Frank Perdue’s chicken slogan, “it takes a strong man to make a tender chicken” was translated into Spanish as “it takes an aroused man to make a chicken affectionate”.
Colgate introduced a toothpaste in France called Cue, the name of a notorious porno magazine.
Coors put its slogan, “Turn it loose,” into Spanish, where it was read as ”Suffer from diarrhea”.
So if the really big guys make stupid mistakes like this in their marketing material, what can we do in a moment of mental lapse?
Every industry has its own technical jargon. Every ethnic group, age group, geographic group, and otherwise distinguishable demographic has its own language.
Language allows members of a group to communicate with others. If you belong, you talk the language. It keeps strangers out.
Preparing your marketing materials using the right words is the same as knowing the secret handshake. It lets you “in.” It makes your marketing instantly more effective. It lets people know you understand their problems. If they think you understand their problem, they are more likely to look to you to help them solve it.
How can you increase your marketing vocabulary?
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