ENLASO

Location: Language Technology Center: Articles: Creating Compelling Multilingual Packaging: A Manufacturer’s Challenge

In a recent Multilingual Standard article, we discussed how globally — and domestically, people want different things from the same products. Marketing to these unique segments is never universal and requires localization strategies that speak in the language of cultural values, attitudes and buying behaviors.

In a context that every reader can understand, a consumer shopping session is an event that transcends the "white paper" rhetoric of localization's best practices. When shopping for something as universal as fruit juice, or even bottled water, it all comes down to a critical five to ten seconds, when it's just your product and your targeted customer face-to-face. The drum roll sounds as your global marketing efforts either pay off or follow the path of a thousand ghosts — we all know the stories!

There are new markets and marketing locales born every day for both consumer and business products. Population shifts and cultural changes are challenging marketing professionals to make intelligent adjustments to their fundamental product, pricing, positioning, and promotion. For example, minority communities in Southern California are now demanding non-English language support and labeling at local stores. European markets now require that anything classified as a medical device (per MDD) must be labeled in every recognized language of the Member State. These are real world examples of how product localization is a here and now reality for global companies.

In the race to meet these needs and maintain market leadership, companies are making immediate adjustments to a product element that accounts for 10% of every consumer purchase. Indeed I am talking about the actual container in which the product is offered for sale, and on which information is communicated — the packaging.

Despite the cost, packaging is essential to the manufacturer, retailer, and ultimate consumer — even for bananas! Addressing the language and labeling needs of our newer multilingual consumers though is a challenge that requires a baseline knowledge of localization's best practices. With just a little understanding, it is possible to create compelling multilingual packaging and leave your global brand unscathed.

Multilingual packaging has not received the attention and early incorporation into product lifecycles it deserves. Due mostly to the finite translation word-counts and the opportunity costs of larger localization revenues, there has been limited understanding of this frontline element. As a result, marginal packaging efforts with overcrowded designs liter storefronts, negating the billions in invested development and global marketing costs.

Developing packaging is a complicated process that includes many contributors and extensive workflows. The packaging must be designed, translated, culturally adapted, approved, printed, and ultimately prepared for packaging with the physical products. Because of the many steps and stakeholders involved, there is an enormous potential for errors and issues with time-to-market. Packaging can be the most challenging multilingual communications to manage because of the very nature of traditional production cycles that continue to overlook the fundamental challenges of incorporating new languages and cultures into products. It is impossible to compile a complete and definitive list of do's and don'ts for multilingual packaging in every unique locale and target market in the world, but understanding how localization relates to packaging is a start to controlling costs, quality, and ultimately time-to-market.

It's critical to long-term success to keep in mind the twin goals of successfully completing the first product while at the same time moving ahead with a strategy for the overall global process. Packaging designers need to be involved early in the process, configuring layouts that will yield localization-ready products. They must remain sensitive to cultural factors and immediately address any ethnocentric attributes that will compromise cultural customization. These early preparations minimize packaging waste, strengthen enterprise processes, and maximize the true market potential of a product.

Most products don't have a large surface area to host an army of swooping graphics and marketing copy. Before the idea of even another language is introduced, there is still an inventory of functional instructions, legal disclaimers, logistical elements, marketing copy and branding to display. It is helpful to communicate early with marketing, legal, and distributors in the creation of wireframe designs. For example, if it can be communicated to the creative writer that the copy will be translated into a dozen different languages at a later time, they can use concise language into the source to alleviate potential text expansion resulting from translation.

Using Style Guides

Stylistic consistency is to multilingual packaging as branding is to marketing. A carefully documented style and layout specification provides useful guidance, and ultimately reduces localization cost with fewer edits and versions. Adherence to style guides expedites localization because if any part of the effort is outsourced, a localization team will have the collective history and intimate knowledge of a product's packaging. Without a style guide, the direction of a brand may be compromised by linguists and multilingual desktop publishers. To be effective, these documents must be updated regularly to reflect all changes instituted during the production of additional products and versions.

Glossary Management

Multilingual glossaries are another quality practice that assists localization processes. Glossary management systems make sense of the specialized communications and standardize terms in content. Some companies have become so good at standardizing terminology that we use their product names in our personal vernacular. Think about this next time you're purchasing "Kleenex" or "Whiteout", or a "Post-it Note." When we're buying generic facial tissue, correction fluid, or sticky notes, we identify the items by brand names that were consistently employed by Johnson & Johnson, the Bic Corporation, and 3M.

Terminology management is critical to multilingual packaging where consistency is essential to clearly explain a concept or a product. A classic example of how consistency affects comprehension relates to Hewlett Packard's User Guides. In one version of the User Guide, screenshots employed the term "printer preferences" while help content referencing the screenshot utilized the term "printer options", causing general confusion for the end-user.

