Localization for Brazil: tips and tricks
The competitive market of mobile applications in Europe and the USA is growing steadily, which means that the costs of attracting new users are also growing. Naturally, in this situation, the fastest growing players in the global mobile technology market are in the spotlight: China, Southeast Asia, Latin America, Russia, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and South Africa.
One of the most interesting markets for expansion is Brazil. However, in order to get it, it is necessary to understand the subtleties of the localization process for this country. At Alconost , for example, we often encounter the fact that developers are entering the Brazilian market with a European Portuguese version of the product or inviting European Portuguese translators to translate texts intended for Brazilian users. So when we found a good article about the localization features for the Brazilian market, we rushed to translate it into Russian.
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In Brazil, the number of smartphone users is growing rapidly. And the Brazilian market is much closer and more understandable for Europeans and Americans than the Asian markets. There are fewer cultural differences between Brazil, Europe and the United States, and it can be assumed that the application, which is popular in the United States, will be successful in Brazil.
In addition, Brazil has a higher per capita income (PPP, 2013) than China (2.5 times higher) and India (4.5 times higher). Based on these data, it can be assumed that the lifetime value of user (LTV) in this region will also be higher.
Mobile applications are very organically fit into the culture of this Latin American country. Brazilians rank second in the world in terms of application usage, second only to South Korea, and the first place in using applications for social networks .
Thanks to well-established cultural ties with Western countries, Brazil does not need such a serious adaptation and localization of applications, such as, for example, China and India. However, there are a few points to pay attention to.
The official language of Brazil is Portuguese. Despite the fact that it is not officially called "Brazilian", this dialect is very different from the European Portuguese. That is why iTunes Connect has a Brazilian Portuguese localization version, which I highly recommend using.
The search in the Brazilian App Store is performed exclusively in English (or British English, if this option is activated) and Brazilian Portuguese keywords. It does not work for the Spanish, Mexican Spanish or Portuguese localization.
Brazilians are accustomed to content in English, however, according to a study of the market for console games, they respond positively to the translated content. Sales of Call of Duty: Black Ops II in Brazil grew by 300% compared with the previous version: for the first time this part of the game was fully translated into Brazilian Portuguese. Ubisoft also reported an increase in sales of translated games. Today, the French developer completely translates all his games into Brazilian Portuguese.
If you have limited funds or consider a complete translation of the product risky, it makes sense to at least optimize the keywords in Brazilian Portuguese. I recommend to contact the speaker of the Brazilian Portuguese dialect to check the relevance of keywords, because the meanings of words in the Brazilian and European varieties may differ significantly. And be sure to consult with him about the use of slang or localisms as keywords. This at least guarantees you an increase in the “detectability” of the application in this country and a reduction in the real cost of installing the application (eCPI) .
One of the good ways to check the reaction of the Brazilian market to your application is to translate text from screenshots and descriptions. Again, invite a professional translator . A bad translation can do more harm than its absence. And in any case, do not use the European Portuguese version, if you already have one. Most likely, the reaction to it will be negative, which will negatively affect sales. Either do well, or do not hold at all.
If the name of the application is a recognizable brand (or you want to make it so), do not translate it. But I recommend translating the “subtitle” so that the application is more often found in the search. For example, “Red Car Racing - Futuristic Racing Game” will sound like “Red Car Racing - Jogo de Corrida FuturĂstico.”
When translating the application itself, you must take into account some features of the language. Firstly, Brazilian Portuguese has a lot of accented characters and sediles (ç). Check if these characters are provided in your codes and fonts.
Next, the length of the text. Typically, Brazilian Portuguese text is 30% more than the corresponding English text, so be prepared to adapt your interface if necessary. When translating text, it can easily slip from the command buttons.
In addition, keep in mind the differences in the units of measurement and the standards for representing the date and time. Brazil uses the metric system, so 5 miles, 83 ounces or 100 feet for Brazilians are empty words. And even more so 94 Fahrenheit.
If your application is related to weather, climate, maps or cooking, using the wrong measurement system will negate all your efforts to adapt the application for Brazil. The same story with racing games: 80 mph look too slow, because Brazilians use kilometers per hour. The correct designation for this speed is 128 km / h.
