Crossing and respecting boundaries
International corporate publishing has boundaries that must be respected. A case study.
To speak of a target group for the readership of a magazine "for architecture, design, trade and crafts", which is sent to Dubai, Dagmersellen and Dallas in three languages, is a sign of optimism. The magazine is called SLIDE and is read by customers and partners of Hawa AG, which manufactures high-quality sliding hardware systems for the global market in Mettmenstetten. Every issue is like squaring the circle: How do you pick up American buyers, Arab builders and German joiners at the same time?
Linguistic and cultural differences
It starts with the terminology: In Germany, a carpenter is called a "Tischler". "Schreiner" is as far removed from him as "Tischler" is from the Swiss. Copywriter Willi Näf often has to do without sensuality and resort to approximate terms such as "Holzfachleute": "A magazine with too much national coloring in the choice of words comes across as provincial and navel-gazing." The problem is multiplied in the translations. Multilingualism can even have an impact on the design: A frog as an illustration on the subject of "frog's eye view" doesn't work if the English expression for it is "worm's eye view".
Current sensitivities and general cultural differences must also be taken into account. A report on the renovation of a branch of a major Swiss bank has a positive effect on readers in Thun, but triggers the wrong image transfer for customers in Texas. A picture of a wellness facility with too much bare skin is hardly appreciated in Dubai. And a text about the meaning of co-determination rights reads like a plea for personal responsibility in the West, but in the Arab world it may read like an accusation of suppressing the hunger for democracy. Playful language and a hint of mother wit are often not possible. In order to still meet high journalistic standards, Hawa AG and its journalists have to work together intensively and in many different ways. This seems to be working: SLIDE has won a BCP Award twice and has been nominated for an Econ Award this year.
Company: Basel West Unternehmenskommunikation AG
Contact person: Markus Siegenthaler
E-mail address: [email protected]
