Translation of the entire fitness app and all marketing material from English and French into German (since July 2017)
For this project, I was able to draw on my comprehensive know-how as a sports translator, copywriter and fitness coach. The app contents range from user-tailored fitness training to healthy nutrition to yoga and stretching – all areas in which I have been closely involved for decades, both professionally and personally.
As a bonus, I was able to make use of my experience as a computer games translator: the app uses a gamification approach to make sport more fun. It is important that German-speaking users acquire the drive and motivation that the app is designed to instil – through the individual feedback sessions delivered by the virtual coach, through the fitness programme they are following, and through the client testimonials.
Another challenge was matching up the content with the goals, which are different for male and female users and range from weight loss to figure training to workouts for top athletes. A typical example of this is the six-pack training. Ambitious male athletes respond more positively to phrases like “stahlharter Waschbrettbauch” [“rock-hard washboard stomach”], whereas female users are motived by descriptions such as “knackigen Sixpack” [“firm six-pack”] and “starken Core” [“high core strength”]. Below, you’ll find further examples of the linguistic and stylistic solutions I came up with for FizzUp.
Titles of the training sessions making up the ‘Miracle Morning’ programme:
- Morgenstund‘
- Wachmacher
- Muntermacher
- Durchstarter
- Power-Kick
- Der frühe Vogel
- Gute Laune
‘Easy on the Shoulders’ programme success story:
„Nach einer größeren Schulterverletzung hatte ich schon Angst, ich müsste eine Zeitlang mit dem Sport aussetzen – bis ich das Schulter-Programm von FizzUp entdeckt habe! Ein echter Glücksfall. Ich glaube ohne dieses Training wäre mir daheim die Decke auf den Kopf gefallen.“
For customer testimonials, it is important that the copy flows well and is translated idiomatically. Only then will it sound natural, and only then will it ultimately translate into brand profitability.
My description of the ‘Posture 2’ programme:
„Dir tut der obere Rücken weh? Du hast einen steifen Hals oder Schulterschmerzen? FizzUp hat die perfekte Lösung für dich: Mit Posture 2 stärkst du deinen Oberkörper. Du verbesserst dadurch Schritt für Schritt deine Haltung im Alltag, während du dir die Schmerzen vom Leib hältst. “
This example clearly demonstrates the strategy I have used to translate the text here: addressing the user directly, asking direct questions, using language rich in imagery and tending towards short, snappy sentences, which is fairly similar to conventional copywriting. The effect? The ‘quickfire’ sentences have a dynamic and highly motivating effect on the reader. This draws them completely into the training programme and makes them ‘buy into’ app – which in turn increases the chances of them signing up for a long-term premium subscription.
The regular mailouts dispatched to the FizzUp Community have the same objective – to encourage users to take up using the app again or to motivate them to upgrade from the free version to the premium subscription. A fine nuance is called for here: the content must be attractive, motivating and tempting, without being too in-your-face.
Interestingly, FizzUp have stuck with me as their only freelancer for four years now, while outsourcing all the other language translations to an agency. On the one hand, that shows how important the German market is to FizzUp. And on the other, it’s proof that my creative solutions do the job they’re supposed to. In short: the complete package I offer, as a sports translator, sports copywriter and fitness coach, is a recipe for success for anyone who has ambitions to play with the Big Boys.
