Blog
The Typo That Tried to Hide
9th October 2025
It began, as these things often do, with a single misplaced letter. A harmless typo. A quiet stowaway in an otherwise immaculate survey. Nobody noticed – not the writer, not the proofreader, not even the project manager. The survey went out to thousands of respondents across several countries. Only when the data began trickling in… Read more »
The Whispering Wall – When Research Gets Lost in Echoes
7th October 2025
Imagine standing in front of a Whispering Wall. You whisper a phrase at one end and someone, far away, hears it at the other. A marvel of acoustics, but also a danger because what if the words change slightly as they bounce along? What if “fresh apples” becomes “pressed maples”? The magic becomes muddled and… Read more »
The Mislabelled Map and the Risk of Going Nowhere Fast
2nd October 2025
Picture yourself standing at a crossroads, map in hand. You trust it to guide you. But as you follow its markings, something feels off. The town you were aiming for is nowhere to be seen. The landmarks do not match. Slowly, it dawns on you: the map is mislabelled. You are still moving but you… Read more »
The Library Without an Index – And the Perils of Unstructured Translation
30th September 2025
Imagine walking into the grandest library you have ever seen. Row upon row of shelves stretch into the distance, filled with countless books. It is a researcher’s paradise – until you realise there is no index, no catalogue, no system at all. A single question arises: how do you find what you need? This is… Read more »
The Mistranslated Recipe: When the Cake Never Rises
26th September 2025
Imagine preparing to bake a cake for an important celebration. You carefully lay out the ingredients, following a recipe that has been translated into your language. But something feels odd. The recipe calls for a cup of salt instead of a pinch. It instructs you to vigorously beat a mixture that should only be gently… Read more »
The Whispering Gallery: How Meaning Echoes Differently in Translation
23rd September 2025
If you stand in the Whispering Gallery of Saint Paul’s Cathedral and murmur a word against the curved wall, someone on the far side of the dome can hear it clearly. The sound has travelled, but ask them what they heard and you may be surprised. Sometimes the word emerges faithfully. Sometimes it carries a… Read more »
The Funhouse Mirror: When Translation Distorts More Than It Reflects
18th September 2025
Step into a carnival funhouse and you are met with a wall of mirrors. You recognise yourself, but not quite. One reflection stretches you taller than a lamppost, another squashes you into a comical shape. It is entertaining at a fairground – but disastrous in market research translation. When Reflection Becomes Distortion Surveys are designed… Read more »
The Broken Compass: How Misleading Translation Points Research in the Wrong Direction
16th September 2025
Imagine you are hiking through unfamiliar terrain with a compass in your hand. The needle looks steady, reassuring. But what you do not realise is that it is pointing just a few degrees off North. At first, the error seems minor. But hours later, you are miles from where you intended to be. This is… Read more »
The Mismatched Shoes: When Surveys Do Not Walk the Same Way Abroad
11th September 2025
You rush out of the house in the morning, only to realise halfway through the day that you are wearing one brown shoe and one black. Both shoes are perfectly good. They both work. But together, they look mismatched – and everyone notices. That is exactly what happens when surveys are translated inconsistently across markets…. Read more »
The Mistranslated Menu: When You Order Fish and Get Custard
9th September 2025
You sit down in a bustling restaurant abroad. The menu is full of promise. You scan the options and, with confidence, order the dish described as “roasted fish with creamy sauce.” What arrives is not fish. Nor is it particularly creamy. Instead, a wobbling bowl of cold custard is placed before you. It is a… Read more »
