The modern society we live in has been multicultural for years now, and its evolution has led to close attention to the expressions we use in our language.
Regarding this aspect, the implementation of a more inclusive language is a key issue for the public and private sectors. Attention is paid to providing content that does not exclude people in terms of gender, race, sexual orientation, disability or other ways. This has driven companies to change their communication approach.
A company is continually communicating – to its customers, potential customers and partners – and must do so in a very precise manner.
If the content inadvertently offends or excludes any category of the public, the company may be subject to serious consequences ranging from the loss of a customer to the complete destruction of the brand’s reputation.
To prevent this, it is necessary to avoid offensive or discriminatory statements. For this reason, many workplaces follow the DEI policy (Diversity – Equity – Inclusion): the goal is to develop communication projects with which everyone can identify regardless of age, gender, religious beliefs, etc. To do this, many requirements must be taken into account: not just linguistic but also cultural, political, personal prejudice and much more.
In reality, the idea of conciliating everybody and everything, without offending anyone or causing dispute, is much easier to visualise than to achieve. This is because the perception of what is said varies from country to country, from culture to culture.
It is probable that a concept that would not offend one population may negatively affect another, simply because of a cultural factor seemingly concealed due to scarce knowledge of the topic.
How can the ideal solution be found?
During every localisation process, it is a good idea to collaborate with people who have cultural knowledge of the place where the content is to be used.
People who live and work in the target market have a better understanding of the cultural context and a more precise idea of that country’s concept of inclusiveness.
We are talking about translators to include in the marketing team to intercept the markets in which we are interested, with the best communication approach possible. The next step, to understand whether your work is going in the right direction, is to ask for direct feedback from the customers themselves.
Arkadia Translations provides a certified service that attends to even the smallest detail of your project, taking into consideration also the most important aspect: the human factor.
