Customer Name: Sephora
Customer Sector: Beauty and Personal Care Sector
Sephora is a multinational brand that set out to make personal care and beauty products accessible to everyone, and today operates in 34 countries in Europe, the Middle East, America, and Asia. The headquarters of the company is located in France.
Localization Process of Sephora’s Beauty and Personal Care Product Descriptions and Website into Turkish
- The project in question consisted of various product names, descriptions, and content. The language of the source text that the client submitted was French. Firstly, the source text was examined in detail and analyzed. In accordance with the analyzes obtained, price and lead time were offered to the customer.
- After the approval of the client, the project was processed. In accordance with terminological preparation, style guides, and customer requests, the project manager transmitted the source text to an expert translator working in the requested field and in the language requested by the customer. Within the scope of the ISO 17100 standard, which emphasizes the basic processes, resources, and other requirements necessary for the provision of quality translation services, the localization process has thus started.
- After receiving the file, the localization expert meticulously analyzed the content. Similar products, descriptions, language, and style on Sephora’s Website were examined. Keywords, technical terminologies related to the beauty and personal care sector have been determined to appeal to the Turkish market and target audience. Within the framework of the field of cosmetics, an attempt was made to ensure terminological consistency.
- In the translation process, the elements that the customer requested to be paid special attention to were taken into account. (For example, the use of the word ”care“ instead of ”treatment”; the use of “component” instead of “ingredient,…”)
- When localizing the instructions for use of products, care was taken to avoid complex and long sentences, words that would lead to ambiguities, and expressions that would make the consumer pause while reading, since it was a question of accurately informing the consumer.
- Idioms and humorous expressions contained in product descriptions or blog posts have been translated and/or localized in accordance with the target audience, the Turkish culture.
- Since the aim is to sell or market different products (lipstick, eyeshadow, shampoo, shower gel, perfume, etc.) in the Turkish market, the focus was on making Turkish consumers feel as if they were reading Sephora product contents in their native language. In this context, the needs, expectations, and beliefs of the target audience were taken into account.
- After the translation process was completed, the translation file was sent back by the localization expert to the relevant project manager. Then, in accordance with the service package selected by the customer, operations such as editing and proofreading were performed on the localized file. After completion of all quality control processes and final reading, the project file was delivered to the customer within the specified time.
Last but not least, “beauty” was never pushed aside during the localization process.
