Customer Name: L’Oréal Dermatological Beauty Division
Customer Sector: Cosmetics, Medical & Dermatology
INTRODUCTION
Translation and localization of training materials are on the rise around the world as global e-learning market grows more than ever in the aftermath of the pandemic. International companies allocate a significant amount of budget for training materials translation as part of market growth and promoting their brand identity across the globe. Such companies require translation of their training media and other related instructional materials to train their employees and equip them with necessary tools to improve performance and efficiency across the company. Dijital Tercüme is specialized in training materials translation with its qualified localization team and project management systems, putting emphasis on quality assurance in every step from preliminary analysis to the delivery of the final product. This brings into question the most important aspects of translating training materials for local businesses. 5 most important aspects can be summarized as follows: Creating terminology and custom style guides, localization of training materials for local markets, compliance with applicable national and international regulations, adoption of digital media & tools including e-Learning capabilities, adjustments to the learners and instructional scope. Special requirements of training materials translation must be handled on a case-by-case basis since every client comes with its own set of priorities and needs. During the translation process, such requirements should be addressed and resolved effectively to provide the best possible service to the client. This brings us to our current project: HCP Omnichannel Engagement campaign of L’Oréal Dermatological Beauty Division. The client tasked us with translation and localization of a set of training materials from English into Turkish, including some instructional videos and PowerPoint presentations intended for training their medical representatives to engage healthcare professionals as part of their campaign to boost sales figures as well as the number of prescriptions of affiliated brands. This campaign also aims to inform and educate potential patients and raise awareness among them in addition to providing HCPs with useful content on hot topics in today’s medical world.
CHALLENGES
- PowerPoint presentations are part of the HPC Omnichannel training program and represent a long journey ahead, both for the medical representatives as learners with subsequent training materials as well as HPCs during their engagement. Thus, creating custom terminology complete with a comprehensive term base and a style guide is of top priority to ensure continuity and consistency to accommodate the learners throughout their journey.
- Although the source text is English, findings based on linguistic and semantic analyses suggest that it contains some elements inspired by French grammar and syntax. For instance, the word order in some phrases are reversed, which requires extra attention to avoid misinterpretation. Such elements should also be considered during the localization of such training materials into the local market as it is a double-edged sword to pay attention if we want our message to cut through language and cultural barriers. Another aspect is empathy with the target audience. As the LDB campaign is intended for engagement of local HCPs, the corporate values and messages should be communicated to the target audience by using cultural elements relevant to them. An example of localization in this context is for the word “patsumers,” which is a combination of the words patients and consumers, representing the target of LDB to make sales.
- Since training materials consisted of a large volume of content and it was time-sensitive, a machine translation post-editing (i.e., MTPE) process was offered to and agreed with the client. This is the ideal solution for translating training materials as the content is quite simple and to the point as well as providing additional advantages such as cost efficiency and saving time for the client.
- Compliance with applicable regulations is another aspect to pay attention. The EU Guidelines in the translation of medical content refers to a base version and recommend that different language versions should be “faithful” translations allowing for regional translation flexibility as well as keeping the overall original intent. This should be considered to ensure consistency in brand identity in case of translation of training materials into multiple languages.
- The LDB business model is laid out with key pointers including medical relations, advocacy, omnichannel digital, training and HCP visits with corresponding strategies. Such elements should be adapted to the LDB Division’s local market strategy and targets. In this context, adoption of digital, social media & tools play a major role as the medical representatives are instructed to use digital platforms to engage HCPs. Such content must be localized to be relevant to the target audience and should be consistent with the common terms and trends used in social media targeting the local market.
- This brings us to the final and perhaps the most important aspect of translating training materials, that is, adjusting to the learners and instructional scope. Let’s not forget that the success of training materials depends on effective communication with and engagement of the learners. Just like the source text refers to profiling and engagement of HCPs as key to efficient interactions; the same principle is also true for learner profiles. In this case, the learners are medical representatives in the local market. Thus, the learner profiles and needs must be taken into consideration when translating such training materials. To this end, it is crucial to adapt the examples given to the target audience and culture to make them more relevant and easily understandable.
