Professional localisation services

Swisstranslate provides reliable localisation services for all your content. Localisation has a wide range of applications, but it is particularly important in the fields of commerce, marketing and advertising. Such as e-commerce sites, film productions and advertising campaigns. Localisation enables us to reach target audiences more effectively and make messages more impactful, while respecting core values and brand identity.

Localisation involves adapting content at every level, to ensure that it is familiar and understandable to the target audience. The aim is to localise:

• Cultural references: in the evening, the French have dinner, while the Swiss enjoy their supper.
• Colours: colours have different meanings and representations in different countries. For example, in Western culture, white symbolises purity, whereas for the Chinese, it represents mourning.
• Illustrative images: for example, people of different ethnicities on the packaging of a product, depending on the target country.
• Local jargon: although English is spoken in the US and the UK, there are many differences in vocabulary. For example, the Americans take the elevator, but the Brits use a lift.
• Local news: promotional offers are often linked to national or local festivals and events, but the dates are different in each country.
• Dates: day/month/year format in British English, month/day/year format in American English
• Hours: 12-hour format in English-speaking countries, 24-hour format in other countries
• Units of measurement: converting inches into centimetres, miles into kilometres, pounds into kilograms, etc.
• Currencies: conversion from dollar to euro, yen to pound, etc.
• Address format: the house number is given after the street name in all continental European countries except France.

Swisstranslate adapts all your content to the cultural specificities of each market and target audience, for effective communication on a global scale.

Do you need a localisation service?

The benefits of localisation for your business

Localisation is crucial for companies looking to conquer new markets and gain international exposure. Adapting translation to the culture of the target audience, also means personalising your product or service offering, creating specific promotions for each country, creating events corresponding to the national holidays of the target country and so on. For example, Mother’s Day is not celebrated on the same date in every country (the last Sunday in May in France, unless Pentecost falls on the same day, as opposed to the second Sunday in May in many English-speaking countries). Another very telling example: a company would find it hard to attract French-speaking consumers with an offer that included a dollar discount.

Localisation is a way of encouraging international customer engagement by arousing the interest of your target audience with a message in their native language. For example, users are more inclined to buy from a site written in their own language. Thanks to the cultural adaptation of your text, localisation enables you to reach your target audience more effectively and therefore encourage local consumption. Your audience will be more easily attracted and convinced by the quality of your products or services if they are presented in a way that is personalised and adapted to their culture.

Localisation can also give you the opportunity to move into promising markets, and expand your business around the world. Investing in the localisation of your content also enables you to remain competitive and position yourself as a market leader compared to companies that do not make this investment. Ultimately, this strengthens your company’s credibility and success.

Finally, from a legal point of view, localisation means that local regulations can be complied with. Legislation varies from country to country. Although France and Switzerland are both French-speaking countries, they do not have the same civil and criminal codes.

The qualified Swisstranslate team

In order to guarantee you high-quality localisation, the Swisstranslate team is staffed exclusively by qualified and experienced linguists. First and foremost, they have proven linguistic skills. As native speakers, they know the target language inside out, and are able to understand wordplay, hidden meanings and the author’s intentions. In this way, they respect the elements of your message that make it so strong: cultural references, turn of phrase, tone, etc. The fact that the target language is their mother tongue also guarantees a broad cultural knowledge of the target country. In fact, in localisation, language skills are not enough. Localisation also requires a broad general knowledge, with a heightened awareness of the specific local characteristics and lifestyles of the target audience. They understand the habits and customs. Our linguists are therefore able to adapt their text to the specific culture of the country in order to promote local spending.

Swisstranslate’s qualified linguists guarantee quality localisation. Poor quality localisation can damage your company’s image and reputation. This can lead to misunderstandings, a failed advertising campaign or even offend your audience. With Swisstranslate’s linguists, you can be sure of a top-quality service!