Transcreation and Why It Matters to Your Business Capabilities

In a world of increasing interconnectedness, it takes a little extra effort to expand into a secondary language. Skimping on translation efforts is a huge no-no, particularly if you’re in a business environment.

Take Braniff Airlines’ 1987 advertisement, for example. With its new all-leather seats, Braniff was excited to tell customers that they could now fly “en cuero,” which translates directly from “in leather.” However, they overlooked one important thing. In Spanish, “en cueros” is a slang term for “naked.” In other words, Braniff was telling passengers that they could fly without their clothes on.

Needless to say, this ad campaign was not received well. The company was forced to issue a public apology, and Braniff went bankrupt just two years later.

On the other hand, good translations can also greatly help marketing efforts. One example is the Paw-xing Gloves in the game Bravely Default II.

In the original Japanese text, the gloves were referred to as “Nyackle,” from the Japanese onomatopoeia “nya” and the English word “knuckle.” Since the onomatopoeia for a cat’s sound in English is “meow” and not “nya,” the term “Nyackle” wouldn’t make sense in the English version.

So, instead, they went with “Paw-xing,” which comes from the words “Paw” and “boxing.” Unlike Braniff’s poorly translated slogan, this was a big hit among fans.

These examples show that even the slightest details can make or break a global marketing campaign. This is where transcreation comes in. In this article, we’ll discuss everything you need to know about transcreation and how it can contribute to your business growth.

What Is Transcreation?

When it comes to business communication, it’s important to move beyond simple translation. As Anthony Burgess, an English writer/translator, puts it, “Translation is not a matter of words only: it is a matter of making intelligible a whole culture.” And this is what transcreation aims to address. But what exactly is transcreation, and how will it help?

Transcreation is a term derived from “translation" and “creation." Compared to common translation tasks, the transcreation definition emphasizes more on complete adaptation into a different context.

In transcreation, the content is recreated into another language while preserving its original intent and purpose. This involves adapting copy, visual elements, and tone to better suit the target audience.

In a business context, transcreation is most commonly used in the fields of marketing and advertisement. Both industries require creative adaptations to convey a persuasive message. Translation alone is not sufficient—not if you want your audience to be deeply engaged with your brand and what you have to offer. When done right, it will result in a content piece that sounds natural to the target audience.

Transcreation vs. Translation: Which Is Which?

We’ve explained what transcreation is in business communication, but how does it vary with translation in general? This is important to note because if you’re choosing between transcreation vs translation services for your brand, you need to know what to expect.

Here are several ways that translation and transcreation differ from each other:

• Job roles

Translations are done by translators, who are people with sufficient proficiency in both languages, as well as the domain knowledge of the content they are translating. They’re responsible for accurately converting the text from one language to another.

Transcreation is a more complex task that requires additional skill sets, especially writing skills. To be a “transcreator,” the linguist must have a very good sense of copywriting and marketing.

This is because transcreation goes beyond simple language conversion. It includes understanding the nuances and culture of the target audience and also demands an understanding of the brand’s voice, message, and goals. All of these elements must be taken into account to produce effective transcreation work.

• Tasks

The goal of both translation and transcreation is to communicate with your target audience in an effective way. However, in translation, the source text accuracy is still prioritized over meaning. In certain fields, it is taken to the extreme. There are even times that clients demand the translators to literally change EVERY word from one language to another, as long as the final output can be easily understood. 

Transcreation, on the other hand, is more contextual. It includes making adjustments to ensure that the message is preserved. This may involve changing sentence structures and word choices to better fit the puns, nuances, figures of speech, and more of your target audience while still maintaining the core message of your marketing material.

• Starting Material

Translations start with a source text, which translators will then directly work with. While this process is relatively straightforward, there’s no assurance that it will be as effective for international marketing efforts. This is because the cultural context is not a priority when it comes to translation.

On the other hand, in addition to the source text, transcreations begin with a creative brief. A detailed brief is more difficult to create, but from this, transcreators and copywriters will have everything they need to create material that will carry your message while remaining culturally sound.

