Unlike direct translation services that solely focus on translating words and phrases from one language to another, transcreation involves changing content elements to fit the local culture and linguistic nuances of the target market the content is intending to reach.

Transcreation takes into account cultural norms and values, humor, metaphors, and other cultural aspects specific to the target audience. Transcreation is crucial for international expansion because it ensures that a company’s message is not only accurately translated but also effectively communicated. It can also help avoid major accidental faux pas that can ruin your launch in a new market. These are four examples of major brand blunders that transcreation could have helped businesses avoid.

Keep reading for more insight into why transcreation is the secret to successful globalization.

The benefits of transcreation in the globalization of a company

The benefits of transcreation in the globalization of a company are numerous. Let’s take a closer look at a few of them:

• Higher engagement. By editing the images, words, and other content elements to suit better the customers they’re trying to reach, businesses can achieve higher engagement with potential customers. When devoting ample time, resources, and money to a new launch, the last thing you want is for your content to fall flat.
• Improved ROI. Increased levels of engagement can translate into an improved return on investment (ROI), as highly engaged customers are more likely to convert.
• Better brand positioning. By using transcreation to appeal to the local culture, businesses can achieve a stronger and more recognizable brand presence in the target market. This positioning is key for establishing a brand’s credibility and reputation in a new market.
• Avoid cultural mishaps. Transcreation can help businesses avoid cultural mishaps that can arise from a lack of understanding of the target market’s cultural norms and values. These mishaps can include inappropriate language, imagery, or other cultural references that can offend potential customers.

For all these reasons—and more—it is essential to work with transcreation professionals who are experts on the target market culture when undertaking transcreation. These expert transcreators understand the nuances of the local culture and can ensure that all elements of a product or brand communication are appropriately adapted to fit the target audience.

The Takeaway

Transcreation is a vital component of any global growth strategy. By using transcreation to customize products and content to their target audience, businesses can achieve higher engagement, improved ROI, better brand positioning, and avoid cultural mishaps—all in one fell swoop. To take advantage of these benefits, companies must work with professionals who are well-versed in the culture and language of their target audience.

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To better understand how mistakes can occur, we’re going to look at four real-life examples of brands who had major blunders occur after entering new markets. Blunders which could have been easily avoided with market research and transcreation.

Puma—2011

To celebrate the 40th National Day in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), PUMA launched a new shoe design using the country’s flag colors. This seemed like a great marketing initiative at first glance. The problem? The shoe included a respected symbol on an item that is considered very dirty in Arab culture. Puma didn’t intend to cause offense, but by not taking the cultural sensitivity surrounding this symbol into account, they caused mass offense, had to issue an apology, and needed to remove the shoes from stores.

Hiring a target market specialist who is familiar with the local culture and what is considered offensive could have helped avoid this disastrous launch.

P&G for Pampers–1970s

In the 1970’s P&G for Pampers ran a campaign in Japan that seemed really charming at first glance from an American perspective. The ad included a stork delivering diapers to a mom. Storks are frequently associated with delivering new babies to their parents in America, but in Japan folklore tells stories of newborns arriving via a giant peach floating down the river. While the inclusion of a stork didn’t cause offense, it didn’t strike a chord either and consumers simply ignored the commercial which wasn’t an effective use of marketing dollars. A skilled transcreator may have known that the commercial wouldn’t resonate and would be a bit of a flop. They could have helped create a high-quality final product.

Pepsi—1960s

Pepsi entered China using a slogan that they intended to translate to “Pepsi Brings You Back to Life.” What the phrase actually translated to? “Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave.” Ancestor worship is an important part of Chinese culture, so this slogan did not have the effect it intended. Not only could a transcreator with proper knowledge of the local language and culture have translated the phrase properly, but they could have ensured no major culture faux pas occurred.

Braniff Airlines—1987

In the late 1980’s Braniff Airlines ran ads on televisions, radios, and in newspapers to let everyone know that their jets had luxe all-leather seats. In the Florida market, they ran ads on Spanish-language radio stations. The result? Accidentally revealing an unintended double entendre. Their slogan for the campaign was “fly in leather”. In Spanish, this translates to fly “en cuero” which sounds like Spanish slang for “fly naked”. While some suspected this scandalous move was intended, the executive who created the ad confirmed the double entendre was in fact an accident.

Again—this could have been an easy mistake for a transcreator to catch.

We all make mistakes and that’s okay, but whenever possible, it’s very helpful to learn from the mistakes of others! Especially when you’re spending a lot of time and resources to launch in a new target market.

