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English to French translations [PRO] Marketing - Advertising / Public Relations
English term or phrase:next can of soup
Bonjour à tous,
Dans un texte marketing, on parle de l'importance de la couleur sur l'emballage d'un produit, comment la couleur influence le choix du consommateur, etc. La directrice exécutive d'un institut de la couleur s'exprime à ce sujet :
"Marketers must educate themselves about how color “attaches” itself to the products they’re trying to sell. You have to understand the message you are trying to convey or the mood you’re trying to set. It’s also critical to know your competition. You don’t want to blend in with the next can of soup."
"Les vendeurs doivent connaître la manière dont la couleur « s’attache » aux produits qu’ils essaient de vendre. Vous devez être en mesure de comprendre le message que vous essayez de transmettre ou le ton que vous tentez de donner. Il est aussi capital de connaître vos concurrents. Vous ne voulez pas vous fondre dans la masse de produits."
Je n'arrive pas à rendre ce "next can of soup". J'imagine qu'on y fait référence à la boîte de soupe Campbell de Warhol (image de la société de consommation, etc.)
just on its own "the next can of soup" could perfectly well be "next" not in space but on a list of comparable products, or a generic "can of soup" from some non-descript competitor or... BUT "You don’t want to blend in with the next can of soup" narrows down options: I don't see how you could end up in a situation where the "can of soup" A is in a danger of "blending in" with cans of soup from competitors B C D etc if they are not seen in a group next to each other (like on a shelf?).
It could theoretically be the case that this can is not a real "can" at all. But given the overall context, a very reasonable assumption is that the ST is about nothing more than a product having or not a distinct easily recognisable visual identity in a very down-to-earth situation - when sitting on a shelf next to the competition's offering. The only "can" that is not a real can I can think of right now would be a "can of worms", or "to carry the can", but I don't see how it could fit in this ST. A propos, "il n'y a pas de quoi fouetter un chat" must be even more baffling than "tomber dans les pommes" when there isn't a single apple in sight.
Je vois que mon post génère des discussions. C'est toujours très intéressant. Pour ma part, je reste sur l'idée de "masse" (je vois qu'une majorité approuve d'ailleurs). Merci à tous en tout cas !
I too thought of Orangina (though that's now American too!) — or the old Joker bottles; but here, we are dealing with the issue of colour. All the colour-identified products I could think of seeing in supermarkets here turned out to be American ones, like Old El Paso products... Coke... Vanish... Green Giant... I don't agree about the 'next' idea; if the EN had meant 'next to it on the shelf', it would probably have said 'the can of soup next to it'; the only more concrete interpretation I can envisage would be if it were to mean 'the first one you pick out has one colour, and the next one you pick out has a different colour. This confusion with 'next' only arises with FR because of the double sense of 'suivant' and 'voisin' — but in EN, 'next' is only used in the latter sense in relatively specific expressions like 'next door' or 'next to'; hence why 'the next man/soup' is really the only interpretation I can entertain here.
Je pense qu'elle parle de l'identification facile du produit pour un acheteur, qu'en regardant l'étagère, le produit ne pourrait pas être confondu avec une autre marque, que le consommateur pourait "automatiquement" et "rapidement" reconnaître le produit de la société grâce à son emballage, ses couleurs, etc.
@ Tony : il se trouve que dans un supermarché, le sens de next "I'm as good as the next man" coïncide en quelque sorte avec le sens "the man standing next to me" car les produits similaires sont placés les uns à côté des autres. Dans le texte, même si ce n'est pas directement mentionné, on visualise d'emblée un magasin. Soit on l'interprète comme ça, soit on le prend de façon plus abstraite et alors uniquement dans le sens de "I'm as good as the next man".
Yes! But I do think there is a reason why the original was worded "You don't want your product to look like all the others, do you now?" — even though it is perhaps commoner to ask questions that will elicit a 'Yes' answer.
As has already been said, the reference to soup must surely be the famous Campbell's can — to this day, it is the only soup that is instantly spottable among all the others. However, as has also been said, the choice of 'soup' would probably not be ideal for France, where canned soup is much less common; it would be a little tricky to find an equivalent product where the colour (rather than some other attribute) of the packaging is so very distinctive — and almost certainly not with the same iconic status as Campbell's soup!
I don't agree at all with your 'physically next to' interpretation; this construction is very common in EN, cf. "I'm as good as the next man", which is nothing whatever to do with 'the man standing next to me'
This is much more the idea of 'toute autre soupe lambda'
Daryo yes and no.... On the principle you're right, but how can a frenchman (for example) be sure that he is not missing a point... because of a lack of culture related to the nationality of the writer, (even English and Americans can be very different...)... For example 'a can of soup' could have a special meaning.... French example: To translate "tomber dans les pommes" you have to know this has nothing to do with falling or even with apples... You see what I mean?
is here most literally "next to your can of soup" on a shop shelf; "shouldn't blend in" simply means "should be visually different". The "can of soup" is just any mass produced product, there's no need to make any mention and no direct links to Andy Whorholl, only some indirect link as Andy took the same "representative" (a can of soup) for mass produced consumer products. I don't see any need to go into waxing lyrical about some hidden deep meaning.
Merci pour vos propositions. Je ne comptais pas effectivemetnt évoquer la référence à Wharol dans ma traduction. Tout à fait, en France je n'ai jamais vu de boîte de conserve de soupe ! :)
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Answers
3 mins confidence:
marque juste à côté de votre produit
Explanation: vous ne voulez pas qu'on vous confonde avec la marque juste à côté de votre produit
FX Fraipont (X) Belgium Local time: 19:36 Native speaker of: French PRO pts in category: 195
7 mins confidence: peer agreement (net): +2
dans le même rayon
Explanation: je ne pense pas qu'on fasse spécialement référence à la soupe Campbell, et quand bien même, la référence n'est pas pertinente pour le lecteur français. chez nous, la soupe se consomme plutôt en brique d'ailleurs. j'élargirais donc, puisque l'idée c'est d'avoir un packaging qui se démarque clairement des autres
par ex. : Vous ne voulez pas que votre produit ressemble à ceux du même rayon.
Isabelle Cluzel France Local time: 19:36 Native speaker of: French
21 mins confidence:
être encore une autre marque de lessive qui lave plus blanc que blanc
Explanation: ma suggestion Coluche...
Philippe Locquet Portugal Local time: 18:36 Specializes in field Native speaker of: French PRO pts in category: 8