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Because if your visuals don’t match your target market, forget it. Your transcreator, or translator, can always do a good job with your copy; if the visuals still betray where it originates from, they haven’t. It’s been a waste of your time and money. And the vast majority of them won’t even see the issue. What you really need is a consultant in French advertising. Sorry, Ken, but barbecues with burgers? The French eat merguez and lamb kebabs (and yes, even though France is t

Ask Cara, Poppy, and Chloe Delevingne. The Celebrity sisters are the co-founders of vegan prosecco brand Della Vite. Unfortunately for them, the advertising campaign they’ve devised has triggered a furious response from the Comité de Champagne. The Comité is the official representative of the Champagne producers' interests, and more precisely the use of the appellation Champagne. For them, it’s simple: if you are not an official producer of champagne, you just cannot use the

Whether you’ve been a Sex Pistol or still a creative in the advertising industry (and a punk rocker), getting old has become a huge issue. I have too much experience. Should I shave some years off my CV to fit your idea of the ideal candidate? Do the words pioneer, first ever, skills, extensive experience, 100s of brands spell red flags to you? It’s an upside-down world where the young are tasked to recruit the old with all the ignorance and prejudice to go with it. And I’m s

The French Revolution was a bloody affair, only confirmed by the gory spectacle we witnessed in the Olympic Games opening ceremony. You may think we would be over the Ancien Régime and the abolition of privileges would put us off its most extravagant and scandalous excesses. Pas du tout ! The Château de Versailles boasted 8,4 million visitors in 2024, Buckingham Palace only 647,000. It is the subject of numerous films and TV series, and Marie-Antoinette stars in a new exhibit

Why? Because it is the most effective way to speak to the Spanish-speaking audience living, working, and travelling in New York. Effectiveness is the keyword here. So why in the Paris métro and everywhere else in France, many ads appear with a global tagline in English when only a quarter of the French population speaks it? US advertisers understand something fundamental in advertising in their own territory that seems to elude them when it comes to advertising in France. To

Young people going to universities in France can no longer write meaningful sentences without any gross grammatical mistakes. That’s the observation made by French professors Aude Denizot in her new book “Pourquoi nos étudiants ne savent plus écrire ?” (Why our students no longer know how to write?”), and J.P. Brighelli with his best-selling book “La fabrique du crétin” (Manufacture of a cretin). French grammar is notoriously complex and full of inconsistencies. But that’s wh

“Go for it égal lancez-vous”, “Mood égal humeur”, these are the last lines of a current radio spot for Basic-Fit on the French radio....

The Weekend Guardian Magazine published an article by Cass Sunstein titled Why we need a right not to be manipulated, subtitled...

Matty Matheson - Soups, Salads, Sandwiches A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Matty Matheson, the chef made famous by The...

The largest cinema in the world, UGC Ciné Cité , has just celebrated 30 years in Les Halles in the heart of Paris. It boasts 27 screens,...

This is Thierry Henry starring in the French version of Shark Ninja 's Summer of Sports ad video. It also stars Peter Crouch . How do...

Remember the multi-awarded campaign for Wonderbra by TBWA London? It generated headlines and made its CD Trevor Beatie and model Eva...

Do you type ‘translators’ into the search box when you need copy into another language? That may prove to be a costly mistake and here’s...

“Comment on dit ‘langues étrangères’ en anglais ?” asked a giggling young French college student after being asked by a journalist in...

Recently, I was confronted with the issue of diversity and ethnicity in transcreation when a creative thought it would be a good idea to...

Transcreation needs a long-term commitment to both France and its media culture and to the British way of life and language. Hiring a...

Radio gaga I recently experienced a couple of situations where bad decisions were made by clients regarding their handling of...

A young girl heavily tattooed on her face, children comparing their parents’ unsafe habits in a frenzied competition. These scenarios are...

Your online business is doing nicely, and you’re planning to export your wares or services in Europe. You’re thinking of postage costs,...

CONTENT The title of the 2011 Gang of Four album A gap to fill, as Dave Trott describes it “ Everyone is so busy trying to keep up...