Translation is a commercial activity and service that can be used in a wide variety of businesses. No matter what its purpose, whether it be a film, restaurant menu, conference presentation, or toothbrush instructions, interlinguistic transformation is a phenomenon that can be found in all the goods and services of today’s society. Indeed, this industry has taught us that the majority of businesses consider business development or cultural localization strategies that must necessarily use language services.
The service sector is, without a doubt, one of the sectors that most often uses this activity since it needs to create a direct connection with potential clients that draws their attention, builds their desire to buy and creates a brand image that is widely recognized and, of course, remains in the collective consumers’ mind. It is for this reason that companies allocate a significant part of their budget to marketing and copywriting aimed at designing texts and campaigns that capture the interest of the target audience and maximize sales to achieve excellent production results with a reasonable capital investment. Of course, these commercial initiatives are also of note when the loyalty and sympathy built is to be reproduced in international markets. It is here that professional translators take over the internationalization strategies and adapt all the texts created in a specific industry to the target markets. To do so, translators must be knowledgeable about the target cultures and the best way of transmitting the force of an original campaign in a starting language.
We can find these activities in a large number of goods and services providers, specifically including tourism (for leisure and pleasure, business, gastronomy or specific events, etc.), restaurant services or the film industry. However, there is a key industry in today’s society that is worth discussing. It is highly competitive and increasingly requires the involvement of professional linguists. We are talking about the shoe industry. Of course, the shoe industry is part of the fashion industry, and refers to the group of activities that include design, manufacture, distribution and marketing of all types of footwear. On the one hand, the significant aesthetic component that the shoe industry takes on from fashion is undeniable, and these products cover a wide range of purposes, from the day-to-day to unique designs, luxury and collector’s items, and they come in a variety of options for specific events, such as party shoes, dance shoes and sports shoes. On the other hand, however, we must take into account that, unlike with other types of clothes linked to fashion (such as dresses, suits, trousers, etc.), shoes have an additional scientific component related to anatomical study. This is because shoe designs take into account the structure of the foot, the force it will undergo, the specific needs of the people wearing them, and the impact of their long-term use. As a result, there are materials in this industry that relate not only to the marketing aspects of shoe design and sale, but also their ergonomic features and studies that manufacturers have used to construct a specific shoe.
Indeed, shoe translation requires a broad knowledge of several fields or, at the very least, the translator must have experience with documentation, since the shoe industry produces a wide variety of documents that may use highly specialized terminology. But what are the most common types of text in the shoe industry?
With regards to clients and the most appealing information they receive, it is important to note the role of advertising in this industry since shoes tend to be associated with brand images that must create a specific effect on a specific target consumer group. This is why it is increasingly common to translate web pages, marketing campaigns,advertisements, newsletters promotional emails that catch the attention of possible consumers and generate a possible sale interaction while simultaneously working on consolidating a brand image that is recognizable. Obviously, the product itself is accompanied by a series of informative, supporting and bureaucratic documents that enable it to be authorized as a valid product within the market of a country, exported and for its compositional and care information to be provided. Therefore, translation work in the shoe industry entails routinely translating labels, product descriptions and legal texts needed to consolidate a protected relationship between all the parties. Lastly, as we mentioned before, consumers who buy shoes are more demanding and, therefore, they want to know the ergonomic features of a product and whether it is a good option for the activity they wish to use it for (sport, dance, business, day-to-day use, etc.). These texts sometimes contain technicalities belonging to the scientific and technical field and it is important to work with professionals who can correctly reproduce this terminology in the target language, as well as specialists who know the idioms and expressions common to the fields to which a specific shoe belongs.
Without a doubt, the shoe industry is a market that is full of potential for the language services sector, requiring collaboration and consultancy with specialized professionals who prepare effective translations that are adapted to the needs of the client.
Image reference: https://www.pexels.com/search/footwear/
