What is transcreation?
Transcreation involves creating a new text in a foreign language based on an existing text. By working with the source text and company materials, the translator will craft a new text that aligns with your strategic business objectives in the foreign market far more effectively than a straightforward translation. This ensures all essential facts, sales promises, and messages are accurately conveyed.
Transcreation is typically ordered for the translation of strategic sales and marketing texts. With transcreation, the translator creates a new text inspired by the source material, carefully considering the text’s purpose, your business strategy, and brand values.
The aim is to create an advertising text in the foreign language that resonates with the target audience and prompts them to take the desired action.
A symbiosis of old and new
A transcreated text is clearly based on a source text, but it feels like a new text because it does not closely follow the original wording. Often, the resulting text has a different style, rhythm or vocabulary. Sentence fragments or entire sentences may be rewritten, condensed, rearranged or omitted.
Why choose transcreation?
Occasionally, clients approach us after having ordered the translation of a marketing text from a translation agency or a freelance translator but are not satisfied with the service. They often describe the translation as clumsy, unnatural, awkward or like something generated by Google Translate. When we review these translations, we usually find that, although technically accurate, they are overly literal. This creates a significant gap between the client’s expectations and the final product. The translator has translated the text word-for-word, whereas transcreation would have provided a more effective and engaging result.
What should I choose for a marketing text: translation or transcreation?
If the marketing text is informative, you should choose translation. Examples of informative marketing texts include product catalogue text, website texts, online store product descriptions, advertising articles, press releases, brand books, company sales and marketing presentations, marketing strategy documents, market research and customer profile descriptions. In the case of advertising texts, transcreation provides better results.
When to choose transcreation?
Transcreation is usually the most suitable service for translating the following types of advertising texts:
- print or outdoor advertising texts;
- TV or radio advertising scripts;
- newsletter or customer letter texts;
- titles of a press release or advertising article;
- advertising banner texts;
- subtitles of an advertising video.
Transcreation is better suited for translating the following types of website texts:
- website homepage or onepager texts;
- landing page texts;
- website calls to action and slogans;
- website subpage titles and meta descriptions.
Order transcreation for the translation of the following types of brand texts:
- company introduction;
- overview of products and services;
- company slogan;
- company vision and mission statements.
Work begins with briefing
When ordering transcreation, you must first complete the brief form. We need to know what the translated text will advertise, the messages used for this purpose and the action the text should encourage the reader to take. We also require information about the brand’s style, values, characteristics and its image in the home market. The more accurately you complete the brief form, the better the transcreation will be.
Next step is target market analysis
Transcreation is performed by a translator of marketing texts who lives in the target market and has strong knowledge of the source language. The brand’s target audience may differ in the home and target markets. The target market may also use different power words, SEO keywords, etc. If the text includes wordplay, polysemy, homonymy or other such elements, suitable equivalents must be found in the cultural context of the target language.
Transcreation process
For the transcreation of short advertising texts, we usually create several versions for you to choose from. Transcreation of longer texts typically results in one translation, with comments explaining the adaptations and changes made. The transcreation of both short and long advertising texts includes a back translation, so that the client can clearly understand the changes made in their native language.
Transcreation or foreign-language copywriting?
Instead of transcreation, you can hire a copywriter from the target market to create an entirely new text tailored for the foreign market. Transcreation is the best choice when it is crucial to maintain the essence of the source text without deviating significantly from it. Read more about copywriting.
Ordering transcreation
Advertising texts are very important. They must guide the reader to take the desired action, clearly explain the benefits of the product or service and convey strategic messages.
Choose the right translation partner to translate your advertising texts to ensure the result benefits your business. We will help you create a translated advertising text that builds customer trust and helps you sell your products or services on the foreign market.
Contact us. We will be happy to help you with the transcreation or translation of advertising texts!