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Let’s take a closer look at what the transcreation process looks like.

Before

To start the transcreation process, the transcreator analyzes the client request and makes sure they understand the scope and requirements of the project thoroughly. They will analyze the transcreation brief to understand the content that needs transcreation and if there isn’t a creative brief, they will try to gather all the information necessary that would normally be in one. They will also do preliminary research on things such as the industry, product, and client.

The transcreator should not take anything for granted. If there’s something that is not clear in a transcreation brief or because of a lack of one, they should ask the client for clarification.

During

Once they are confident they have all of the information and context they need, the transcreator will read the source copy again and again. At this point they will identify which are the challenges ahead. For example, does the content have a rhyme in it? Does it use wordplay? Is there an image tied to the text?

Once the challenges are identified, the transcreator will start brainstorming potential ways to overcome them. They will produce several drafts and play around with different ideas. All ideas are okay to float at the beginning and shouldn’t be discarded without taking the time to think them through.

They will continue doing research, looking for inspiration, editing, and polishing what they have, and then they will come up with new options for the copy. At times, they will have to stop, let it sink in and come back to it later with a fresh mind.

Oftentimes, the transcreator will read the copy out loud to test the effect it has. The goal is to catch the consumer’s attention and captivate them. By the end of this process, the transcreator will have two or three good options he or she feels confident about, but the ultimate choice will be the client’s.

After

Once the transcreator comes up with a few options that would achieve the intended goal in the target language, they will have to submit their work to the client for approval. This is generally done through a sheet where the transcreator presents the different options in the target language, provides a back translation for each option so that the client understands what is actually being said in the target language, provides an explanation for each option, and states why they work for the target market. If the transcreator prefers one option over the others, they can express this as well as the reason why they chose that specific option so the client can understand their thought process.

The Takeaway

Transcreation is a complex process that takes time to get right. Giving a transcreator a long enough timeline to do ample research and to not rush the creative process is key. It’s always best to leave a little wiggle room to overcome challenges and to work together to fine tune the final copy.

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Transcreation projects may be very short in the sense that the final copy may only be a few words long (like with a slogan), but since the work required is purely creative, the transcreator faces many challenges before coming up with the perfect target text.

Here are a few transcreation challenges transcreators tend to run into.

Specific knowledge of the industry, target audience, client, and product

Before tackling a transcreation project, the transcreator should make sure they know the industry or product their content is about inside and out. If they aren’t familiar with it, the transcreator should research the industry and related terminology in depth in order to know in which ways they can use its jargon in a creative or persuasive way. A transcreation brief can also aid in providing the transcreator with all the information necessary to complete the project. Familiarity with the target audience is of utmost importance and not knowing exactly who the text is targeting can present a real challenge. Not only in terms of language variant, for example, but also where they live and what generation they belong to.

Lack of context

It’s not unusual for the transcreator to only receive an email with the sentence that needs to be transcreated. However, this isn’t enough information for them to go off of, as blindly translating copy is an impossible task. Knowing how and where the content will be displayed is extremely helpful to the tanscreator. If this is not taken into account, the client runs the risk of having a target text that is not effective.

Images tied to the source text

Frequently the content that needs to be transcreated has an image attached to it which can present a challenge for the trancreator. When a piece of copy needs to relate to a select image, the transcreator’s creativity becomes restricted as they must come up with a solution that also goes well with that image. Consider the example shown in this video with the phrase “why the long face?”.

Character limits

Space is valuable real estate when it comes to ads and other marketing mediums, so character limit restrictions are often the number one enemy of the transcreator. Words in some languages are longer than in English, so the target text regularly expands as soon as it is translated.

Character limits can force the transcreator to look for ways to convey the same intention of the original copy with other words or creative devices that use less space. Even if there’s not an actual character limit, the transcreator should strive to make the transcreation no more than 10% longer than the source. Otherwise, the copy becomes wordy and loses impact. In our fast-paced world, people want clear and concise messages—they don’t want to read long-winded text.

Cultural references

Incorporating cultural elements into marketing content can help the customer relate better. Nevertheless, when taking products to new markets, these cultural elements should be reassessed and adapted by the transcreator to fit the target culture. This can be a challenging part of the transcreation process.

Idioms, puns, wordplays and rhymes

These creative devices spice up the language and make messages funny, witty, and more engaging. Ultimately, these devices can make copy memorable, but when it comes time to take it to the target language they are almost impossible to replicate (especially considering the challenges discussed above).