SOLUTIONS
- Following the preliminary analysis of the source texts, custom terminology and style guides were created to ensure consistency, both in the quality of translated content and writing style, throughout a great number of training materials intended to be published across various media and platforms in line with the Omnichannel strategy and principles of the Division. Various issues with grammar and syntax were resolved by in-depth analysis of the source text. For instance, the term “medical” is used in a number of contexts such as medical representative, sector, field, business, and professionals (similar to healthcare professionals). Such differentiation was identified in individual cases and the term was used accordingly to avoid any ambiguity in the context.
- The required localization strategies are identified and adopted for effective communication of the messages and providing interesting and engaging training content for the learners. For instance, the word “patsumers” was translated into Turkish as “hastüketici,” which is a combination of the Turkish words “hasta” (patient) and “tüketici” (consumer), similar to the formulation adopted in the source text. The Turkish equivalent also has a subtext, implying that it is the “real consumer” since “has” is also a separate Turkish word meaning proper and real. This adaptation is consistent with the intention of the term in the local market. In general, the same principle can also be used in adaptation of examples for the learners, e.g., using the first name Mehmet instead of John when providing an example of a hypothetical person to become more relevant to the learners since this is a common name in Türkiye, and it is likely that everyone knows at least one Mehmet in their own life.
- The MTPE process was used to offer the best rates and deliver the ideal final product to the client in a timely manner. This process ensures the optimum outcome for large volumes of content to be translated within a short period of time in a cost-efficient manner due to time and budget constraints. Comprehensive QA procedures and steps were performed on the resulting translation by the qualified team of translators and editors to ensure consistency in terminology and an error-free text.
- In line with the applicable EU guidelines and other international and national regulations, the training materials were checked for regulatory compliance. In the medical field, this is particularly important in case of translations into multiple languages since all versions must be consistent with the brand image while being flexible enough to maintain the original context.
- The LDB business model was analyzed in detail for localization. Since the overall campaign is based on this model, this had to be adapted to the local market. For instance, even though there are several acceptable Turkish translations of the term “healthcare professional,” the Turkish equivalent “sağlık uzmanı” was used instead of “sağlık çalışanı” as this version is more suitable for the target audience and targets a more specialized group of medical professionals such as medical doctors and dermatologists rather than other groups of professionals in the healthcare sector. On the other hand, “sağlık çalışanı” is a broader term which roughly means any worker in the medical field, including nurses and other healthcare service providers, and does not necessarily mean a specialist as in the sense used in the source text.
- Finally, learner profiles were identified and the English texts were adapted to the requirements of the learners to provide them with effective training materials for developing capabilities and skills, which is one of the main objectives of the medical management of the LDB Division to adopt HCP Omnichannel Engagement.
SOLUTION ELEMENTS
- Efficient use of terminology and style guides with necessary QA steps to ensure consistency across various platforms and formats.
- Leveraging qualified translation and localization teams specialized in training materials translation in addition to being familiar with applicable regulations and having substantial experience in translating marketing campaigns and medical content for the local market.
- A comprehensive review of the marketing language and brand identity of the company as well as corporate values, vision, and mission to ensure consistent communication of the messages intended for the target audience.
- Learner needs and requirements analysis to ensure that the training materials are relevant to and interesting for the intended learner profiles as well as being consistent with the instructional context.
BENEFITS
- Supporting the company in building its HCP Omnichannel Engagement campaign in the local market by providing translation and localization services consistent with the brand image.
- Allowing HCPs in Türkiye to become more interested in localized and customized content that is more relatable to them to improve HCP engagement and boost sales as well as prescriptions.
- Learners are provided with instructional and reader-friendly training materials, which are easy to understand, taking into consideration the training and development needs of different learner profiles.