Glossaries should be treated as business intelligence with a documented process in place that ensures all vendors and reviewers have the appropriate versions. A terminology management system implemented early in the process offers the ability to strengthen data systems including ERPs, CRMs, and enables the sharing between systems that previously could not communicate. Most information systems are extremely disconnected; therefore, terminology becomes a bonding agent and catalyst for integration.

Translation of Packaging Copy

The language used in all marketing communications — especially packaging, should reflect the unique cultural expressions and values of the target locale. This is why translating marketing messages for an international campaign often leads to ineffective copy, as words expressing people's values cannot be easily translated. Simple word-for-word conversions are not sufficient. Linguistic subtleties make copy difficult to translate without extensive creative writing and cultural analysis. In fact, some words are so culturally significant that they cannot be translated. A branded slogan that has conquered domestic markets, rarely transliterates to another language with the same power and precision.

To ensure total quality and effectiveness of multilingual packaging, translations must be completed not only by linguistic experts in each language, but rather, experienced professionals who understand how to write marketing and packaging copy. In trying to achieve such cost-effective precision, companies commonly make the mistake of using in-house native-speaking writers to conduct the translations.

Text Expansion

With a finite real estate, packaging designed without considering text expansion is difficult to localize. For example, when English text is translated into Italian or German, its translation typically requires approximately 25 - 35% more physical space. Expansion issues vary widely from language to language. Multilingual packaging can even experience text shrinkage in translations from English to Chinese, Japanese and Korean. Regardless, it is recommended that products with international objectives budget approximately 35% more space in initial designs and templates to accommodate expansion.

Products with extensive usage information and legal copy can preserve valuable marketing and branding real estate by expanding packaging into inserts. This is common for Medical Device companies seeking to market products in the European Union. Imagine having to provide labeling and product information in as many as 15 different languages per the Medical Device Directive.

Multilingual Desktop Publishing

By its very publishing nature, Packaging is a graphical element. Graphics create additional challenges to the localization process, and always generate additional costs and turnaround times. For example, any problems with graphics in source files will be multiplied by the number of targeted locales. The obvious solution is to optimize graphics before localization is initiated.

To prepare your graphics for success, we separate graphic localization challenges into two categories: technical and cultural. Each category requires separate expert resources; however, a basic understanding of graphic preparation can help you reduce your localization costs substantially.

Cultural Challenges

Successful localization of packaging involves cultural research as some graphics, such as pictures, icons, and other nonverbal elements, may look different in different cultures. What looks familiar to one person may be unrecognizable to someone else. Certain images may evoke unexpected reactions in another culture. They may be thought to bring bad luck, or be considered vulgar, or symbolize unrelated ideas. Colors and even the number of objects in a group may have meanings that obscure or contradict the message the packaging is trying to convey.

The best solution is to have graphic designers from the target culture review source packaging. If this is not practical, then it is best to stay with simple layouts and depictions of everyday objects that are used in the same form all over the world.

Essentially, packaging designers should avoid:

• Graphics depicting human body elements and body language unless absolutely necessary.
• Graphics depicting humor, puns, and slang
• Graphics depicting physical environments
• Graphics depicting ethnic, racial, political, and religious environments
• Graphics depicting gender-specific elements
• Graphics depicting images of animals
• Graphics depicting sexual and violent elements
• Graphics depicting regional conventions, such as reading direction, date/time, and monetary elements

In-Country (Target Market) Review

All quality localization processes should incorporate a validation step by a representative of the target market. The localized packaging must be reviewed by local subsidiaries and distributors to verify that the customization is accurate to specific product terminology, cultural conventions, and regional technical specifications. Ideally, the in-country reviewer should be involved early in the project, especially at the glossary development stage, so their technical lexicon and product knowledge can be incorporated in the product's packaging.

Outsourcing Packaging Localization

Working closely with a translation and localization vendor who specializes in labeling and packaging services is necessary to conquering the ever-changing language challenges. A quality provider ensures that translations are accurate, consistent and technically correct, as well as harmonious with the manufacturers' processes.

In working with vendors, it is helpful to establish a clear understanding of critical objectives and timelines with the project manager handling your projects. This person is the communication port between you and the assembled team of linguistic and technology resources. Sometimes the most aggressive turnaround and pricing pressures are placed upon vendors due a lack of communication. The more communication you have with your translation and localization team, the less likely you will be to experience a surprise or ripple in your global strategy.

Conclusion

Creating compelling multilingual packaging is an ongoing challenge to manufacturers with long-term global and multi-cultural objectives. Competition makes it too easy for your audience to turn to another source that accommodates their unique wants and needs. Once upon a time, companies were able to produce products in one language, as long as it was in demand, but language is no longer the problem of the consumer. Language is an exigent challenge for the manufacturer.