Opinion / Columnist
Corporates guilty of butchering local languages in their ads
17 May 2013 at 08:12hrs | Views
Coke is now doing damage control over imported cans.
Brands worldwide take clients seriously and invest heavily on marketing, luring and keeping clients, well except in Zimbabwe, it seems.
Most companies are out of touch with their clients and never seem to take the seemingly whimsy needs of their target clientele seriously. This gross disregard of their profit pushers is hugely reflected by their advertising patterns especially where they use local languages.
To a naive reader this article will sound mischievous but the reality is its an honest take on marketing trends in Zimbabwe.
Corporates such as Dstv, Econet and Telecel are found guilty many times of butchering local languages in their ads, isiNdebele ones to be specific. There is a trend to produce marketing material mainly in English an Shona, then distribute it to non Shona speaking regions like Binga or Plumtree.
While one might argue, for Nationalisation purposes, that language is no barrier; in branding and marketing terms this is plain rude and arrogant. Brand suicide even.
A youth in Dulibadzimu or a maid in Nkulumane does not identify with 'Ndolavha' ,as neither would a Granny in Uzvimba with 'Ziyawa la!'.
Companies need to be audience friendly when crafting marketing material. They should invest in having teams that research on relevant trends, lingo and traditions of a region before unleashing 'Eaza neni' material on the Binga community who otherwise have their own understanding of the brand.
In instances where effort has been made to coin material in alternative(indigenous) languages the spellings, grammar and pronunciations have been treasonous to say the least ,leaving one to wonder if any effort to find someone knowledgeable in the language was even considered.
Econet isiNdebele customer care lines are rarely attended for example. In the rarity -of a Black American President for instance - where they are answered, the agent sounds like a mumbling foreigner still learning the local language. Billboards read 'ziyawa la' 'uyakhuluma.. . Ukhulume. ... Ukhulume njalo' a grossly grammatically wrong expression of the message they are trying to convey.
Local companies need to take a leaf from neighbouring SA and Zambian companies that know how to play on the things that make a society tick or proud like language(slang), dress code etc and build from there and desist from mediocre presentations that alienate clientele.
features@deck-magazine.com
Brands worldwide take clients seriously and invest heavily on marketing, luring and keeping clients, well except in Zimbabwe, it seems.
Most companies are out of touch with their clients and never seem to take the seemingly whimsy needs of their target clientele seriously. This gross disregard of their profit pushers is hugely reflected by their advertising patterns especially where they use local languages.
To a naive reader this article will sound mischievous but the reality is its an honest take on marketing trends in Zimbabwe.
Corporates such as Dstv, Econet and Telecel are found guilty many times of butchering local languages in their ads, isiNdebele ones to be specific. There is a trend to produce marketing material mainly in English an Shona, then distribute it to non Shona speaking regions like Binga or Plumtree.
While one might argue, for Nationalisation purposes, that language is no barrier; in branding and marketing terms this is plain rude and arrogant. Brand suicide even.
Companies need to be audience friendly when crafting marketing material. They should invest in having teams that research on relevant trends, lingo and traditions of a region before unleashing 'Eaza neni' material on the Binga community who otherwise have their own understanding of the brand.
In instances where effort has been made to coin material in alternative(indigenous) languages the spellings, grammar and pronunciations have been treasonous to say the least ,leaving one to wonder if any effort to find someone knowledgeable in the language was even considered.
Econet isiNdebele customer care lines are rarely attended for example. In the rarity -of a Black American President for instance - where they are answered, the agent sounds like a mumbling foreigner still learning the local language. Billboards read 'ziyawa la' 'uyakhuluma.. . Ukhulume. ... Ukhulume njalo' a grossly grammatically wrong expression of the message they are trying to convey.
Local companies need to take a leaf from neighbouring SA and Zambian companies that know how to play on the things that make a society tick or proud like language(slang), dress code etc and build from there and desist from mediocre presentations that alienate clientele.
features@deck-magazine.com
Source - www.deck
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