What are the most essential characteristics of an effective slogan? It needs to be short, catchy and easy to memorize. The goal is to draw readers’ attention and this is why slogans often contain puns, references to pop culture or rhymes. It is also quite common that they include words which start with the same sound and create alliterations. You can find an alliteration in the latest slogan advertising Sephora, a chain of cosmetic stores:
The slogan consists of only three words, out of which two start with the consonant “b”: “beauty beats.” The choice of “b” in the alliteration is not random. First of all, the alliteration draws attention to “beauty,” the quality which is crucial for Sephora as a chain selling beauty products. Secondly, the repetition of the “b” sound highlights the connection between the form of the verb “beats” and its content. Once readers notice the “b” sound in “beats,” they may realize that the pronunciation of that sound resembles “beating.” “Beating” is a series of regular sounds or movements which are abruptly stopped. Similarly, the pronunciation of “b” takes places through stopping the flow of air with the two lips.
The alliteration using the “b” sound draws readers’ attention to “beating” as a type of motion which is not fluid. The lack of fluidity is underlined by the image which accompanies the slogan. Those two match each other perfectly because the image also seems to be “beating,” as if the camera shutter was stopped a number of times.
The combo of the slogan and the image is so well-crafted that the task of translating the slogan into a foreign language seems to be daunting. Is it possible to translate the slogan in such a manner so that the link between the slogan and the image would not be lost? Let’s look at the Polish translation of “Where beauty beats”:
I am really impressed by the translation of “Where beauty beats” into “Poczuj jak pulsuje piękno” (literally: “Feel like beauty pulsates”). The author of the Polish slogan managed to transfer all the good qualities of the English slogan into Polish. First of all, the translation contains the word “piękno,” which is the equivalent of “beauty.” Secondly, the Polish slogan includes an alliteration which is even more prominent than the one in the English slogan. While in English the alliteration is created by two words (“beauty beats”), in Polish there are as many as three words which start with the same sound: “poczuj,” “pulsuje” and “piękno.” What is worth noting is that the alliteration uses the “p” sound, which is pronounced in the analogous manner as the “b” sound: by stopping the flow of air with two lips. Thanks to the “p” sound, the alliteration highlights the link between the form of the verb “pulsuje” (“pulsates”) and its content. The repeated sound indicates the movement which lacks fluidity and that creates a clear connection between the slogan and the accompanying image.
I dare say the Polish slogan is even better than the original one. “Poczuj jak pulsuje piękno” does not only contain a more prominent alliteration but it also includes the imperative “poczuj” (“feel”) which seems to make the Polish slogan more persuasive than “Where beauty beats.”
All in all, the example of the Sephora slogan shows that translation of slogans requires a lot of creativity and attention to detail. If the Polish translator of “Where beauty beats” had not paid attention to the repetition of the “b” sound, the connection between the slogan and the image would have been lost. Fortunately, the alliteration present in the original slogan was transferred to the Polish translation. The translator did a great job because they did not forget the basic truth of marketing translation: every letter and every sound matters.
MARKETING TRANSLATION 