The Neue Zürcher Zeitung has been an integral part of the European media landscape since 1780, and for its readers, the first Monday of the month is always marked by the NZZ Folio. Each issue of the monthly magazine is dedicated to a different theme. The March edition, sponsored by Bank Cler, tackled the hot topic of fair wages.
Why is money still a taboo topic in Swiss society? Why do women earn less than their male colleagues? Is fair pay an illusion? Questions that affect everyone in Switzerland. And a magazine full of answers that everyone in Switzerland should understand. It was the perfect opportunity for a trilingual pilot project.
“Thousands, not hundreds”
Supertext collaborated closely with the editorial team: in order to be right next to the action, the language managers worked directly from the office after the initial orders. Side by side with Editor-in-Chief Daniel Weber and the award-winning Barbara Klingbacher, they fine-tuned headlines, articles and even the cover. The impressive result is available for online order.
One month and 50,000 words later, the hard work has paid off, and Supertext has delivered on its promise to produce natural-sounding translations – even when it comes to financial jargon.
“Since then, thousands of people have taken advantage of the trilingual download option,”
says Editor-in-Chief Daniel Weber.
A very simple follow-up
But project manager Ben Glück received the greatest endorsement of all two months later: a commission to translate the September edition. This issue, sponsored by the insurance group Helvetia, was dedicated to “simplicity” – a perfect match for Supertext, which recently launched a plain language service. (Which, incidentally, is described on page 58 of the issue.)
Following the success of the Bank Cler and Helvetia projects, the NZZ Folio’s advertising representatives are now offering trilingual editions to selected major customers. It’s safe to say that the pilot project has proved its worth.
Cover image via Supertext