There are two major differences between the Brazilian and American standards for presenting the date and time. First, the day is coming before the month: DD / MM / YYYY instead of MM / DD / YYYY. Secondly, a 24-hour format is distributed in Brazil, and the letter AM / PM is not used in the letter. That is, correctly 22h30 (or 22:30) instead of 10:30 PM. But this is not so important, as in Brazilian speech, the Brazilians use the 12-hour format and 22:30 is called “dez e meia” (half-eleventh).
Another nuance is related to currency. In Brazil, real (R $) is used, and commas and periods in numbers are put in reverse. For example, transferring US $ 1,500.00 to reals (and to Brazilian Portuguese) would result in R $ 1.500.00.
Finally, if your apps are related to the seasons (or they are important for promotions), check the Brazilian calendar. For example, Valentine's Day is celebrated in June. And at Christmas in Brazil is hot, because it falls on the local summer. Brazilians are accustomed to the fact that in American culture Christmas is associated with snow, but it would be strange for them to see a “summer” sale in the middle of winter, when the thermometer is +10.
In the online game store (and game development software), Steam, owned by Valve, creatively approached this problem and created a single background banner that “rotates” 180 degrees depending on which hemisphere you are in. Thus, they can simultaneously carry out summer and winter sales.
Brazil is a developing market, but, unlike Asia, the Americans and Europeans do not consider it a “stranger”. Adapting a game or application to the Brazilian market will not require much effort. In addition, the main hits of the American market (with the exception of casino games) are easily gaining popularity in this region.
You can completely localize your application to Brazilian Portuguese and get LTV gain. And you can do with more economical localization of screenshots and descriptions for the application page in the store and get an increase in conversion. Or you can get by with minimal expenses and localize only the application name and keywords in the page and see the reaction of Brazilian users to your product.
What do you think about this? Are you planning to launch your product in the Brazilian market in the near future?
About the translator
The article is translated in Alconost.
Alconost is engaged in the localization of applications, games and websites in 60 languages. Language translators, linguistic testing, cloud platform with API, continuous localization, 24/7 project managers, any formats of string resources.
We also make advertising and training videos - for websites selling, image, advertising, training, teasers, expliners, trailers for Google Play and the App Store.
Read more: https://alconost.com
One of the most interesting markets for expansion is Brazil. However, in order to get it, it is necessary to understand the subtleties of the localization process for this country. At Alconost , for example, we often encounter the fact that developers are entering the Brazilian market with a European Portuguese version of the product or inviting European Portuguese translators to translate texts intended for Brazilian users. So when we found a good article about the localization features for the Brazilian market, we rushed to translate it into Russian.
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Why Brazil?
In Brazil, the number of smartphone users is growing rapidly. And the Brazilian market is much closer and more understandable for Europeans and Americans than the Asian markets. There are fewer cultural differences between Brazil, Europe and the United States, and it can be assumed that the application, which is popular in the United States, will be successful in Brazil.
In addition, Brazil has a higher per capita income (PPP, 2013) than China (2.5 times higher) and India (4.5 times higher). Based on these data, it can be assumed that the lifetime value of user (LTV) in this region will also be higher.
Mobile applications are very organically fit into the culture of this Latin American country. Brazilians rank second in the world in terms of application usage, second only to South Korea, and the first place in using applications for social networks .
Localization of applications for Brazil
Thanks to well-established cultural ties with Western countries, Brazil does not need such a serious adaptation and localization of applications, such as, for example, China and India. However, there are a few points to pay attention to.
“The process of promoting applications in the Brazilian market does not imply serious adaptation or localization, unlike the Chinese and Indian markets”
App Store Page Optimization
The official language of Brazil is Portuguese. Despite the fact that it is not officially called "Brazilian", this dialect is very different from the European Portuguese. That is why iTunes Connect has a Brazilian Portuguese localization version, which I highly recommend using.
The search in the Brazilian App Store is performed exclusively in English (or British English, if this option is activated) and Brazilian Portuguese keywords. It does not work for the Spanish, Mexican Spanish or Portuguese localization.
Brazilians are accustomed to content in English, however, according to a study of the market for console games, they respond positively to the translated content. Sales of Call of Duty: Black Ops II in Brazil grew by 300% compared with the previous version: for the first time this part of the game was fully translated into Brazilian Portuguese. Ubisoft also reported an increase in sales of translated games. Today, the French developer completely translates all his games into Brazilian Portuguese.
