Advertising consists of the mass communication of information with the aim of attracting the attention of a target audience and impel them to perform an action or behaviour. It is generally used for commercial purposes, such as to encourage people to buy a product, service or to buy a ticket for an event. However, it can also be used in the context of elections or to raise awareness on a particular issue.
Nowadays, communication has become fundamental for all companies to advertise its products or services. Moreover, with the globalisation of markets, even the smallest companies often have to expand business to other countries. Much of this communication is accomplished through advertisements, you can find some figures here regarding the French version, which needs to be translated to expand its reach. However, translation alone is not sufficient to guarantee the best results, it is necessary to adapt to the target culture.
This is called advertising localisation: it consists of adapting the text as well as the graphic elements and layout based on the country where it will be displayed. This is why, it requires some level of creativity to relay the message in a different way.

This sector of communication is becoming increasingly important on an international scale, and since many companies spread to several countries or even continents, having a localisation service is essential.
A translator then has a substantial number of elements to adapt, depending on the difference between the source culture providing the advertisement and the target culture. Despite a certain homogenisation being made through globalisation, the content can still change from country to country. Some advertisements are designed respecting an internationalisation pattern, meaning that they are adaptable to a large number of countries quite easily.
Depending on the type of medium used for the advertisement, different elements can be adapted: the colours, for example, or fonts used for the text, the images and layout, the actors if there are any, also the audio recordings, the background music etc. An advertisement can take the form of a poster, a brochure, a social media post, a video clip aired on TV or on YouTube for example, or an audio recording for the radio. Each platform has its own audience, thus a different format is required, and even sometimes a distinct tone.
Moreover, advertisement translation also requires translating products, including inscriptions on packaging, instruction leaflets, etc., in order to enable new customers to discover the product or service without any problems that might occur during purchase.

Therefore, the role of translators specialising in this field is essential in order to enable makes and all types of advertisers to increase their viewing rates helping to attract more potential clients.