How to Localize an Ad

It’s tempting to take the easy route. You could add subtitles to an existing video or translate your copy before quickly pushing your ad into the world. But that probably won’t have the effect you’re hoping for. Advertisements need to resonate with your customers and give your brand an emotional appeal. To make a meaningful impact in a new market, you’ll need to create something that connects with consumers in that market’s language and culture on a deeper level. You’ll need to localize your ad — which requires much more than simple cosmetic changes.

At Lionbridge, we help multinational companies serve and attract customers across the globe in 350+ languages, and we’ve helped create ads for some of the world’s biggest organizations. Over the years, we’ve learned a few things about making the most of your ad localization. Follow our advice, and you’ll be able to make a global impact with your content creation, not just during the big events but at any time you choose. Let’s dive in.

What Is Ad Localization? 

Ad localization is the process of adapting the copy, design, and layout of an advertisement for a new market, language, or culture. It aims to recreate the emotional and persuasive impact of the ad for a new audience, which can lead to significant story or conceptual changes.

While translation faithfully replicates the original text, ad localization can be a highly creative process involving transcreation, which tries to preserve the feeling and message of a piece of content. This process applies to all media types, including video, audio, print, and online ads.

Every medium has its own set of benefits and challenges regarding localization. Combine this with the differing goals of each organization, and you’ll quickly realize that no two localization workflows look the same. However, some underlying processes unite all successful localization projects. The following sections will examine those processes and include examples of highly effective ads.

The video, filmed in 28 countries in one day, is built around Starbucks customers. While viewers may be unfamiliar with the precise setting of each Starbucks location, common themes of friendship, love, and respect will resonate broadly. When the message is international, it becomes a lot easier to connect with people worldwide. 

Create Connections for the Local Audience 

While it’s great to have an ad that attracts customers in multiple markets, you’ll also need something familiar in your ad to help it resonate with your new audience. That might sound challenging when addressing a foreign market. However, there are hundreds of ways to make your ad — and your brand — more appealing to any culture.

Your ad needs to conform to local cultural expectations surrounding advertising. Pay close attention to your target market’s standard ad layout, structure, and tone. What might look like a sleek and streamlined webpage to you might seem sparse in Japan, where people prefer to have all the necessary information presented to them on one page. Similarly, the loud, attention-grabbing design of some TV ads in Japan may not be appropriate for a European audience, who might find it intrusive or overly direct.

Don’t be afraid to make minor changes to your branding, too. For example, it’s common for brands to incorporate the color red in China due to its association with happiness and good fortune. By changing your color scheme to align with local color associations more closely, you’ll show an understanding of that culture and more easily endear yourself to customers in that market. Similarly, you could experiment with your copy’s formality or themes that don’t usually come naturally to your product.

Equip Your Localization Team With the Details

It’s not just the preparation that will affect your ad’s success in a new market. There are also places within the actual localization process where you can make a difference in the quality of your localized ad. The first is in your communication with the localization team.

Before the project starts, share as much information as possible with your localization team, including a copy of a brief, script, or branding document you may have. Get specific on any requirements, particularly around any differences in branding or localized elements you need. If your target audience needs dubbing or subtitles, explain why. Your team may be able to give you an even better solution.

The more detail your localization team has, the better they’ll be able to create a version of your ad that resonates in your new market. If they understand your vision, they can help you to execute it. The information you provide will help with the creative process of adapting your ad. Share more than just the transcript, and your team will be able to find elegant solutions for your advertisement in various languages.

The Ad Localization Process

As you work on localizing your ad, there are a few things to remember. One of the biggest challenges you’ll face is not only nailing the content and design but also prompting the intended reaction from your new audience. This challenge calls for more creativity than some other localization projects.

Ad Localization by Medium 

If you follow the advice above, you should be well on your way to creating a brilliant ad for the global market. All the advice up to this point has been general, but there are also some specific concerns for each medium that you should consider. We’ve detailed these concerns and some more sample ads below to show that it’s always possible to reach a new audience no matter how you present your message.

Video

Video might be the most challenging medium to correct, so careful preparation is essential. Pay close attention to any taboos in your target market when filming, such as showing women’s hair or hands for ads in some Arabic cultures. Similarly, you’ll want to ensure your ad conforms with your target market’s visual language. Check whether subjects on-screen typically move from left to right or right to left in local media. These subtle visual cues can have a significant impact on the way that people experience and understand your ad.

You should also consider whether you want to dub over your ad in the new market or add subtitles since preferences for these can differ from country to country. Check out this blog on brand video localization for a more in-depth discussion of best practices.

Here’s another example of a video ad localized for use in almost any market. Again, this ad aims for a globally recognized, simple idea transcending language, setting, and culture. By latching onto the concept of the family meal, it provides a great example of what to consider when writing and shooting your video:

Digital Advertising

The limited space in online paid advertising presents a unique challenge for localization experts. Here, the design and copy must be perfectly in tune with your message — and with only a few words to do so, that’s often easier said than done. Take extra time to ensure the copy is right, as there’s no room for error. Don’t forget to back up all your hard work with international SEO efforts.

The banner below is a great example of how to deal with the impact of different languages on your ad through localization. The word 'privacy’ is almost 50% longer in German than English. Word length issues like this can have an outsized effect on the ad’s design, UX, and feel. This ad uses short, punchy slogans to minimize the expansion of the copy, stick in the reader’s mind, and draw their eye to the product while staying true to the brand.

Social

Social ads allow you to be personal with your audience. Consider this localized ad focusing on the relationship between athletes and their mothers. The message is so simple and personal that it can be translated into almost every language and invoke an emotional response:

Like paid ads, social media campaigns also enable you to segment your audience and deliver highly personalized messages. Plan to use paid social campaigns and built-in tools to target specific market sections with a well-localized ad, and you’ll see engagement rates climb in response.

Consider Working With a Localization Partner

Localization is the foundation of your success in new markets, but it’s also more than that. As localization gets more creative and marketing becomes more global, they have become two sides of the same coin. To make the most of your creative assets and build a brand that has truly global reach, you need both marketing and localization. But localization isn’t just a fundamental component of your marketing program — it’s an opportunity. If you can get it right, you’ll increase your content ROI, decrease your time to market, and build a brand that can attract new customers anytime, anywhere.

As one of the world’s largest localization providers, Lionbridge can help you adapt any advertisement for the market of your choice. From audio and video to print and digital, we’ve been the trusted partner of the world’s biggest companies for over two decades.

Get in touch

Get in touch to learn more about our end-to-end marketing localization services  and to find out how localization can help you better engage with your customers for enhanced global standing.

Note: This blog updates a post that originally appeared in 2022.