Darwin Play Review: The Wider Earth

When we think of the famous author of The Origin of Species, we see an old man with white hair and a beard. The Natural History Museum's new production presents him as a fresh-faced and enthusiastic naturalist of merely 22 years.  The Wider Earth's presents the Beagle's voyage that influenced Darwin's whole life.

The play is a new departure for the Natural History Museum. This museum is permanently associated in my mind with numerous family trips to see dinosaurs. My expectations were not high as I headed to a preview.

As soon as I walked into the new theatre, I saw bright lights and a contrastingly dark, irregularly-shaped stage. This was something different.



A minimal cast plays the key characters in Darwin's voyage and life. The puppets are no ordinary puppets. They are representations of the unusual creatures that Darwin discovers on the other side of the world. The puppetry is in the same style and by the same team as War Horse.

My second-row seat gave me a great view of the workings of the puppets, if not of the video backdrop. I could appreciate how well the young actor conveys Darwin's rapture at each fresh discovery.

The script dramatises key moments in the 5-year voyage that influence the young naturalist's whole life. Darwin argues with the temperamental captain. We see the beginnings of a crisis in faith and religion that his fascinating discoveries later engender.

I looked around at the rest of the audience at the end. I noticed that the Natural History Museum had succeeded in attracting a young adult audience. Maybe they've found the right formula to attract that elusive young target audience back into museums?


The Wider Earth

Nordic Minimalism at Christmas

Christmas is the time of year when everyone seems to go over the top with decorations. I highlighted London's lights and elaborately decorated shop windows in earlier blogs. One store's window stood out for its minimalist decorations on my Christmas walking tour: Skandium, the Scandinavian design and furniture retailer.

I saw a Christmas tree that was barely decorated and a straw goat.

Skandium Knightsbridge store window after closing time

There were two more straw goats on the opposite side.

Cultural tastes and norms
Let's be frank here: it looks as if the store simply hasn't made much of an effort for Christmas. I recalled my many years of working with Nordic countries. My experience told me that the seeming absence of a display is simply a reflection of Nordic cultural tastes and norms.

Is a global look and feel possible?
The minimalist 'display' reminded me of past Nordic reviewers who disliked 'ostentation' in American corporate style. They regularly wanted the style toned down.

Meanwhile, the Japanese wanted the visuals for their corporate brochures to look more 'showy' for its target audience. American corporate identity guidelines rarely tolerate and accommodate Japanese style, norms and expectations easily.

Nordic and Japanese tastes and expectations are practically at opposite poles. Such cultural differences make it difficult, and sometimes even impossible, for a company to have a single, effective corporate look and feel globally.

Swedish tradition
So what's with the straw ornaments? It is a Swedish tradition to make straw ornaments at Christmas (see YouTube video below).

Gävle goat
The Gävle goat is Sweden's famous straw goat. It is erected at the start of Advent. Unfortunately, the stories of vandalism and arson have become as famous as the goat. Various security measures have tried to protect it over the years. It barely lasted more than a few hours before being torched this year.

Washington Post report 2016

Sweden's News in English 2016

2012 ITN report video:

Other Nordic ornaments
I was pleased to see that there were still straw goats in the windows at Skandium when I passed the store again a week later. I also took a look at the other straw, minimalist and rustic-looking Christmas ornaments inside. Lots of candles and candle holders too. A bit pricey for my budget, but I admired their simplicity nonetheless.

I would have taken a close-up photo of the large straw goat in the window. Unfortunately, the couple who followed me out were stopped by security for a bag search. As a result, I simply couldn't get the right angle for a good shot.

You may appreciate more Nordic Christmas ornaments in the following video instead:

Karen Andrews is a freelance French to English translator, transcreator, content writer and editor. She has a strong background in global marketing.

Email Karen for further information via karenanglicityen@gmail.com in French, German or English.

Entrepreneurs at the French Chamber

Anglicity was delighted to attend its first meeting as an Active Member of the French Chamber of Great Britain. This first session was entitled: ‘From Scratch to Success: Business Stories’. President Estelle Brachlianoff introduced the panel of 3 visionary entrepreneurs and chair Eric Albert, City Correspondent for Le Monde. It was an inspirational evening providing welcome respite from Brexit discussions and uncertainty. It proved that you can succeed no matter what the odds.

The French Chamber's panel of entrepreneurs at the French Institute

Alain Afflelou

Alain Afflelou is one of the best-known entrepreneurs in France. He is a trained optician with a good eye for business. His name is closely tied to the French optician chain that he founded and now runs as CEO. He is the face and brand in his company’s advertising.

Alain’s description of his faltering beginning was highly entertaining. An initial refusal from the bank to finance his optician business did not stop him. The cheeky 20-year-old complained that they were ruining the dreams of two people – his and the man who wanted to retire. He ended up with a larger bank loan than his initial approach and bought the building.

