Chocolate Gemstones, Carry Me Home, The Purist Library, Vintage Buttons. Great names, aren’t they? They look fab and they sound full of allure and promise of exciting things within.
But now try translating those names into Arabic and not losing any of the allure along the way!
That was the task facing Imane and me yesterday, as we sat down to prepare the Arabic to go on the price labels. How do you take the glamorously attired “Enrobed Fruit” and stop it from becoming “Fruit Coated in Chocolate”, thereby devaluing it by about 30% before it even hits the shelves?
By having fun, that’s how! It took us 3 hours to complete the process. I found the product in the Valentine’s catalogue, and painted a picture in words for Imane to give her an insight into the appeal of the product. Then Imane tried it out in Arabic and told me what it meant for her. Much laughter later, we were both nodding vigorously and shouting, “That’s it! That’s it!” A small crowd soon formed around us, offering us (not terribly helpful) advice and suggestions.
Puddles never stood a chance! They started off as ‘wet patches’, progressed to ‘mud’ and finally we abandoned the concept because puddles just don’t equate to much fun over here! They ended up as ‘drops’ sadly. But I can tell you that The Statement Collection has become ‘The Distinguished Set’, the Hero Collection is ‘For Musketeers’ and Vintage Buttons are ‘Antique Designs”.
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Some things, though, just cannot be changed, and Imane decided that Chocolatier’s Table will forever be pronounced that way, by simply writing the name in Arabic letters. It won’t mean a thing to an Arabic speaker who doesn’t understand English, but if we get our brand message right, it will become ‘understood’, just like Hoover means vacuum cleaner. (Or should I say Dyson now?) Same goes for Rabot Estate Collection, Purist, Sleeksters and H Boxes.
And by the time we’d finished all that, both Imane and I were ready for a Cheerful Lollipop!
But now try translating those names into Arabic and not losing any of the allure along the way!
That was the task facing Imane and me yesterday, as we sat down to prepare the Arabic to go on the price labels. How do you take the glamorously attired “Enrobed Fruit” and stop it from becoming “Fruit Coated in Chocolate”, thereby devaluing it by about 30% before it even hits the shelves?
By having fun, that’s how! It took us 3 hours to complete the process. I found the product in the Valentine’s catalogue, and painted a picture in words for Imane to give her an insight into the appeal of the product. Then Imane tried it out in Arabic and told me what it meant for her. Much laughter later, we were both nodding vigorously and shouting, “That’s it! That’s it!” A small crowd soon formed around us, offering us (not terribly helpful) advice and suggestions.
Puddles never stood a chance! They started off as ‘wet patches’, progressed to ‘mud’ and finally we abandoned the concept because puddles just don’t equate to much fun over here! They ended up as ‘drops’ sadly. But I can tell you that The Statement Collection has become ‘The Distinguished Set’, the Hero Collection is ‘For Musketeers’ and Vintage Buttons are ‘Antique Designs”.
Some things, though, just cannot be changed, and Imane decided that Chocolatier’s Table will forever be pronounced that way, by simply writing the name in Arabic letters. It won’t mean a thing to an Arabic speaker who doesn’t understand English, but if we get our brand message right, it will become ‘understood’, just like Hoover means vacuum cleaner. (Or should I say Dyson now?) Same goes for Rabot Estate Collection, Purist, Sleeksters and H Boxes.
And by the time we’d finished all that, both Imane and I were ready for a Cheerful Lollipop!
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