Jul 18, 2005 16:41
18 yrs ago
Dutch term
doelgroep
Dutch to English
Bus/Financial
Business/Commerce (general)
PR/HR jargon
General context: (a) Brief company profile (descriptions of the company, its people, its place in the world, and its financial performance) of a Dutch/Flemish waste processing company.
Specific context:
In the blurb under 'Onderneming':
Onze doelgroep is een brede zakelijke doelgroep, waarbij geldt dat zowel groot als klein zich thuis moeten voelen bij onze organisatie. Uitstekende en betrouwbare dienstverlening is daarbij een voorwaarde. Daarnaast blijven wij onvoorwaardelijk steun uitspreken voor duurzaam ondernemen.
Is this just somewhat carelessly written text (repetition of 'doelgroep'), or has 'doelgroep' lost its specific meaning of target group/audience in contemporary business jargon and come to simply mean an identifiable group?
Incidentally (and related to this question), I recently had another text with 'doelgroup' where the usual traslation seemed inappropriate: a 'verbintenis tot anti-discrimineren of niet-discrimineren van minderheden en probleemdoelgroepen' in a company code of conduct.
Specific context:
In the blurb under 'Onderneming':
Onze doelgroep is een brede zakelijke doelgroep, waarbij geldt dat zowel groot als klein zich thuis moeten voelen bij onze organisatie. Uitstekende en betrouwbare dienstverlening is daarbij een voorwaarde. Daarnaast blijven wij onvoorwaardelijk steun uitspreken voor duurzaam ondernemen.
Is this just somewhat carelessly written text (repetition of 'doelgroep'), or has 'doelgroep' lost its specific meaning of target group/audience in contemporary business jargon and come to simply mean an identifiable group?
Incidentally (and related to this question), I recently had another text with 'doelgroup' where the usual traslation seemed inappropriate: a 'verbintenis tot anti-discrimineren of niet-discrimineren van minderheden en probleemdoelgroepen' in a company code of conduct.
Proposed translations
(English)
Proposed translations
+9
43 mins
Selected
our target group includes a broad spectrum of customers
for this one anyway: Onze doelgroep is een brede zakelijke doelgroep
the repetition of words/terms is one of the main challenges in translating these texts. apparently it's perfectly acceptable in NL to repeat the same word/phrase 50 times in a single paragraph, but of course it is considered very poor writing in English.....
problemdoelgroup-imo, amounts to people in difficulty-vulnerable groups, people at the lower end of the scale etc.
the repetition of words/terms is one of the main challenges in translating these texts. apparently it's perfectly acceptable in NL to repeat the same word/phrase 50 times in a single paragraph, but of course it is considered very poor writing in English.....
problemdoelgroup-imo, amounts to people in difficulty-vulnerable groups, people at the lower end of the scale etc.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Marijke Singer
2 mins
|
| agree |
jarry (X)
43 mins
|
| agree |
Dave Calderhead
: spectrum of "commercial customers" perhaps
54 mins
|
| agree |
Tina Vonhof (X)
1 hr
|
| agree |
Deborah do Carmo
: some aren't seeing the wood for the trees here and you're quite right about this being one of the challenges in texts of this nature - clients/customers implies a commercial relationship so the addition of the adjective is redundant and too literal IMHO
1 hr
|
| agree |
vixen
1 hr
|
| agree |
Pierre Grabowski (X)
: ^_^
4 hrs
|
| agree |
Johan Venter
18 hrs
|
| agree |
Saskia Steur (X)
20 hrs
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks. You hit the nail on the head with 'the repetition of words/terms is one of the main challenges...'. Sometimes my brain just freezes up (particularly with sociological jargon, to which I have a chronic allergy -- a major handicap for HRM and marketing texts)."
+6
3 mins
target group
It seems this would be all right here.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Johan Venter
: I came across doelgroep in a similar type of text two weeks ago and I translated it as target group.
6 mins
|
| agree |
hirselina
11 mins
|
| agree |
Dave Calderhead
1 hr
|
| agree |
D.K. Tannwitz
2 hrs
|
| agree |
Hester Eymers
20 hrs
|
| agree |
Saskia Steur (X)
21 hrs
|
-2
4 mins
Lucinda Hollenberg
Native in English
Native in: English
Works in: Dutch to English, Flemish to English, English, and 1 more.
focus group
I would think that 'focus group' would be better suited to be used for both positive and negative connotations. You are right. I would not use 'audience' as I see that more as leaning towards the positive as well as 'target group.'\
I hope that this helps.
Good luck!
Lucinda
I hope that this helps.
Good luck!
Lucinda
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Robert Kleemaier
: perhaps, but I'm more familiar with this term in the context of politics and marketing
17 mins
|
| disagree |
jarry (X)
: I don't think this is the right term in this context
1 hr
|
| disagree |
Tina Vonhof (X)
: a focus group is a small group of people who are interviewed about a specific topic.
1 hr
|
1 hr
Dave Calderhead
Netherlands
Netherlands
Native in English
Specializes in field
Netherlands
Reliable translations, reasonable rates
Native in: English
Works in: Dutch to English, English
Related KudoZ points
:
126
target audience
just another alternative to target group
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Alexander Schleber (X)
: More frequently used for broadcasting
28 mins
|
3 hrs
Johan Verduijn
25 years of expertise in culinary lingo
Works in: Spanish to English, Dutch to English, Dutch to French, and 27 more.
target group
the group or market segment the strategic focus is aimed at
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Saskia Steur (X)
: this answer was already given over three hours ealier...
18 hrs
|
1 day 2 hrs
we are targetting a (group &c of...)
splitting up those compounds helps sometimes
Discussion