Industry: Interior Design
Project: Translating Motel One's One Design Magazine
Client: Motel One Group
Language: German to English (UK)
Content: magazine for interior design & travel lovers
Issue
Motel One publishes its One Design magazine twice a year. The content ranges from travel tips to striking design and art installations that make each of the hotel's interiors so unique. Motel One works with the ad agency Storyboard GmbH to make this magazine come to life. I was in charge of translating the full magazine from German to English, making it appeal to hotel visitors from around the world.
Motel One is a German design hotel brand founded in 2000. Its hotels are known for their prominent locations in big cities across Europe. In late 2022, Motel One launched its new brand, The Cloud One Hotels, with its first location opening up in New York City. Motel One’s target audience includes business guests and city tourists.
Process
The team and I were working with tight time frames. With our milestones set months in advance, I was able to focus on this project for the allocated 1.5 weeks. I also had to make sure that my translations would work with the layout of the magazine. By communicating with Storyboard in real time, I was able to ask my questions and action any feedback quickly.
Outcome
As a fan of the magazine, I was thrilled to work on this project. I hit the brief and delivered my translations on time. What I appreciated throughout were the ad agency's responsiveness and my direct contact with Motel One’s marketing manager. After finalising the project, I had the opportunity to share my ideas on how to structure the translation workflow for future magazine issues.
Larissa Schmidt,
Marketing Manager at Motel One:
This was our first time working together, and we were very happy about how the collaboration went. Belinda added the necessary creative touch and charm to the English version of the magazine.
Industry: E-Commerce | Fashion
Project: Festive translations for Urban Outfitters
Client: Urban Outfitters, Inc.
Language: English (UK) to German
Content: emails, web copy and app notifications
Issue
Urban Outfitters UK was in need of a German translator with copywriting skills to translate and localise emails, web copy and app notifications at short notice. The original English copy was great for spreading festive cheer, but it contained numerous puns and cultural references that only worked in the UK.
Urban Outfitters is an international fashion and lifestyle retailer that originated in Philadelphia and sells across the United States, Canada, Europe, the UK and the UAE. It hosts a multitude of brands in physical stores as well as through its online shop and via the UO app. Urban Outfitters mainly targets young adults aged 18 to 28 who are self-expressive, trendy and sophisticated.
Process
To catch the attention of German trendsetters, the English copy needed to be relayed in a way that delighted and made sense to a German-speaking audience. Deadlines were extremely tight, but between the on-point organisation of the UO team and me as their translator and transcreator, we hit the mark.
Outcome
I’ve had the pleasure of working with Urban Outfitters several times now and I always enjoy the fun atmosphere and impeccable working structure. By creatively translating UO’s Christmas and New Year’s copy, I was able to make sure the brand is all set up to entice German-speaking customers over the busy festive period.
Lizzie Griffin,
Copy Editor at Urban Outfitters:
Belinda was an absolute star and helped us out at short notice when we needed German translations at Urban Outfitters. She came in with an amazing can-do attitude and was a joy to work with. She translated emails, push notifications and web copy to an exceptional standard without any grammar mistakes and in a tone that sounded natural to our audience. We were so happy with her copy and can’t wait to work together again in the future.
Industry: E-Commerce | Fashion
Project: Manchester handbag atelier tells its brand story
Client: Style in Manchester (SIM)
Language: English (UK)
Content: Fashion blog post
Issue
Business owner Anastasiia had the vision and stylish product ready to woo the world – but her media piece needed some copy-editing to truly stand out to a UK readership.
Style in Manchester (SIM) is a Manchester-based e-commerce handbag atelier. Its primary customers are city girls and women with a passion for fashion. The brand stands for classic elegance and conscious consumption.
Process
With a combination of keyword research, a pre-existing familiarity with the SIM brand and a mind for words, I edited SIM’s article for the Manchester online magazine Manchester Fashion Movement.
Outcome
The final article is optimised to increase qualified traffic, raise brand awareness and persuade fashion-forward readers interested in handbags that are stylish and sustainable.
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Anastasiia Komarnytska,
Founder of handbag atelier Style in Manchester:
Any organisation that hires Belinda gets a wealth of professional copywriting skills, but also her special ability to empathise with brand interests. Belinda helped me turn my media interview into a well-worded content piece to build awareness for my fashion project. She proved to be highly creative, intelligent and disciplined.
Industry: E-Commerce | Bathroom & Heating
Project: How re-translating product descriptions
resulted in a 30% sales increase
Client: Limitless Digital Group Ltd.
