |
souper | dîner |
action | promotion |
parquer la voiture | garer la voiture |
Italian | |
Switzerland | Italy |
azione | offerta speciale |
riservazione | prenotazione |
numero postale d’avviamento (NPA) | codice di avviamento postale (CAP) |
monitore | istruttore |
comandare | ordinare |
Translations from SemioticTransfer to boost your success in the Swiss market
Even the best marketing translation is no use to you if it doesn’t take into account the subtleties of the language variant in question. And who knows the Swiss culture and its linguistic features the best? A Swiss translation agency, such as SemioticTransfer. We can provide you with the best marketing translations to help you reach the whole of Switzerland. Just mention the language variant you need in your quote request and you can get your business started in Switzerland’s other language regions.