To overcome this, the transcreator strives to look for other devices, from the target language, that can help evoke the same emotional response or create the same impact. On occasions, the transcreator has to choose between content or form. This is of course an impossible choice, but at times it is not necessary to keep the rhyme if the text maintains the rhythm.

The Takeaway

Transcreation is not a process that should be rushed. Taking the time needed to overcome these challenges can lead to a much higher quality final product. It also helps immensely to have someone working on the project who is very experienced in transcreation work as they will be best equipped at dealing with these challenges.

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Transcreation is a time-consuming process that requires ample research. You can speed up the process, and limit confusion, by creating a brief that tells the transcreator the key information they need to know to get started. Outlining things like idioms, culture-specific terms, double meanings, and imagery that is specific to your brand in the transcreation brief can provide some much-needed clarity from the get go.

Let’s take a closer look at the questions a transcreation brief should answer.

Questions a Transcreation Brief Should Answer

Not sure where to start when creating a transcreation brief? Consider adding the answers to the following questions to your brief.

Questions About the Brand

Unless the transcreator is already familiar with your brand, make sure to introduce them to who you are, what you do, and what your brand values are. This will help the transcreator deliver the message in a way that aligns with your usual branding efforts.

• What is the brand?
• What is the product or service?
• Why is this product or service different from the competition?
• What is the brand essence (personality and voice)?
• What does the brand stand for (mission and values)?

Questions About the Campaign

When you identify answers to important questions about the campaign the transcreator will work on, take care to clearly define your audience. Doing so will allow the linguist to work with specific references that may or may not be perceived by all age or social groups in your target audience.

• What is the purpose of the campaign?
• What message should the campaign convey?
• Who is the target audience of this campaign?
• What response are you looking for?
• What should the customers’ next steps be after consuming your brand’s content?

Questions About Style Preferences

When it comes to style preferences, you’ll want to pay big attention to what you do and don’t want the transcreator to say. For example, a brand may want the transcreator to stay away from certain words or concepts that are against its values or their messaging. On the other hand, the brand may be used to referring to certain ideas or using select words to convey their personality and may want to make sure that style carries through to this project.

The source copy is likely already a very creative copy that may include wordplays or other creative devices. While the meaning may be evident, it’s helpful to explain why it was chosen and what it accomplishes in the copy. Is the aim to make the reader laugh? Is the aim to use an analogy? This helps the transcreator create the same effect using different creative devices in the target language.

It can also be helpful to share your plans for the campaign, such as where the copy they’re working on will appear (such as a social media ad, billboard ad, or TV commercial). This information will help the transcreator put themselves in the target audience’s shoes and guess how this message will come across in a certain medium.

• Are there any things or concepts you want to avoid?
• What things or concepts should be included?
• Where is the copy going to appear?
• Are there reference materials or other relevant websites?
• Are there space limitations such as character limitations or a max word count?
• In which format should the job be delivered?
• Are there any special clarifications regarding wordplays or jargon?
• Will there any other visual assets accompany the copy?

Visuals are an important part of a marketing text or campaign. Send your transcreator all the visuals you can possibly provide: mood boards, brochures, websites, outdoor posters, etc. Anything that might be useful should be included. Remember those previously mentioned wordplays? Well, they often relate to the visuals of a campaign. If your linguist is missing them, they may miss the campaign’s whole point.

The Takeaway

Answering all of these questions in written form may take a lot of time, so if you’re in a time crunch, you can walk your transcreator through these questions verbally on the phone. The essential thing is that all of these aspects are talked about so that the target copy can reflect not only what the source says, but also what the brand/client had in mind when they created it.

The post Why Transcreation Briefs are Necessary Before Starting a Transcreation Project appeared first on Terra Translations.

In business, the stakes are often high. Many times, you have only one chance to nail important business objectives, such as entering a new market, and failure simply cannot happen. This is often the case with projects that require transcreation. For some business objectives, a literal or more straight forward translation can get the job done. When it can’t, that is where transcreation comes in. 

One of the main challenges of transcreation is measuring quality. Doing so can be more difficult than when handling a more typical translation. Transcreation requires a level of creativity that is difficult to measure. Addressing quality while the transcreation process is actually happening is imperative. While quality standards will vary from client to client, there are ways to work towards general quality standards during the transcreation process.