• Cost in Time and Money

The cost in time and money of translation is most commonly calculated by word. This means that, with translation, every word counts, as the price depends on the length of your text. Additionally, longer texts will often take more time to translate, as there is simply more content to work through. Evaluation of time and budget, therefore, is more predictable.

Instead of strictly adhering to word counts, creative teams need more flexibility when doing transcreation. This is why transcreators don’t typically get paid per word. It can be costlier in both time and money for clients depending on the arrangement.

However, a successful piece of transcreation would definitely be a cost-effective solution because it has the potential to make a wider impact.

Transcreation Examples

Here are some transcreation examples to illustrate further the necessity of this discipline when it comes to global business development.

• Mcdonald’s. This beloved franchise’s motto “I’m lovin’ it” is translated to “我就喜歡” in Chinese, which says “I just like it” if you make a literal back-translation. Instead of a direct translation, McDonald’s went for a transcreation that would be more accurate to how Chinese-speaking people talk and that maintains the same sense of spontaneity and liberty as the English version.
• Haribo. This German sweets maker brand’s motto in its native tongue is “Haribo macht Kinder froh, und Erwachsene ebenso," which literally translates to “Haribo makes children happy, and adults too.” Although it works well in German, the direct Italian translation was deemed too long and complicated. So for their Italian campaign, they went with the catchy “Haribo è la bontà che si gusta ad ogni età (Haribo is the goodness that can be tasted at any age)," which turned out to be a successful rhyming pitch to the Italian consumers.
• Apple. This electronics giant’s slogan for the iPhone 13 in the US is “Oh. So. Pro.” which was transcreated to “very strong” in simplified Chinese (強得很), “very pro” in the Hong Kong market (非常。 Pro), and “nothing but pro” in traditional Chinese for Taiwan market (就。很。Pro。). The Taiwanese audience was amused by the “Taiwaneseness" of the slogan. Social media managers of other brands immediately imitated the slogan in their posts. It became a widely-spread meme in a few hours. This is another good example of an effective transcreation work that makes your audience distribute the content for you.

What’s in a Transcreation Brief?

Now that you know how essential transcreation is for your business, you might be eager to avail of transcreation services. Before you can do that, though, you need to have a proper brief that will give your transcreation team the information they need to best create your message.

Here is some essential information that a transcreation brief should contain:

• Context. You need to detail what your content is all about, what the overall message is, and how you want it to be delivered.
• Legal requirements. It’s your responsibility to do the research for any legal requirements or compliance in the countries/regions that you’re targeting. If you’re not able to conduct such research in person, seek advice from transcreators who are familiar with local regulations.
• Target audience. What kind of audience are you trying to reach? What does the customer segment look like? And what approaches can you take to deliver your messages in a relevant way?
• Multidimensional Quality Metrics. Also known as MQM, it is a translation quality assessment framework that enables users to customize their own metrics for quality evaluation. This depends on which aspects you prioritize when judging the quality of a content piece, whether that’s accuracy, fluency, veracity, etc.
• Reference materials. Include your inspiration and source information, so you know that you’re on the same page with your team.
• SEO keyword. Incorporate SEO details like keywords in the brief as well. Doing this can ensure that your transcreation output gets the highest possible visibility on the search result page.
• Task details. This includes the deadlines, disclaimers, an excerpt from the brand style guide, and any other notes you might have for the task.

By adding these details to your transcreation brief, you can be sure that the final result will be an accurate and culturally sound piece of content. It will carry the persuasive powers that you want to be embodied in your marketing campaign.

Selecting the Right Transcreation Service Provider for Your Business

Now that you understand what transcreation is, your next step is to choose the right transcreation service provider that caters to your business needs.

Linguitronics is a premier language service provider that offers top-quality transcreation output for various content that you intend to distribute and push into a different, non-native audience.

From basic translation materials to complex transcreation content, we are dedicated to delivering the most impactful messages possible in your target languages while adhering to your needs, deadlines, and budget. Linguitronics also utilizes the latest quality assessment (QA) tools to ensure that words used are in compliance with local laws and regulations, customs, and taboos. By avoiding these pitfalls, we help your brand to launch products and release content without a hitch.

Sounds like what you need to drive business growth? Contact Us Now!
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