With more than 10,000 projects under its belt, offices in eight countries and annual revenue of CHF 170 million, the Zühlke Group is an international success story. Its 1,200 expert employees, who hail from a wide range of countries and cultures, drive innovation projects and develop products, services and business models for their customers. What’s more, the company also offers videos that provide authentic insights into its day-to-day work, distinguishing it from its competitors on the global job market and proving that for Zühlke, employer branding is more than just a buzzword. To ensure that its content has truly international appeal, the company turned to Supertext’s video localization services.
Subtitles in three simple steps
Zühlke shot several promotional videos on site at its Swiss offices, and wanted to make the German dialogue accessible to English viewers – while still maintaining its authenticity. The solution? Subtitles. That’s where Supertext came in, with a simple three-step process:
Step 1: A native German speaker transcribed the text, transforming any Swiss German expressions into standard German in the process.
Step 2: Timecodes were added, specifying the exact times at which subtitles cut in and out. This stage is known as “spotting”.
Step 3: A translator transcreated the German text into English. Why was a transcreation needed? Because subtitles require you to pay attention to timing, text length and line breaks – a direct translation won’t cut it. Lines of dialogue often need to be shortened or rephrased in order to fit the format.
Quick translation – seamless publication
No matter whether your videos are for informational or advertising purposes, Supertext’s subtitle localization service offers a quick, cost-effective way to reach an international audience. Clients receive a finished subtitle file in the format of their choice, which can then be loaded into their preferred media player as an addition to the video (capable of being switched on and off by the viewer, known as closed captions) or burned onto the video so that the subtitles are always on display (open captions). The option you select will depend on your target audience and publication channel. Zühlke wanted to ensure that its videos could be watched without sound by viewers on the go, so it published its promotional videos on its website and YouTube channel with open captions.
“We were particularly impressed by Supertext’s speed and reliable adherence to our schedules. You choose a deadline that suits your time and budget, receive an order confirmation – and that’s all you need to do!”
Lena Baass, Employer Branding Specialist at Zühlke
Supertext also translates, transcreates and edits marketing material for Zühlke’s blog and newsletter, as well as internal communications. Because international brand development is just as important inside a company as outside it.
Video: Zühlke via YouTube