Traveling is such an emotional experience. Where in the world will you go? And why? Who will you share this experience with? How will you get there? When you finally reach your destination – be it on a road trip to the Redwood Forest, a flight to Tokyo, or a Mediterranean cruise – you’re bound to learn and grow from the new sights, sounds, and tastes that you encounter. By the time you return home, you’ll have transformed into a storyteller, sharing your memories with others to inspire their own journeys.
Watch How We Helped Global Clients With Brand Storytelling:
If your company is in the travel industry, you understand this well. Inspiring people to travel is what you do – whether you’re in the cruise or airline industry, boutique hotel business, or own a tourism company. But unlike a traveler sharing adventure stories with a handful of friends, your audience is the world! Connecting on an emotional level with global audiences is no easy feat. It takes a great deal of creativity and personality in addition to understanding the languages and cultures you’re targeting. The good news is that it’s all possible to do by incorporating brand storytelling into your international travel marketing strategy. Brand storytelling gives you the opportunity to pick up the microphone and tell people about the unique ways your company can help them achieve their travel goals.
What Should Your Brand Story Look Like?
When it comes down to it, customers simply want to know how you can help them fill a need better than anyone else. Maybe they’re imagining themselves tasting Portuguese Verde wine, walking the busy streets of Rome, or feeling the warm sun of Santorini on their faces. They’re looking to feel an emotion – whether it’s joy, excitement, transformation, or even nostalgia. And they’re wondering how you can help them make it happen.
It’s all about brand storytelling. Demonstrating how your company’s story connects directly to their needs will not only capture their attention and stir their emotions, but it will also help build trust. You can show them that you know exactly what they’re looking for and that you’re there to provide it to them.
Many travel marketing campaigns go wrong by focusing on making sales rather than deep connections with the people they hope to serve. The key to success is really based on simple principles: be genuine, care about people, and have empathy towards them. These ideas should align with your company’s goals, and shine through in your emotional branding strategy.
Listen To Our Audio Guide Samples:
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Don’t Make These International Travel Marketing Mistakes!
You can use all types of travel marketing methods to reach global audiences, such as audio and video content, blog posts, social media updates, travel podcasts, in-flight announcements, in-flight entertainment (IFE), travel apps and websites, audio tours and museum guides, and virtual or augmented reality. The more interactive storytelling techniques you use, the more immersed people will feel on the journey. But no matter what type of approach you take, never, ever overlook localization!
The more interactive storytelling techniques you use, the more immersed people will feel on the journey. But no matter what type of approach you take, never, ever overlook localization!
What Could Go Wrong? Why Localization Is So Important!
In 1987, KFC made a huge blunder as they were launching their restaurants in China. They didn't localize their famous “finger licking good” slogan, and ended up announcing to Chinese audiences: "We'll eat your fingers off!"
In 2009, HSBC launched a campaign in non-English speaking countries called “Assume Nothing.” This tagline wasn't localized, and in several markets it was translated as "Do Nothing." It cost HSBC 10 million dollars to fix the issue!
Localization goes hand-in-hand with translation. It helps companies adapt their messages to specific markets by considering local cultures. That means making sure messages are translated for a specific locale and in accordance with the region’s customs and traditions. After all, you wouldn’t want to use humor in your marketing campaign and have it come across as offensive in another area of the world!
And it’s not just humor that you have to be mindful of when translating your brand materials. The meanings of symbols, images, and even colors can vary in different regions of the world. Localization insures that these elements align with the culture and preferences of the people you’re trying to reach.
To give you an idea why it’s crucial to localize your marketing materials and ads, take a look at some tips we compiled below:
1. You’ll be looked at strangely if you order a cappuccino after your meal in Italy. Most Italians don’t drink coffee with milk in it after eating a meal.
2. If you plan to give someone flowers in Russia, make sure there’s an odd number of flowers in the bouquet. Odd numbers represent joy. Funerals are usually the only times you will see bouquets with an even number of flowers in Russia.
3. Don’t leave a tip in Japan, as it’s considered a degrading gesture.
4. It’s rude to accept a gift with only one hand in Vietnam. If someone presents you with a gift there, always receive it with two hands.
5. It’s ok to burp after eating in China – it’s actually considered a compliment to the person who cooked the meal!
6. Don’t smile at people you don’t know in Russia. Smiling at people is considered an intimate gesture, reserved mostly for friends and family.
7. Eating everything on your plate in China is a big “no-no”. It may make the chef think that he or she didn’t provide enough food for you to eat.
8. In India, it’s considered best practice to greet people with your right hand.
9. Generally, people only honk their car horns in absolute emergencies in Norway and New Zealand . So put your road rage aside, and don’t scare people by honking!
10. Always say “bonjour” to people in France. It’s deemed ill-mannered not to acknowledge those you meet with a hello.
11. Pointing at people is seen as rude in India.
12. In China, it’s considered proper to eat rice with chopsticks. However, in Thailand you should eat your rice with a spoon.
13. Never wish someone an early happy birthday in Germany. Many Germans consider this bad luck.
14. Chewing gum is completely outlawed in Singapore, so put your chewing habit to rest if you plan on visiting. The country actually banned the import and sale of gum altogether.
15. Never clink your beer glass with someone else’s glass in Hungary. When the Hungarians lost the 1848-49 Revolution and War of Independence to the Austrians, the Austrians killed 13 of Hungary’s generals and then toasted to their deaths by clinking their beer glasses. The Hungarians pledged not to clink their beer glasses again for 150 years. Even though they could have started clinking again in 1999, the tradition still stands!
Ready To Start Your Travel Marketing Project?
If you’d like to find out how we can help you translate, localize and add narration or subtitles to your travel marketing project, reach out to us today. We’re a NYC multimedia post-production agency that specializes in translation, localization, casting, voice over & subtitling services. We’d love to help you create amazing experiences for your global audiences!