No creative consult. Just knowledge of how to say it in French
Montreal ad firm Brad has opened an adaptation agency called The French Shop. Its goal: making sure nothing gets lost in translation.
With small offices in Toronto and Montréal, the shop wants to serve agencies outside of Quebec who don’t have a French translation service but have accounts that need bilingual work.
“With all the headquarters moving to Toronto and the smaller, independent agencies blooming across the country, we thought there was a need for Quebec-based French speaking professional expertise,” said Dany Renauld, Brad’s co-president.
Mélanie Courtois, who has worked at Grip and Bos, will oversee the Toronto office and work with clients. The work, however, will be done out of the Montreal office, which has three employees and a network of freelancers.
“We are doing translation and adaptation, and we live with it. We will not propose a new creative platform nor a new concept,” said Renauld. “We’ll be working with what the client has. But it will be translated by people who live in Québec and know the market, the beat, the new artists, TV shows, et cetera.”
Brad has launched an ad campaign to promote the new shop. “It’s a bold campaign, but it’s funny. Of course, it’s caricatured, but at the same time, some people believe you can use Google Translate and you’ll be fine.”
The French Shop will also provide community management, pitch consultation, production, casting for double shoots and advice on contest rules, which are “more complicated” in Quebec.