The Transcreation Brief

Before a transcreation project even begins, steps towards quality assurance must be taken. The transcreator can get a strong start on the project with a solid brief that provides context on the purpose of the content they will be transcreating. For example, a marketing campaign will have different transcreation requirements than a movie would. Understanding the purpose is key, as transcreation projects don’t require a word-for-word translation, but instead aim to adapt a piece of content to have a similar meaning while conveying the same feeling in another language. 

While the brief should encourage flexibility and creativity, it must give the transcreator clear guidance on what direction to take. Who will be reading the final text? What was the original purpose of the text? Why does it require transcreation? These are all important questions that require answering in the brief. A brief can also share brand values, how the client hopes their brand to be perceived in the target location, and what the desired approach to break into a new market is. 

The Timeline

Transcreation is not a project that should be rushed as it can involve a high level of research and creativity to master. Providing a transcreator with a clear timeline without expecting rushed work can help ensure they manage their time in a way that leads to a quality final project. 

The Back Translation Process

The back translation process involves giving the translated version of the text to a separate independent translator who has not seen the original text. They then translate the new text back into the original language. Their results will help ensure clients that the meaning of the source text was not literally lost in translation. 

Back translation is a quality assurance step that can be useful in certain scenarios such as when content requires a high level of control because semantic errors can have consequences. Or when a client doesn’t speak or read the target language, back translation can allow them to check the accuracy of the translation by themselves.

How to Measure Success

While the goal is to achieve quality during the transcreation process, there are post-publishing measurements that can check if the transcreator accomplished the intended effects and purpose. Pre-publishing, there are tools that can be used to measure readability. Post-publishing measurements require more collaboration though and can involve human intervention. Changes to text can sometimes be made post-publishing, so using the following methods to test quality can provide value.

• Seeking an objective corroboration that examines sales and site traffic data. 
• Employing a third-party editor or reviewer. 
• Hosting market surveys and focus groups.
• Undertaking blind A/B testing. 

At the end of the day, the ultimate “quality test” can be uncovered through the feedback the client receives or the bottom-line results of the project. If feedback is positive and the expected results arise, the client can have confidence that the transcreation project was successful.

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Transcreation plays a crucial role in the success of marketing campaigns. Which means a transcreator is an important asset to any marketing or advertising team that wants to take their marketing efforts to new audiences in foreign countries through transcreation. There are a set of skills that a good transcreator should have in order to be successful at this tricky job.

Who is qualified to transcreate?

In order to transcreate successfully, one must have skills and knowledge regarding not just language, but cultural nuances. The transcreator should be able to confidently advise on the look and feel of a client’s campaign, alongside guiding copy, in order to ensure it is a success within the local target market. Point being, a transcreator should serve as a cultural advisor as much as an expert on translation. 

What skills make a successful transcreator?

The number one skill a transcreator should have may not be one you’d expect. Creativity. The marketing whizzes may be the ones who get all the creative credit, but transcreators are a big part of the equation. Transcreators will play with words, rhythm, proverbs, alliteration, and personification in order to make them work creatively and accurately in the target market. 

Aside from creativity, a transcreator needs to be adaptable. They may have to set aside their personal style or preferences to adapt to a campaign’s needs. An expert knowledge of both the source and target language is also extremely important. Having a high level knowledge of both languages will assist when working through cultural differences and language variants, such as with colloquialisms. Being familiar with the culture of the target language will not only help with word choice, but the meaning behind those words. Throughout the world, different societies have varying traditions, values, struggles, priorities, and passions. Working with a transcreator who is deeply aware of the culture they’re targeting will be an invaluable asset. In essence, a transcreator should have the following skills and experience at their disposal.

• Have proper training in both literary translation and creative writing.
• Not only be bilingual, but actually be born and educated in the area relating to the target audience.
• Stay up to date on the cultural and socio political events of the target market.
• Be able to write creatively and have advertising, marketing, and copywriting skills.
• Be knowledgeable about advertising regulations that affect the target audience.
  

How to work with a transcreator successfully

When working with a transcreator or a transcreation team, it’s important to focus on the work being a collaborative effort. You can give the transcreator as much or as little creative leeway as needed. You can work together to make sure they maintain your vision and preferred style, while also allowing them to put their expertise to work. By working with a high quality transcreator who has an expert knowledge of both the source and target languages and cultures, you’ll be able to ensure that your marketing campaigns shine wherever you distribute them.

The post Transcreator: What the Role Entails and the Skills Required appeared first on Terra Translations.

Why is transcreation necessary?

