As one of Taiwan’s elite translation agencies, Babel is often approached by Taiwan’s government agencies, or those working on government accounts, when Taiwan wants to present itself to the English-speaking world. In this instance, Babel was approached in August of 2011 by an ad agency working on behalf of the Government Information Office. The crux of the case was: on October 10, 2011, Taiwan would not only be celebrating its Independence Day, but also its 100-year anniversary. To mark this occasion, the government was planning an advertising blitz that was to include TV ads aired in Times Square and full-page advertisements in several of the world’s biggest newspapers, including the N.Y. Times. Aware of the delicacy of the case, the ad agency looked to Babel to create an ad that would not only encapsulate all the points they were hoping to make, but also present Taiwan to the world in a thoroughly professional and idiomatic manner. As Babel has long experience in working with both translation and copywriting, we were confident that we could meet and even exceed our client’s expectations in creating an ad that was worthy of being published in the N.Y. Times. Representatives from Babel and the client first met several times to discuss the details of the case. Following the brainstorming sessions, the ad was written up and later proofread by three separate editors to ensure semantic and grammatical fluency. Client suggestions were later included. Overall, from start to finish, thanks to the hard work of the Babel team, the project was finished in less than one working week.
