“Everything good should start with the premise that we’re in a global market right from the start, and not internationalize separately. The starting position should be that we can serve the customer regardless of where they are or what language they speak.”
– Jani Penttinen, CEO, Transfluent
A video included in Transfluent’s Slush pitch from five years ago and the media publications that followed it:
Slush as a launching platform for breakthrough
Transfluent is a model example of a company which succeeded in an international breakthrough through the use of videos. In 2011, Transfluent was successful in a competition held at Slush. It got immediate international press coverage with the video included, made a rapid breakthrough, and ended up moving its headquarters to the United States. Originally, Transfluent was specialized in the translation of social media in particular, but has since expanded to become a full-service translation agency.
“In comparison to traditional agencies, we’re really quick and flexible,” says Transfluent’s founder and CEO, Jani Penttinen.
Videos as a tool for convincing
Since the beginning, Transfluent has used videos in both marketing and internal use. With concise one-minute-videos, it has managed to tell about their service in pitching style and thus convince clients around the world. Of course, the breakthrough is affected mostly by the video content about the company, but it doesn’t communicate correctly to the viewer if the language and tone of the video isn’t right.
OneMinStory has done cooperation with Transfluent for a long time. The quality is always guaranteed and tasks are taken care of efficiently, for example in translation work on videos.
Penttinen adds a few tips on those considering localizing videos. Firstly, use time on communicating your own vision. Secondly, concentrate efforts on the languages and markets where there is the most demand. Finally, take localization into account already at the planning stage of the video.
The localization of a video
When you have a video ready, done in one language, (How was it made?), we can help you in your international breakthrough by localizing your video to make it suitable for other markets. Here, with the permission of Ouman:
A 5-Language remix about the company story of Ouman
We seek to produce localizations on a turnkey principle. You don’t have to use your precious time unnecessarily on technical details, we got it covered for you!
With us, the video localization process is very simple:
- Translating the language of the video. In order to achieve the best end result in the video, both the narrator’s voice and the texts of the video have to be translated. By using Transfluent in the translation work, we ensure that the content is always of high quality, even when translated. 🙂 In addition, we also check the translation with you so that you’re sure to be pleased with the end result.
- Commissioning a new narrator voice. OneMinStory has accrued comprehensive contacts through experience, through whom we’re always sure to find professional native speakers as narrators. So, localization into rarer languages too is also sure to succeed with our help.
- Editing and compiling of the entirety of the video. So that the rhythm of the video remains smooth and the whole remains of high quality, despite the change in language, new spoken lines and texts have to be edited precisely into video.
As Transfluent’s Jani Penttinen also notes: “An unlocalized video only reaches a small part of the potential number of viewers, so through a small additional investment, you get a lot more benefit out of the video.” The localization of a video with us costs, in its entirety, about 25% of the cost of the original video.
On the basis of my own experience, a good translation is based on careful work done by people who care and communication between the translation agency and the production company.