That first shop was in Bordeaux. Other trained opticians might have been content to just run that one business in Bordeaux. His drive had its roots in his arrival from Algeria as a teenager. He went on to take over the franchises of Carrefour’s opticians. He made his takeover seem a funny tale of envelopes. He didn’t speak Spanish, but he didn’t let that hinder his expansion into Spain later either.

It rapidly became apparent that here before us was a shrewd operator. Alain recognises opportunities, drives a good deal and is an instinctive salesman.

Jean-François Cécillon

Jean-François Cécillon talked us through the highs and lows of his career. He relocated to London at a time when it was not so commonplace for a Frenchman to live and work out of London. He tagged along socially too with his British colleagues as their token ‘Frog’. The move did not make sense to his colleagues back in Paris. Jean-Francois relished the chance to travel the world. He showed us a video of all the stars that he worked with during his career at EMI. He made things happen, managed creative egos and used his gut instinct tellingly.

The most memorable moment was his description of a shirtless 20-year-old standing on his low coffee table, reciting some words. That young man was Robbie Williams. Those lyrics became the hit Angels. The rest is history.

Jean-François’ career at EMI became history too. He was not downed for long. Too young to retire, he has proudly fought his way back.

Ning Li

At 32 Ning Li was the youngest entrepreneur present. His tale was no less extraordinary - if not more so. He arrived in France for his education at the age of 16 from China. His parents could have done their homework better. He didn’t speak a word of French. He set about the task by learning the dictionary from cover to cover - page by page.

In order to help his parents out financially, he decided to look for a job. Where can a Chinese boy with little spoken French get a job? He headed for Chinatown and struck lucky. He found a family of Chinese immigrants with a bakery from his home region. As well as passing his BAC (just, so he says), he became a trained baker by working in all his holidays and spare time.

Ning could have settled for the safe career that his French higher education often provides. His admiration for that immigrant family pushed him towards life as an entrepreneur. The desire to buy an expensive sofa resulted in him co-founding his online furniture business Made.com.

There were mistakes along the way – such as using nude women to sell furniture to a largely female target audience. He admits the mistake. Yet, sometimes bad press gives you a higher profile than you could otherwise achieve. The resourceful Ning now gets customers to volunteer their homes as his showrooms.

Three very different men. Three different career paths. All three inspirational.

The above event was the third in the series that form part of the French Chamber of Great Britain’s drive to recruit more SMEs. At the end Managing Director, Florence Gomez announced a special publication is planned in response to Brexit.

Photo credits (except 2nd photo from top): Joana Saramago and with kind permission of the French Chamber of Great Britian

Overcoming the "curse" of technical knowledge

An origami swan - not as simple as it looks © M. Gove

An expert is very close to the technical details of his field on a daily basis. The terms become so familiar. He forgets how unfamiliar those same terms once were. This is known as the curse of knowledge.

Different target audiences

Many experts are unable to explain their subject simply. "Doing simple" feels very uncomfortable. It feels like you are "dumbing down" years of hard-earned education and painstaking research. Yet, there are many times when an expert needs to persuade or communicate with target audiences outside his field - for example:

·      to access funding and support

·      to maintain or renew existing funding

·      to influence policy-makers

·      to access the Media - both trade and non-trade press

·      to debate ethical and other issues with university management, etc

·      to work with the private sector

·      to launch and market a prototype or product

·      to seek advice from experts in other fields

·      to report on research progress

·      to present findings at international/multicultural conferences

·      to publish online, newsletters, emails, short videos, etc

·      to take advantage of the growing trend for MOOCs

·      to engage with the general public.

Academic writing

Academic writing often encourages an intellectual approach. It is seen as good to sound clever and obscure. You are supposed to sound like an expert. However, it is also said that you do not know your subject well enough if you cannot explain it simply. 

Cultural differences

There are also cultural differences in approach to academic writing. When studying in France, I remember English students being berated for a meandering style. Our writing was likened to that of the great French Renaissance philosopher Montaigne. As I loved Montaigne's essays, it felt like a compliment. However, if you wish your writing to be accepted in another culture, you have to conform to their current expectations and norms.

Rewriting

German academic writing expects the reader to find his own way. English academic writing requires clear guidance for the reader. English is the language of science. You need to publish in English if you wish to reach the widest possible audience. Rewriting can improve readability for target audiences outside the academic world. Machine translation will not convert academic German into academic English. Nor will it create material fit for 21st Century digital consumption. Greater attention needs to be paid to presentation and formatting as well as technical content.

Readability

Improving the readability of a text does not mean lowering the research's value or content. The simplest way to improve readability is to talk your subject through with someone outside your field. Explain your story and aims to them. A technical writer or professional translator is the perfect choice as they work with different target audiences on a daily basis. Their questions will help you fine-tune your material for your new audience. Your message is much more likely to be heard and understood.

