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December 2011
Tongue-Tied Ad Trend With Trilingual Taglines
In some countries, deciding how to make ads appeal to local audiences goes
far beyond hiring a translator. In Hong Kong, Mandarin and Cantonese are the
main languages, with English terms frequently thrown in as part of being "cool."
When Sina Weibo, a leading microblog in China, wanted to expand its audience
from the mainland to Hong Kong, it knew it needed to do something different.
The answer was an ad campaign that uses trilingual taglines. The ad "Wei!
Come to Weibo and share your enjoyment" appears in bold colors on 150 Hong
Kong buses. "Wei" plays off the microblog’s Mandarin name Weibo, but it is
also Cantonese slang for "hello." The wordplay continues with the rest of the
ad. Instead of writing out in full the Chinese characters for "share your
enjoyment" (pronounced funheung in Cantonese), the first syllable "fun" is
written in English, followed by the Chinese characters for enjoyment. The
remainder of the phrase is in straight Chinese. Sandy Chan, executive creative
director of the advertising agency behind the campaign, says the ad
emphasizes the fun aspects of personal blogging and gives the mainland blog
a touch of Anglo-Hong Kong hipness. Chan says that trilingual advertising is
tricky at best and a disaster at worst. But, she adds, the Weibo ad is perfect for
Hong Kong, where "It’s so hard to have a conversation [in Chinese] without any
English words."
From "Tongue-Tied Ad Trend With Trilingual Taglines", Financial Times (United
Kingdom) (10/20/11) Mishkin, Sarah
Tongue-Tied Ad Trend With Trilingual Taglines
In some countries, deciding how to make ads appeal to local audiences goes
far beyond hiring a translator. In Hong Kong, Mandarin and Cantonese are the
main languages, with English terms frequently thrown in as part of being "cool."
When Sina Weibo, a leading microblog in China, wanted to expand its audience
from the mainland to Hong Kong, it knew it needed to do something different.
The answer was an ad campaign that uses trilingual taglines. The ad "Wei!
Come to Weibo and share your enjoyment" appears in bold colors on 150 Hong
Kong buses. "Wei" plays off the microblog’s Mandarin name Weibo, but it is
also Cantonese slang for "hello." The wordplay continues with the rest of the
ad. Instead of writing out in full the Chinese characters for "share your
enjoyment" (pronounced funheung in Cantonese), the first syllable "fun" is
written in English, followed by the Chinese characters for enjoyment. The
remainder of the phrase is in straight Chinese. Sandy Chan, executive creative
director of the advertising agency behind the campaign, says the ad
emphasizes the fun aspects of personal blogging and gives the mainland blog
a touch of Anglo-Hong Kong hipness. Chan says that trilingual advertising is
tricky at best and a disaster at worst. But, she adds, the Weibo ad is perfect for
Hong Kong, where "It’s so hard to have a conversation [in Chinese] without any
English words."
From "Tongue-Tied Ad Trend With Trilingual Taglines", Financial Times (United
Kingdom) (10/20/11) Mishkin, Sarah
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Industry Trends 2011