The process in six steps
The steps are the same for every project, whether it’s a slogan or a management report. How long each one takes depends on the text.
Handover of content and background. You send us your content and, if possible, the same background information and brief you already have on hand from your original content-creation process. From that moment on, it’s our responsibility.
Internal briefings. We write internal briefings so that everyone on the team starts from the same page.
The right team. We hand-pick an adaptation team of mother-tongue experts and copywriters to suit your product, medium and cultural group. We assign the same teams to each client.
Research and queries. We coordinate research and questions for the whole team.
Quality checks. Every text goes through our multi-stage editing process and is checked for content, style and cultural fit. For advertising copy, that includes brainstorming sessions, a series of revision loops, intercultural filters and a look at competitor marketing in the target market.
Delivery on schedule. We meet deadlines. When time is tight, our network covering several time zones works through the night and over the weekend.
How we assure quality
Multi-stage editing
Before a text reaches you, it has been edited several times. Our multi-stage editing pays off in communication terms: our clients have won awards with our texts, among them “best writing in a customer magazine” (Audi) and awards for annual reports (Gerresheimer, HOCHTIEF).
Terminology for each client
We work with client-specific terminology databases. Once a term is agreed, it applies to every text, from an ad to the management report, and next year too. Together with dedicated writing teams, that keeps tone of voice and wording consistent.
Mother-tongue teams
Our adaptation teams are made up of mother-tongue experts and copywriters. The team includes adaptation experts, financial translators, journalists, copywriters and copy editors, and our English team has backgrounds in banking, consulting and accounting. We hold degrees from Oxford, Cologne, Monterrey, Ciudad de México, Edinburgh, Germersheim, Beijing, Guangzhou, London, Sydney, Auckland, Würzburg and Boston.
The same team for each client
At BMP, the same teams look after each client, so style and content stay consistent across every text. As our Answers put it, assigning the same teams to each client “ensures rigorous consistency in terms of writing style and content.” For you, that means not having to explain your brand, your terms and your preferences all over again with every project.
A network across time zones
For time-critical work, we rely on our network covering several time zones. Marketing and advertising have been our hunting grounds from day one, so working nights and weekends isn’t off limits if that’s when our clients need us.
Confidentiality and file transfer
We treat data confidentiality with the seriousness it deserves, all the more because we work with your documents, ideas and information long before they reach the market. For file transfer, we offer encrypted email or secure uploads and downloads with SSL encryption, the same technology as is used in online banking.
What determines the effort
Five factors determine how much work a project involves:
Type of text. A management report needs precise translation, a slogan needs rewriting. The bigger the creative share, the more steps are involved: brainstorming sessions, revision loops, intercultural filters, a look at competitor marketing in the target market.
Volume. The amount of text and the number of versions.
Target markets. Every additional market needs its own mother-tongue experts and its own cultural check.
Groundwork. Is there already a brief, a terminology list or last year’s copy we can build on?
Schedule. How much time is left before publication.
“We don’t help our clients by offering the lowest price. We help them by delivering the maximum communicative impact.”
Why an adaptation takes more work than a translation is explained in our Answers. For your project, we are happy to tell you what it involves: get in touch.
What to send us at the start
Ideally, whatever went into the original:
the texts to be adapted or translated
the brief and background information for the original
existing terminology and texts we should build on
target markets, deadline and a contact person for queries
Normally, we assume you have defined marketability, potential demand, purchasing power, customer touchpoints and target groups before you come to us. When it’s about getting the execution right, that’s where we come in.
Frequently asked questions
You can reach us via the contact form, by email or by phone. We then go through the texts, target markets and schedule with you and put the right team together.
You work with dedicated teams: we assign the same teams to each client, so style and content stay consistent across every text.
Yes. Working nights and weekends isn’t off limits if that’s when our clients need us, and our network covers several time zones.
With multi-stage editing, mother-tongue experts and copywriters, copy editors and client-specific terminology databases. Every text is checked for content, style and cultural fit before it reaches you.
That depends on the type of text, the volume, the number of target markets, existing groundwork and the schedule. Get in touch and we will tell you what your project involves.
By encrypted email or via uploads and downloads with SSL encryption.