Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/11/01
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Chris , not really, you have to be a little cynical to accept and follow what these people are trying to do to us. I only get surly when clients try to stick to things which are linguistically totally wrong (about 3 times a week) Jaded, certainly not, angered or disaapointed, not that either, often frustrated that ad people in German often use the same word to mean 10 different things, and you only find out which when you finish the complete text and read it to see if it makes sense. Also because Germans often write sentences of 50 words or more where the verb to tell you what it's all about is number 50.They also love to make half-hearted attempts to make a catchy headline or claim, which then fails abyssmally in an attempt to translate it into an English version which the client will accept without being insulted (they think you infer that their creative idea was bad from the start). From the POV of a translator (in this case a native writer and native speaker of UK-English) with over 30 years of German in science, industry and media), only if you see a world from the outside do you have a chance not to get embroiled in it. If that happens you are lost, and have no way of being able to translate it, neither in context, nor so that it still makes sense in both languages. I'm actually an Exploration & Processing Geophysicist and, as such come from the straightforward world of Oil & Gas (E&P), which is more than down to earth (in fact,mostly subterranean). Translating is a lucrative game with words, but I am forced to think,every now and again, whether that really is the language I was born into. cheers Douglas How far from reality some people are became obvious a couple of days ago. Instead of pdf and doc files on a CDR, the people running a campaign had decided to put all the documents in QuarkXpress, which nobody in the targeted segment would have been able to read. Of course the client had no idea what a Mac is, for him computer is computer is PC. This only came to light when I was translating the CDR covers for the final product. mcyclwritr@comcast.net wrote: >I think this tread is smoking out the jaded, cynical, perhaps even surly ad >types who should not be allowed near a Key Messaging exercise. Group, I'm >hearing a twinge of anger and disappointment. > >-Chris Lawson (deep in a Key Messaging exercise for three new pay-TV >channel offerings) > > > > > >>I think so too. >>This is the kind of German mindset brandspeak I have to translate from >>G2E to earn my daily bread. >>Works out at about 1 eurocent per character, so the more they waffle the >>more I get. >>20% creativity and 80% smokescreen - the less the client understands the >>more he's prepared to pay. >>Instead of real English it becomes competence (which has nothing to do >>with competence as we knew it up to now)touchpoints, positioning, >>locating, perception, added-values,expectations and awareness. >>Branding is the big word! whether it's promotions at POS (that's another >>- Point Of Sale, used to be a check-out or cash desk) >>or the fantastic new "this, that or the other" which has to be planted >>in the subconcious of the poor unprotected customer. >>The writing was on the wall when delivery services started calling >>themselves Logistics, and it didn't stop there. >>What surprises me is that they're still talking about clients, customers >>and the, reasonably harmless, target groups and not victims. >>Douglas >>G2E Translation Correction Adaptation >>Hannover >>Germany >> >>Philippe Orlent wrote: >> >> >> >>>Seems like you've been around in advertising land :-) >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>>>From: <mcyclwritr@comcast.net> >>>>Reply-To: Leica Users Group <lug@leica-users.org> >>>>Date: Tue, 01 Nov 2005 19:23:04 +0000 >>>>To: Leica Users Group <lug@leica-users.org> >>>>Subject: Re: [Leica] Leica Hires Ad Agency >>>> >>>>Chiat/Day may (still) be good, but are they up to dealing with >>>>Germanthink? I >>>>can hear the wireless mice ricocheting off cubicle walls even now. >>>>----------------------- >>>>Klaus: "Pretty ad. I don't like it." >>>> >>>>Agency Suit: "Why is that?" >>>> >>>>Klaus: "It's all photograph with itty-bitty logo. Where's the talk of >>>>Leica >>>>tradition, of Leica precision, of Leica optical excellence?" >>>> >>>>Ritalin-juiced creative director hanging on until Hollywood options his >>>>screenplay: "Herr Schmidt, the Leica tradition for all things superior is >>>>systemic within the brand and we must reach an eager, new consumer who >>>>recognizes the appeal of digital camera systems that redefine >>>>photography in >>>>ways that are sensitive yet daring, revealing yet personal." >>>> >>>>Klaus: "So ve have a flower growing out of a pork and beans can in the >>>>city >>>>landfill as the bleed photograph dis pretty ad? Dat says all dat?" >>>> >>>>Agency Suit: "Klaus I'm with you. So perceptive. So incisive. I told >>>>creative >>>>that that visual just would not resonate with our core consumers or >>>>conquest >>>>markets and, at the end of the day, we had to structure Leica's push into >>>>photography's digital future with focus locked on Leica excellence." >>>>-------------------- >>>>Have your Chiat/Day mole take notes. Tell me how wrong this is in, oh, >>>>six >>>>months. Wait, make that a year. After all, there's that budget-sucking >>>>exercise known as rebranding to go through, first. Not to mention the >>>>focus >>>>groups. >>>> >>>>-Chris Lawson >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>>>On 10/31/05 8:01 AM, "feli" <feli2@earthlink.net> typed: >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>>>Chiat \Day? Now that's impressive. This is the company that created >>>>>>the 1984 Macintosh commercial, >>>>>>and recent Apple campaigns for the iPod etc. >>>>>>I've worked with them in the past and they a very sharp bunch of >>>>>>people. >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>>feli >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>I saw them do a performance at a big conference. >>>>>We are looking at The Energizer Bunny here. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>>Energizer Bunny Does What He Does Best ... Keeps Going. >>>>>I can relate that with Leica. Which has been dying for 60 years. >>>>> >>>>>http://www.energizer.com/bunny/bunnybio.aspx >>>>> >>>>>http://www.biblio.com/details.php?dcx=15459766&src=frg >>>>>New York, NY, U.S.A.: Simon & Schuster, 1993. Stabiner finds out what >>>>>makes >>>>>Chiat/Day march to a different drummer in the world of advertising. A >>>>>scuff >>>>>on the front free endpaper. Perhaps the most creative advertising >>>>>agency in >>>>>the United States, as evidenced by its work on the Energizer Bunny ads >>>>>and >>>>>its famous "Why 1984 won't be 1984" commercial that launched the >>>>>Macintosh >>>>>for Apple Computer, Chiat/Day rattles consumers, and often clients, who >>>>>think they know what to expect from commercials. . ISBN: 0671723464 . >>>>>Hard >>>>>Cover. Very Good/Very Good. 4to - over 93Z<caron>4" - 12" tall. >>>>>ADVERTISING >>>>>AGENCIES >>>>>BUSINESS ECONOMICS PROMOTION. >>>>> >>>>>Stabiner? >>>>> >>>>>A Rabiner with staying power!?!? >>>>>A stabbing Rabiner.... >>>>> >>>>>Mark Rabiner >>>>>Photography >>>>>Portland Oregon >>>>>http://rabinergroup.com/ >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>>_______________________________________________ >>>>>Leica Users Group. >>>>>See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>_______________________________________________ >>>>Leica Users Group. >>>>See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>> >>>_______________________________________________ >>>Leica Users Group. >>>See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>_______________________________________________ >>Leica Users Group. >>See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >> >> > >_______________________________________________ >Leica Users Group. >See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > > > >