10 communication challenges only humans can solve

As an international marketer, your head must be spinning. Technological advances are demanding so much of your time and energy. Rest assured, technology won't change everything about international communication. Anglicity suggests below what won't change* about your future communication needs:

1. The customer will remain human.

2. The customer will remain delightfully and almost wilfully unpredictable

            - despite all market research

            - despite all market predictions

            - despite endless analytics.

3. There will always be a need for well-written, original creative copy with emotive appeal in the customer's own language.

4. Even the best machine translation will always present a brand risk without human input, because languages will keep evolving.

5. There will be an increasing need to customise your message for the idiosyncrasies of different global and regional target audiences.

6. Strategic marketing planners will always need advice on how to adapt to

            - the uneven roll-out and uptake of new technologies and devices globally

            - frequent updates and new trends

            - differing media preferences globally

            - differing attitudes and preferences between the generations.

7. There will always be a need for language experts with advice on cultural, linguistic, historical, legal and regional sensitivities. Fail to consult at your peril.

8. Making both the original and the translated word work effectively with pictures, in presentations and in videos will remain a challenge.

9. There will always be a need for conscientious communicators who check every last detail. Experienced marketers like you don't take short-cuts or risks with their brand.

10. There will always be innovative businesses needing expert guidance and consultancy services as they venture into export markets for the first time.

Yesterday's world is history. There are always new challenges to face.  Technological challenges are nothing new to the translation world. Experience of facing yesterday's challenges counts.  It demonstrates the ability to adapt to the new challenges ahead. Today's human translators are evolving into the linguistic, cultural and marketing experts that international marketers like you need. When your head is spinning with all your communication challenges, isn't it reassuring to speak to a human expert instead of a machine? Do you agree?

If you would appreciate some human help with your international marketing communications, email karen@anglicity.com or call Karen on +44 (0)20 8581 9369.

Karen Andrews runs
Anglicity Ltd. She is an

experienced international 

marketer with 15 years' 

experience. Anglicity offers

marketing consultancy,

content marketing, translation

and transcreation services with a 

particular focus on innovation.

The above blog was inspired by comments made by Amazon CEO, Jeff Bezos.

Stephen Hawking: from black holes to film

A personal review of the Theory of Everything

Eddie Redmayne deservedly won the Best Actor Oscar. His performance as Stephen Hawking in the Theory of Everything is truly outstanding. I saw the film recently at Imperial College's Union Cinema. I found it very moving on a number of levels.

The screening at Imperial College was preceded by a physics lecture. The professor had acted as an advisor during the making of the film. The film itself only really touches on Hawking's scientific contributions. It keeps to the more personal side of his story and is based on his ex-wife's book.

Creative scientific mind

It was Stephen Hawking who dealt with science's "mental block" over black holes. It often takes someone with great creativity of insight to make an important step towards new thinking. Hawking's great insight was that black holes are hot. In the film, we see how that creative leap came about. His wife had to leave the disabled scientist halfway through dressing to attend to their baby upstairs. Hawking got his head stuck in his jumper. He grew hot peering through the jumper's threads at the fire in the grate. The heat provided the inspiration he needed.

For me, the film had some deep personal and family resonances:

1. Shock of Hawking's ALS diagnosis

In his twenties, Hawking was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). The doctor's stark announcement gave him just two years to live. It brought back the debilitating shock of sitting in Frenchay Hospital in Bristol one Christmas. I sat with my devastated mother awaiting the outcome of my youngest sister's operation for a spinal blood clot. She was also in her twenties. Her odds were judged as even worse: a 5% chance of survival and paralysis from the neck down if she survived. She survived. Despite paralysis in her left side, she still walks today. A story of sheer willpower like Hawking. The scientist has lived for an additional 50 years.

2. Humour

The film had some very funny moments. Hawking's humour has obviously often kept him, family and friends going through difficult times. My sister was the only survivor from her friends on the ward. I shall never forget the often black humour. Laughter rang out as the patients sought to sustain each other.

3. Real life

The film does not gloss over the difficult choices and agonising decisions. It reflects the trials and tribulations of real life. I really felt for Jane Hawking at times. The Hawkings' marriage ultimately failed. I loved Stephen Hawking's wonder at the three children that he and his former wife had made together. I too now marvel at my own two "babies", as they tower over me.

In a lecture at the end of the film, Hawking is asked about his philosophy of life. He speaks of boundaries.

"There should be no boundary to human endeavour. No matter how bad life seems, there is always something you can do and succeed at. While there is life, there is hope.”

Karen Andrews runs
Anglicity Ltd. She is a
freelance content writer

and French to English
translator. In this blog, 

Karen draws upon her 

both her work and life 

experiences.

Please contact Karen via email karen@anglicity.com or call +44 (0)20 8581 9369 to discuss Anglicity's content services.

Red Cross London Bridge Walk

My younger son and I have signed up to do the British Red Cross Red Shoe Walk in London on Saturday 9th May 2015. The 8- or 4-mile walk takes you crisscrossing from bank to bank over London's bridges. We last did the walk in May 2013 and had a great time together. This year we have a special reason to help the Red Cross raise funds. Why not join us?