If you have limited funds or consider a complete translation of the product risky, it makes sense to at least optimize the keywords in Brazilian Portuguese. I recommend to contact the speaker of the Brazilian Portuguese dialect to check the relevance of keywords, because the meanings of words in the Brazilian and European varieties may differ significantly. And be sure to consult with him about the use of slang or localisms as keywords. This at least guarantees you an increase in the “detectability” of the application in this country and a reduction in the real cost of installing the application (eCPI) .
One of the good ways to check the reaction of the Brazilian market to your application is to translate text from screenshots and descriptions. Again, invite a professional translator . A bad translation can do more harm than its absence. And in any case, do not use the European Portuguese version, if you already have one. Most likely, the reaction to it will be negative, which will negatively affect sales. Either do well, or do not hold at all.
If the name of the application is a recognizable brand (or you want to make it so), do not translate it. But I recommend translating the “subtitle” so that the application is more often found in the search. For example, “Red Car Racing - Futuristic Racing Game” will sound like “Red Car Racing - Jogo de Corrida FuturĂstico.”
Application translation
When translating the application itself, you must take into account some features of the language. Firstly, Brazilian Portuguese has a lot of accented characters and sediles (ç). Check if these characters are provided in your codes and fonts.
Next, the length of the text. Typically, Brazilian Portuguese text is 30% more than the corresponding English text, so be prepared to adapt your interface if necessary. When translating text, it can easily slip from the command buttons.
In addition, keep in mind the differences in the units of measurement and the standards for representing the date and time. Brazil uses the metric system, so 5 miles, 83 ounces or 100 feet for Brazilians are empty words. And even more so 94 Fahrenheit.
If your application is related to weather, climate, maps or cooking, using the wrong measurement system will negate all your efforts to adapt the application for Brazil. The same story with racing games: 80 mph look too slow, because Brazilians use kilometers per hour. The correct designation for this speed is 128 km / h.
There are two major differences between the Brazilian and American standards for presenting the date and time. First, the day is coming before the month: DD / MM / YYYY instead of MM / DD / YYYY. Secondly, a 24-hour format is distributed in Brazil, and the letter AM / PM is not used in the letter. That is, correctly 22h30 (or 22:30) instead of 10:30 PM. But this is not so important, as in Brazilian speech, the Brazilians use the 12-hour format and 22:30 is called “dez e meia” (half-eleventh).
Another nuance is related to currency. In Brazil, real (R $) is used, and commas and periods in numbers are put in reverse. For example, transferring US $ 1,500.00 to reals (and to Brazilian Portuguese) would result in R $ 1.500.00.
Finally, if your apps are related to the seasons (or they are important for promotions), check the Brazilian calendar. For example, Valentine's Day is celebrated in June. And at Christmas in Brazil is hot, because it falls on the local summer. Brazilians are accustomed to the fact that in American culture Christmas is associated with snow, but it would be strange for them to see a “summer” sale in the middle of winter, when the thermometer is +10.
In the online game store (and game development software), Steam, owned by Valve, creatively approached this problem and created a single background banner that “rotates” 180 degrees depending on which hemisphere you are in. Thus, they can simultaneously carry out summer and winter sales.
Conclusion
Brazil is a developing market, but, unlike Asia, the Americans and Europeans do not consider it a “stranger”. Adapting a game or application to the Brazilian market will not require much effort. In addition, the main hits of the American market (with the exception of casino games) are easily gaining popularity in this region.
You can completely localize your application to Brazilian Portuguese and get LTV gain. And you can do with more economical localization of screenshots and descriptions for the application page in the store and get an increase in conversion. Or you can get by with minimal expenses and localize only the application name and keywords in the page and see the reaction of Brazilian users to your product.
What do you think about this? Are you planning to launch your product in the Brazilian market in the near future?
About the translator
The article is translated in Alconost.
Alconost is engaged in the localization of applications, games and websites in 60 languages. Language translators, linguistic testing, cloud platform with API, continuous localization, 24/7 project managers, any formats of string resources.
We also make advertising and training videos - for websites selling, image, advertising, training, teasers, expliners, trailers for Google Play and the App Store.
Read more: https://alconost.com
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/246825/
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