Language: English (UK) to German
Content: Product descriptions
Issue
Limitless Digital were experiencing a dip in sales: some products within their heating range weren’t performing well in Germany. That meant re-translating old German product descriptions that hadn’t been updated in years. A simple touch-up wouldn’t have sufficed as the brand’s new tone of voice also needed to be taken into consideration.
Limitless Digital Group are a multi-brand e-commerce retailer selling bathroom, heating and lighting products primarily targeting the B2C market segment. Their headquarters are in Burnley, England, and they distribute their products across the UK, Ireland, USA, Germany, France, Netherlands, Italy, and Spain. The Limitless Digital brand is sophisticated and aesthetically oriented. Their key demographics are first-time home buyers and interior design enthusiasts.
Process
The challenge was handling high volumes of content in a relatively short time frame. I re-wrote the product descriptions and worked closely with a company-internal proofreader to ensure both linguistic quality and technical accuracy. Together we met tight deadlines and achieved consistency across this product group.
Outcome
This translation project was part of a 9-month contract with Limitless Digital Group. Following several weeks of hard work to re-create these product descriptions, the merchandising department reported a 30% increase in sales for this particular product group. Also, the tone of voice and style better matched the rest of the website as a result.
Richard Selby,
Commercial General Manager, Limitless Digital Group:
Belinda reviewed and improved existing listings that have resulted in a 30% sales increase for this product group. Key to us is her ability to understand technical products quickly with minimal instruction and produce high-quality content with a local flavour rather than a purely literal translation from English. She hit all deadlines, and her friendly and helpful nature blended seamlessly with the existing team.
Industry: E-Commerce | Interior Design
Project: Translating customer interviews for
large-scale market research
Client: tylko
Language: German to English (UK)
Content: Market research transcription
tylko is a Polish online retailer that specialises in modular shelving and also sells wardrobes and other home furniture across Europe and the UK. The tylko brand targets first-time home buyers, home décor appreciators and DIYers looking to invest in forever pieces and upgrade their flat or house. The communication style at tylko is warm and sophisticated.
Issue
As part of a large market research project, tylko interviewed customers from German-speaking regions multiple times at different stages of their online buying journey. The challenge was in translating high volumes of video interview transcripts. Unlike crafted marketing copy, the content came straight from the customers – raw and unfiltered.
Process
To cope with the high volumes of text, I used a combination of machine translation and post-editing (MTPE). After double-checking with the project managers at tylko, I then simplified the English output documents by removing superfluous filler words or interrupted sentences.
Outcome
With my translation and editing techniques, I was able to provide tylko with easy-to-use customer feedback. By trimming fluffy, irrelevant content, I helped the research team save time and costs. This long-term, in-depth project led to a number of customer service improvements to further strengthen the tylko brand and please its customers.
Beata Pecionaityte,
Market & Customer Insights Researcher:
We worked with Belinda on translations for a longitudinal research study.
Precision and a fine understanding of the cultural context are key when translating qualitative research data, as it has a tremendous impact on the analysis. Belinda’s work has exceeded our expectations! Besides being truly bilingual, Belinda is also a very organized and detail-orientated individual. Additionally, her optimistic and upbeat personality makes it easy and fun to work with her. We can highly recommend Belinda for any research-related translations!
Industry: Localisation
Project: Polishing and transcreating an English website
to target a German audience
Client: Andrea Murphy Translation
Language: English (UK) to German
Content: Website copy
Issue
Andrea’s website hadn’t been updated in a few years and was due for a refresh. That meant editing her English website copy and adding missing information such as a Samples page or FAQ section. The website would then need to be transcreated into German to reach her audience in German-speaking countries as well.
Andrea Murphy is an industry colleague who specialises in marketing translations from German to British English. She’s based in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and primarily serves German clients in media and sustainability tech.
Process
An initial video chat made it clear what Andrea wanted from her new website version. We broke the overall project into 4 phases: editing the English copy, adding relevant information, transcreating into German and publishing the new website version. The challenge was grouping the content in a way that made sense for the visitor and then creating German website copy that felt just as natural as the original.
Outcome
The first few weeks were dedicated to updating the English website. Some website pages have already been translated into German. Open communication and regular updates during and after each project phase are crucial to ensure high-quality results that Andrea is happy with.
Andrea Murphy, translator:
I'm really enjoying working with Belinda, she's been a blessing at a time when I badly needed a reliable and professional translator and copywriter for my website! Belinda is highly professional, organised and fun to work with! She has been patient, flexible and transparent throughout the whole process. Belinda is also truly bilingual and writes naturally in both English and German. My website is really shaping up to be something genuinely special. I can't wait to see the finished product. Thank you so much, Belinda!