Until the latter half of 2014, I had always associated the Red Cross with disaster relief overseas. I returned from the International Federation of Translators' Conference in Berlin last August to a crisis in my own family. My mother (Carole Andrews) had been diagnosed with breast cancer. As a result, I am now aware of how the Red Cross helps with crises in the UK too.

Independence

Today, families are often separated geographically across long distances - sometimes even with family members abroad. My sisters and I we are scattered between Somerset, South Wales and London. My mother maintains a fierce independence in her own home in North Somerset. Ordinarily, she is the one running around after everyone else and their health. She suffers with rheumatoid arthritis. Still, she keeps going when lesser mortals would have long given up.

No fuss

When she first retired, my mother used to deliver meals on wheels to local residents who were sick and housebound. She regularly drives friends to the doctors' or hospital appointments. There was no shortage of volunteers to help her out. Typically, she would not tolerate the "fuss" for herself.

British Red Cross volunteers

When it came to the daily radiotherapy treatment, the British Red Cross came to the rescue. They operate a scheme for patients in Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton. Given my mother's experience, I would recommend that it is extended elsewhere. Every day, a different Red Cross volunteer drove her to the hospital and returned her home afterwards. Rather than having family fussing and making her nervous, she enjoyed speaking with someone new every day. As a thank you, my son and I are going to do the London Bridge sponsored walk in May 2015. 

Thank you to Musgrove Park Hospital

We would also like to say a big thank you to all the staff at Musgrove Park Hospital for their care and courtesy at all times. They really do follow Kate Granger's compassionate #Hellomynameis campaign. Once an elderly person approaches 75 or over, they worry that hospitals no longer treat them as considerately as younger patients. We could not fault Taunton's Musgrove Park Hospital. They were brilliant. Their patient information was a godsend at a worrying time. There was no need to scare ourselves with information on the internet. The clear, well-structured little booklets spared my mother from having to explain her treatment over and over again to all her concerned family and friends.

London's Red Shoe Walk

The London walk starts at Tower Bridge. You can choose to stop after 4 miles around Embankment or continue for the full 8 miles to Albert Bridge in Battersea. You dress in red and wear red shoe covers. My own "red shoes" were pretty battered by the end of the walk last time (see below).

It was a great mother-son bonding experience. James certainly jumped at the chance to do the walk again. At the finishing line, we both received certificates. See the picture of us above at the 2013 finishing line.

If you would like to sponsor our 2015 walk, please follow the following link to our Virgin Money Giving fundraising page for the British Red Cross http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/Red_Bridges

Alternatively, why not join us on the walk with your friends and children too? Our current team of two is called the "Red Bridges". If there is enough interest, I may also sign up for the Severn Bridge walk the following week too. There are also Red Cross walks taking place in Oxford and Windsor. Take a look online for further information on dates, etc. 

Any support will be very much appreciated. Thank you!

Visible translators - a new business model

The translation business model has seen little change for decades. Technology is challenging the status quo. Large, inflexible agencies and big technology solutions are not the answer for all clients.

Existing business models
Existing models often place linguists in charge of translation businesses or non-linguist entrepreneurs in the driving seat. Either party is felt to be too language-focused for business or too cut-throat and profit-oriented for the art of translation. Either way, the most important person in the quality chain, the translator gets squeezed. Not enough fight or too much - the result is the same.

Translator investment

As the translator's earnings are eroded, so too is his or her ability to

·      buy or rent a decent home and office

·      maintain fluency and keep source/target languages up-to-date

·      attend translation conferences and relevant trade fairs at home and abroad

·      equip an office and buy the latest software

·      make an ongoing investment in CPD

·      join professional associations and attain certifications/qualifications

Even experienced, full-time translators complain that they cannot afford many of the above. Current agency rates often fall short. Clients expect all the above in a professional. As a freelancer, I want to offer my clients the sort of service that I expected as a client. I therefore place great importance on CPD and attending trade events to keep up-to-date.

Future options

If existing translation agencies are unable or unwilling to increase the rates to freelancers, then there are two options. Option one is to leave the translation community all together. Option two is to cut out the middlemen.

Unprecedented opportunity for rate increase?
Agencies need to capitalise on high industry growth and improving economic growth to increase rates to translators. As a former client, I can see that the increased professionalisation and industry standards offer an unprecedented opportunity to justify an increase to clients. If not, then increasing numbers of translators will be forced to cut out the middlemen and work with direct clients at agency prices. Their alternative is to leave the profession. Many well-qualified legal interpreters have already been forced outside their chosen profession by the Ministry of Justice Framework Agreement.

Coworking with SMEs
Groups of freelance translators are particularly suited to working with SMEs for example. Large agencies do not have the necessary flexibility to give them all the help they need. A client who is new to translation buying, cultural issues and exporting can find that greater flexibility in working with freelancers.

At a translation conference several years ago, I heard about a Dutch company that put the translator back at the heart of the translation process. His team of translators work directly with clients. I would like Anglicity's future growth to take a similar path. Other business models will undoubtedly co-exist. I believe that there is a future for specialised, freelance coworking teams with direct client contact.

Karen Andrews is an

entrepreneurial freelance
translator and content
writer. Her past experience
as a client gives her a
near 360º perspective
on the translation
community.