The term transcreation combines two words. It is a meshing of translation and creation. Most commonly, those who work in marketing and advertising use this term. Transcreation can help duplicate marketing messages in a way that hides the fact that translation occurred. Ideally, this process will provide the audience with the same emotional response they would have obtained from the source message.

Culture plays a large role in making an advertisement successful. Ensuring that all marketing materials feel as if they were specifically designed for the culture they’re targeted at is important. Advertisers must make their audience feel a certain way. Unlocking what is important to them culturally, will make that process much easier. 

How is transcreation used in marketing?

Globalization has led to many companies spreading their marketing campaigns to other countries, which can require running campaigns in multiple languages. Because language is so intertwined with culture, it’s important that marketers hire professional transcreators to assist with the transcreation process. A transcreator is usually a professional translator who is skilled in creative writing.

What may seem like a direct translation could actually lose the essence of what made the source copy so effective from a marketing perspective. Slogans that contain metaphors, similes, rhyming, wordplay, or alliteration, are examples of why transcreation is so important. Those creative writing techniques won’t necessarily translate literally into other languages. 

What are the challenges of translation in marketing?

When moving into a foreign market, there are three options for advertisers. Translate an existing campaign, run new campaigns locally, or run an international campaign in English. If a marketing team chooses to go the translation route, they must incorporate transcreation into their process. Transcreation can be difficult and entail more work than a direct translation, but it’s worth the extra time commitment. When an ad agency or marketing team neglects to hire a professional translator for this process, they may end up with underwhelming results in foreign countries. Potentially their entire campaign can fail or cause scandal. 

Pepsi is an unfortunate example of the dangers of skipping transcreation in marketing. Between 1963 and 1967, Pepsi attempted to market its products in China. The slogan they used in English-speaking countries was “Come alive with Pepsi”. However, when they tried to translate that English text into Chinese, the outcome was disastrous. The Chinese translation ended up as “Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the dead.” Not exactly a crowd pleaser. For a product to successfully enter a new market, all aspects of its marketing campaign need to adapt to the target culture.

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Translation involves rendering one language to another. Sounds simple enough. However, without proper attention to context and culture, the intended meaning can be lost in the translated text. Phrases in one language should not be expected to directly translate word for word into another language. Poetry, for example, doesn’t directly translate because it’s filled with feelings and personal interpretation. For brands, slogans, and taglines often include regional slang and colloquial words that require an approach beyond translating methods alone.

That’s where transcreation comes in.

What is transcreation?

Transcreation is the merger of two words: translation and creation. It’s an intricate form of translating that preserves the original intent, context, emotion, and tone. Originally conceived by marketing and advertising professionals, the goal of transcreation is to duplicate the message thoughtfully and seamlessly, without audiences realizing a translation ever occurred. The finished product should give the audience an identical emotional experience as the source message.

The process

Where translation usually begins with a source text, the transcreation process frequently kicks off with a creative brief. The expert producing the transcreation must have the skills and knowledge to not only know the cultural nuances of both languages but must understand the “spirit” of which the original message was created. In the process, the transcreator may also take creative liberties and make significant changes to the translation in order to uphold its original meaning. With special attention given to the end user, all content created should resonate with audiences from a cultural point of view.

In addition to translated copy, transcreators can also advise on the look and feel of the client’s campaign. The expert will assure that all creative, such as imagery, color, and layouts, align and will resonate with the local market. Again, the goal is not just to translate text, but to evoke emotion with proper cultural adaption across all fractions of the campaign. For example, the expert will recommend if models in advertisements need to be replaced to better fit the demographics of the different market.

How to improve the process?

Due to its dynamic strategy and attention to various aspects of a campaign, transcreation has become a focus within the translation industry. To better improve the complex process, it’s important that the source copy is final before moving it into transcreation. Last-minute changes can disrupt the transcreation process and extend projects past the deadline. Also, because creative liberties are often taken in transcreation, it’s extremely beneficial to have an approval process in place with sign-off from a relevant product or brand manager within the target market of the campaign.

A prime example of a brand utilizing transcreation is McDonald’s, which adjusted its North American slogan from “I’m lovin’ it” to “I just like it” in China. The word “love” in the Chinese language is extremely serious and rarely said aloud. “I just like it” is a localized expression more in line with Chinese culture. In addition to slogans, McDonald’s also localized their menus to suit the tastes of the target market. A McDonald’s in the Philippines, for example, may offer the McRice burger, while a McDonald’s in India will offer a McPaneer Royale. When done correctly, transcreation is an effective way for brands to authentically reach new markets in a meaningful way and achieve greater brand engagement and recognition.

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