Choose an expert

Simplicity may look simple. It takes time and thought. It is easy to underestimate the skill involved. It requires the hard-earned education and painstaking effort of an expert to make technical translation and writing look simple. 

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

Karen Andrews runs
Anglicity Ltd. She is a

technical writer and 

translator with over

15 years' marketing

experience. Anglicity offers

marketing consultancy and

content marketing with a 

particular focus on innovation.

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.

Hitting your target audience with blogging

In this third blog on target audiences, I move on from the National Gallery documentary to my own blog. Marketing is not an exact science. There are constant adjustments. Sometimes you hit your target audience. Sometimes you miss. Sometimes you hit an unexpected target. I will share what I have learnt from my own blog targets.

Early blogs

I wrote my first blog back in 2012. I came from the conservative marketing world of financial services. The reaction to my first blog was unexpected. My perspective was still very much that of a client on translation. That first blog went "viral" on Proz.com. Success or failure?

Other early blogs drew vocal reactions. They were not generally my targets at all. Over time I have developed my style and tone. Adverse comments can make you think that you have got something seriously wrong. To the outside world, it may appear that blogging is risky. However, I have now learnt that if something feels 100% comfortable and safe, it won't have many readers.

Analytics

Checking my blog, Google+ or Twitter analytics is like looking under the bonnet of a car. I can see which subjects gain a bigger readership, on which devices and in which countries. Initially, a post receives some adverse comment perhaps. The uproar is visible. But analytics show that my blog has a much larger, quiet readership.

Blog content often seems to reach a wider audience than even analytics reveal. Other translators refer to my blogs at events. I hear my own written words quoted quietly and indirectly. Some disagree. Some agree to disagree. But many more seem to quietly agree. Translators are not my target audience, but they do sometimes give referrals.

Evolution

When I started my blog, my target audience was direct clients. My actual clients and prospects have turned out to be direct clients (private individuals, freelance translators and companies), translation, transcreation and content management agencies. Blogging hasn't brought this about in isolation. My strategy has evolved. I have tested out different content to reach my varied target audiences.

It's a bit like ten pin bowling. Some blogs end up in the gulley. Others hit the buffers and bounce back in. Sometimes you hit the outer pins only. Over-adjust and you hit the pins on the opposite side. Sometimes it takes two blogs to hit all the pins.  And then, just when you think the ball is rolling off to the side, you get a strike.

Whatever... I enjoy writing and building up a portfolio of work. It's a hit.

What are your views on blogging?

Karen Andrews runs
Anglicity Ltd. She is
an entrepreneurial
French to English
translator, editor,
content writer and
marketing consultant. 

Contact: karen@anglicity.com 
for further information 
on Anglicity's services.

How to reach a disinterested target audience

'A great, great film' according to the Telegraph's 2014 Cannes Film Festival review. Why did the restless Ciné Lumière audience shuffle out disappointed then? They muttered that the very same 3-hour film was too long and boring.

Frederick Wiseman's documentary on Britain's National Gallery has some rave reviews. I went to see it at the French Institute's cinema. Afterwards, I wondered what marketing techniques might work with a disinterested target audience. What appeals to one audience leaves another completely cold. The finer points of human translation go largely unappreciated. Can we learn from the marketing techniques used by an art gallery? Could they help win over a public besotted with machine translation? Over the coming week, I will post blogs on targeting a disinterested audience.

Right at the beginning of the film, senior gallery management expressed the desire to appeal to a wider audience. Their very involvement and comments were often at odds with attracting that new audience. The film reeked of excessive intrusion in the film's production and content. The majority of senior management discussions should have remained on the cutting room floor.

Yet, the film contained some precious nuggets of information. Conservation work behind the scenes was fascinating. There were some engaging cameos from guides in front of the public. I was reminded of airport documentaries on TV. The production team singles out their stars. Their cameras capture everyday workers and some unexpected characters going about their jobs. Problems are aired and solved on camera. Even VIPs have walk-on and walk-off parts. Interest is in the work behind the scenes, in the build-up to a VIP's arrival.

The National Gallery seems to offer a fascinating range of events for different audiences. Personally, I would have made the film's best scenes into short videos to view from their website. Just a few examples:

1. The hidden picture behind a Rembrandt
2. Lighting in Samson and Delilah by Rubens
3. A guide explaining a picture to children on his knees

This bite-size approach would have been far more likely to draw in new visitors. In the digital age, video can share a guide's enthusiasm for a seemingly flat picture with a new audience. 

Three hours of boredom can lead to total and permanent switch-off. Three minutes of engagement leaves an appetite to find out more. 

Check back for tomorrow's post.

Karen Andrews runs
Anglicity Ltd. She is
an entrepreneurial
French to English
translator, editor,
content writer and
marketing consultant. 

Contact: karen@anglicity.com 
for further information 
on Anglicity's services.