Transcreation Services

Transcreation is a subset of creative translation that concerns marketing texts. It’s the application of an extreme form of creative translation for marketing or advertising purposes that looks to emulate the tone, style, and intent of the original without necessarily transferring the same concepts or conveying the same message.

Transcreation differs from traditional translation by reaching for resonance rather than strict equivalence. The message might be sacrificed or changed altogether in an effort to licit a similar emotional impact in the target audience as the original text did with the original audience. Read more in this transcreation blog post.

The purpose of transcreation is to adapt content, typically for marketing and selling purposes, to evoke the same emotions in audiences around the world as the original source message did at home.

This objective is rooted in the understanding that emotions form the bedrock of conversions, and these emotions are profoundly influenced by cultural factors. Therefore, transcreation seeks to bridge cultural gaps and resonate on a deep, emotional level with diverse audiences, ultimately driving engagement and action.

Transcreation is particularly beneficial for scenarios such as advertising, branding, marketing campaigns, website content, social media posts, product naming, and multimedia content when you want to adapt your message for cultural relevance and engagement while preserving your brand’s essence.

Common examples of transcreation are taglines, puns, jokes, and word plays – linguistic gems that often seem impossible to replicate across languages due to language-specific intricacies and cultural contexts.

However, it’s important to recognise that not every translated pun automatically falls under the realm of transcreation. Here’s where the distinction between transcreation and creative translation comes into focus.

We share three examples in this transcreation blog post.

Successful transcreation requires:

• Cultural understanding

• Language proficiency

• Knowledge of marketing principles

• Knowledge of marketing psychology

• Creativity

• Copywriting skills

• Market-specific knowledge

• User experience understanding

Localisation has three meanings. It can refer to a marketing strategy, to an industry in itself, or to a linguistic procedure. Read all about it in this localisation blog post.

The confusion between transcreation and localisation normally arises from the notion of localisation as a linguistic procedure. This is the process whereby a translator adapts some elements of a text to better suit the target audience. This might involve:

• Making sure the text uses local colloquialisms, idioms, and slang
• Ensuring that it conforms to local regulations]
• Adapting date/time formats, measurements, currencies, and so on.

Transcreation is also a linguistic technique, but it’s closer to copywriting than it is to translation or localisation. Transcreation moves further from the source text and might even change the message completely and compromise meaning to preserve the text’s impact.

Normally, yes. Transcreation is usually charged by the hour rather than by the word, and it transcreation requires a significantly bigger budget than regular translation projects. A 5-word slogan could take 2 hours to transcreate.

However, the benefits of transcreation usually outweigh its hefty price tag – they can lead to fruitful payoffs for the client in terms of branding and positioning as well as a significant increase in sales.

Transcreation is a subset of creative translation. Unlike transcreation, which completely rewrites the original text, creative translation is quite faithful to the original while allowing for some creative leeway. Here’s a blog on creative translation that you can consult.