THE PERFECT TRANSLATION FOR EVERY PRODUCT
BACKGROUND
Inspiring designs to help people do great things.
Herman Miller is a 100-year-old-plus company that places great importance on design, the environment, community service, and the health and well-being of their customers and employees. Their inspiring furniture designs, inventive technologies and strategic services help people do great things and organizations perform at their best. The changing nature of work means the offices of today haven’t evolved to accommodate new technology, different types of work activity or the expectations placed on workers.
CHALLENGE
Wordbank has worked with Herman Miller’s European Marketing team since 2012. Herman Miller wanted a partner who could work with their technology stack and provide the translation and transcreation services needed to support ongoing updates, new product launches and sales collateral.
The content that the Herman Miller team produces for Europe is richly detailed. Each product description provides compelling descriptions of the individual features, as well as the story behind each piece. This is both creative and technical copy that requires more than a straightforward translation to do it justice in other languages.
“We recognise our product marketing copy is fairly unique, often balancing design details and creative flair, whilst at the same time ensuring we use everyday language – a good translation recognizes and correctly interprets these elements appropriately, whilst not overcomplicating the message we are trying to convey.”
Jessica Weston, Product Marketing Manager, EMEA
SOLUTION
At Wordbank, it was vital for us to capture the complexity of Herman Miller’s brand in our localization services.
To do that, we took the time to really get to know the Herman Miller brand. Our account team visited Herman Miller’s UK headquarters to gain a deeper understanding of the concepts behind each product line. We also immersed ourselves in brand collateral, developed a strong working relationship with the brand’s EMEA product team and established a culture of regular honest feedback.
From these strong foundations, we built dedicated teams of linguists for each language combination. These teams consistently produce accurate, fluent and functional translations that still capture the Herman Miller style. This is possible because our comprehensive briefs allow us to transcreate the text where needed. So we can create natural, authentic target content, while staying true to the core Herman Miller message.
We thoroughly enjoy working with Herman Miller’s EMEA team and are pleased the feeling is mutual:
“We really value the honest and professional relationship we have with Wordbank. They take the time to scrutinise our brief appropriately, spending time with us to understand the copy in question, before any translation work begins. They correctly plan the level of support needed for each project, checking in and communicating with us at each stage of the project, along with any questions that arise, and also factor time for review and any final feedback we can use for the next project. We really appreciate the rigour of their processes and support provided during each project.”
Jessica Weston, Product Marketing Manager, EMEA
RESULTS
We localize print, web and video content into Dutch, French, German and Italian.
Here is an example of Wordbank in action:
Original:
Layout Studio
This benching system can adapt to the needs of any organization and its people. It was designed for the person, to go across the office landscape, and it’s also available around the globe. Offices aren’t static, so furniture inside shouldn’t be either, which is exactly why Layout Studio can be reconfigured as future needs arise.
French translation:
Layout Studio
Ce système de bureaux s’adapte aux besoins de toute organisation – et de ses membres. Centré sur l’individu, il est conçu pour s’intégrer à l’environnement professionnel tout en restant ouvert sur – et disponible dans – le monde entier. Les bureaux ne sont pas des espaces statiques. Il est logique que le mobilier qui s’y intègre ne le soit pas non plus, et c’est précisément pour cette raison que Layout Studio peut être reconfiguré au fil de l’évolution des besoins.
When asked to evaluate the above translation in terms of tone, style and accuracy, Herman Miller had the following to say:
“The translation is fully accurate whilst keeping the style and tone of the original English text. The translation is fluid, understandable and easy to read.”
Maria Wutzig, Marketing Executive, Mainland Europe
“We are really pleased with the quality of translations we receive from Wordbank. They always ensure any feedback is incorporated into a central reference glossary of our work, which is used to inform the next projects.”
Jessica Weston, Product Marketing Manager, EMEA