How did IKEA translate it?
Hello, this is the Gicon Studio team. Let's take a look at overseas expansion strategies through IKEA localization translation examples.
Many companies are translating and managing translation resources through Gicon Studio, and it seems that there were more inquiries at the end of the year than at the beginning of last year.
Apparently, the number of Korean companies expanding overseas is increasing, and this is very good news.
There are many inquiries about how domestic companies translate (localize) when expanding overseas.
Let's look at an example of how IKEA (IKEA) in Sweden communicates with consumers by translating (localizing) in Uninara, and we will focus on expressions about how to localize when expanding overseas.
IKEA Homepage English/Korean comparison
I don't know exactly whether they translated English based on Korean or Korean based on English, but I was able to find parts that were translated (localized) differently with intention.
Shall we look for it together?
#1 IDEAS button
IDEAS is usually anonymised, and the button name “idea” is created,
I decided to localize it under the long name “Home Furnishing Idea.”
Launching the keyword/genre of home furnishing in Korea and being tagged with #집스타그램에 for the 2030th generation, it shows their will to become the strongest player in this field.
As a result, it seems that people who make homes enjoy the trend of “home furnishing,” search IKEA, and search for other products.
#2 Wake up, exciting home furnishing!
“Wake up, exciting home furnishing!” There is a phrase called, and the phrase “wake up, wonderful day” was also used on the other banner (image).
Seen from this, I think it can be seen that they are targeting the Korean market through the phrase “wake up.”
I think translating this phrase causes great trouble for translation companies and translators. This kind of translation isn't called a normal translation,
Creative translation You could say it's the (Transcreation = Translation + Creation) area.
For a great sleep that wakes a great day to all of us.
The Great Wake-Up!
I tried using Google Translate, Papago Translator, and MS Bing Translator.
Do you have a favorite phrase? These parts are also the limitations of machine translation and the limitations of sentence level machine translation. At this point in time.
Let's take another look at how IKEA translated it?
To help all of us start a great day after waking up from a great sleep
Wake up, great day!
#3 How to write a product name
In the English version, it was written as “ALEX,” and in the Korean version, it was written as “ALEX Alex.”
If “Alex” is written only in Korean, there may be confusion with the unique product name, so the English alphabet was specified as a unique identifier, and it is probably not displayed to unify the part where it is called.
Maybe I was hoping it would be sung in Korea just as it was pronounced in Sweden.
Since Koreans are familiar with American English and can pronounce the same spelling differently, it seems that they have solved the mispronunciations through this weapon.
#4 A space for gamers
I can see here and there that IKEA is worried a lot about users. It seems to catch and guide users in what situations they buy our products.
Considering the user base, “HOME OFFICE” could have been converted to “home office,” but I think they specified it as a “space for gamers,” so they can relate even more.
In a nutshell, I looked at things to consider through IKEA's website translation (localization) examples.
Here's a summary.
1. If there is a keyword you focus on Don't skip it, keep readingThings to do
2. Reflect creative translation if neededDo it, Keep it consistentThings to do
3. Product names or proper names are used as neededBy doing So that consumers don't call the same product differently Things to do
4. Rather than a literal translation, Empathy through translation that matches local trendsIt will lead to
I think it can be organized like this.
If you are in charge of translation/localization at a company expanding globally, please check it out~
※ If you need an IKEA translation dictionary/glossary, please contact us on Channel Talk.
We are sending you an exhibition of translators from the IKEA website that we have collected for case research.
*This content has been transferred from Gicon Studio to Letterworks.
