What Is Transcreation, and What Does the Transcreation Process Involve?
If you’ve considered trying to get a message out there on the international stage, chances are you may have already come across the hybrid term ‘transcreation’. We language professionals do love a good neologism, but what exactly do we mean by this one? What is transcreation? What does the transcreation process actually involve, and when might it matter for your business?
Let’s find out.
What is transcreation?
At its most basic level, ‘transcreation’ is the term given to the specialised copywriting process that goes on when translation and creation come together. But, as we’re about to find out, there’s nothing ‘basic’ about the art of transcreation — or what transcreation could mean for your business.
Transcreation is the complex process of transforming content across linguistic and regional divides. It’s about resonating meaningfully with a new target audience in a specific way, whilst still remaining as close as possible to the aims of a creative brief or piece of source material. A transcreation team will often be given the difficult task of trying to preserve a certain style, tone, or implied meaning, finding culturally appropriate ways of doing so in a new dialect.
Transcreation is often associated with marketing copy and advertising, as these are forms in which connecting with your audience on an emotional level can prove crucial. Transcreation takes place whenever a message is transformed from one language to another in a creative manner, trying to resonate with a different culture, region, or demographic by adopting language that’s relevant to them.
You might be wondering how exactly this differs from translation. After all, what is transcreation if not ‘translation with extra fluff’? Well, rather than being competing practices, it can be more useful to think of them as similar skills with different (but related) applications.
In its strictest sense, translation tends to be about preserving the literal meaning and information in a piece of content as it’s transferred into a new language. This often (but not always) involves sticking as close as possible to the original source document. Though it will involve creative, thoughtful decisions on the part of the translation team, there may not be as much ‘creation’ going into it; translation is less about trying to find different phrasing, brand image, or messaging that resonates with a new audience, and more about keeping accurate meaning and tone across languages.
Transcreation, on the other hand, may not even begin with that same source document. It may stem from a creative brief instead, much like you would for a new marketing strategy or promotional campaign. If there is original content that needs ‘transcreating’ into a different language, it may be that significant elements of this content are altered, removed, replaced, and shifted around. The desired emotional impact or response from the target audience wouldn’t necessarily be achieved if a literal, word-for-word translation was the only thing carried out.
History of transcreation
As with most aspects of the language services industry, ‘transcreation’ didn’t just appear overnight. Although some trace the word’s origin to language theorists of the 1960s and 70s, it didn’t really start to become a recognisable part of the marketing canon until the early 21st century.
By this point, international brands and businesses were starting to realise that, to operate effectively on a global stage, you need to pay close attention to the specific cultures, understandings, and values of your intended audiences around the world.
Translating content without considering how phrases might land with a new audience was soon recognised as a risky venture — one that could leave you with ineffective marketing copy at best, and could alienate or even insult your intended customers at worst.
And it wasn’t just small, inexperienced firms finding out the hard way that ‘transcreation’ might be necessary across international platforms.
Infamous clangers include KFC trying to expand into China in the 1980s with its famous US slogan, ‘Finger lickin’ good’, unchanged. However, they soon realised that customers interpreted the all-too-literal translation as ‘eat your fingers off’. Using transcreation here would have resulted in a slogan that got across the feel of the original, even if the meaning was a little different.
Purpose of transcreation
Other than avoiding gaffes that make fingers sound tastier than chicken, what is transcreation good for? What is transcreation able to do for your business and your marketing content?
If you have a specific marketing strategy or vision, and you want it transferred cleanly and effectively into a new region, chances are that transcreation is the process you need. It’s far more likely than a literal translation to get your message heard in the way you intend, by the audience you want to reach.
Any phrases or idioms with non-literal meanings — ‘going cold turkey’, ‘putting all your eggs in one basket’, ‘jumping on the bandwagon’ — can be reworked and rephrased entirely, since they wouldn’t make sense if translated literally. This could mean replacing them with similar, recognisable idioms from your target audience’s native language or culture. It could also mean completely reshaping and rewriting your marketing content; that way, you can preserve your original style and voice, but keep your content clear of clunky one-to-one adaptations of every word or sentence.
Benefits of transcreation
Transcreation is a valuable and exciting part of any international communication strategy, and it comes with a whole host of potential upsides for you and your company — some of which may not even be instantly visible. But how, exactly? What is transcreation going to do to help your bottom line? It’s time to explore the details.
Create a message that truly resonates with your target audience
This is really what transcreation is all about; the ultimate goal, the holy grail. If you want to ensure that a message is crafted thoughtfully and with a specific target audience in mind — rather than thoughtlessly wrenched from one language to another with no energy invested in nuance or subtlety — transcreation is the process that can make this happen.
Encourage cultural sensitivity and fluency within your company
What is transcreation good for? Well, besides helping you craft meaningful messages across borders, it can broaden your company’s understanding of the world and human communication.
The very act of transcreation can be a fascinating learning experience for you and your colleagues. By thinking creatively and deeply about other cultures, languages, regions, and ways of life, you broaden your cultural horizons whilst building sensitive international branding.
Adapt visual elements and various forms of media
Translation focuses on the transformation of words, but transcreation can also include visual elements or other non-language material, reshaping and ‘translating’ it sensitively and effectively.
Imagine you’re promoting a soft drink, for example, and your promotional campaign shows young people having fun in public. Depending on the region, culture, and audience you want to appeal to, any photographs, clothing, models, or music may also need to be looked at — all as part of your overall marketing strategy.
Translators, in isolation, are unlikely to be able to reshape all of these elements on their own. This is where the collaborative process of transcreation excels; a process in which different experts are brought to the table to think about the various elements of a media campaign, not just the letters on a page.
Possible drawbacks of transcreation
Transcreation is a good choice for any business that wants to reach people from different cultures as effectively as possible. But, as with any worthy investment, there may be some factors that are worth pausing to think about — just to avoid unpleasant surprises further down the line.
Consider the difference in price
Transcreation is a collaboration between different skill sets and expertise. A top language service provider looking to do an effective transcreation job will call upon cultural specialists, local experts, linguists, marketing professionals, and more to ensure your message is crafted in a meaningful and resonant way.
Professional translation is already an extremely difficult skill to master, but effective transcreation is only possible with the help of talented, bilingual experts who are also capable of great creative work. This is a rare combination, requiring high levels of language proficiency as well as swathes of professional experience to back it up.
This usually involves a higher financial cost than simpler, more literal translation projects, which could potentially be completed by smaller numbers of people with less collective experience.
Keep your time constraints in mind
Just as collaboration between talented individuals can mean spending more money, it can also mean spending more time.
In a productive transcreation process, there should also be ongoing dialogue and feedback between yourself and the transcreation team. Ideally, you should feel that this is a process you are very much a part of; you’re regularly consulted and listened to for crucial guidance on branding, tone of voice, and vision. As a result, though, all the back-and-forth will mean the whole thing takes longer.
Expect overhauls in your original material
This isn’t necessarily a downside; in fact, it’s often an important and fruitful part of the transcreation process. Nevertheless, it can be easy to get attached to your original source material and become disheartened if you see it being dismantled and refashioned in a way that differs from the original.
For certain projects, entirely new phrasing, design choices, images, and text may be required for your intended message or vision to properly connect with your new target audience. Try to recognise transcreation for what it is in these moments: a creative collaboration that results in new, original, carefully crafted material, rather than a mere rehashing of old, no-longer-useful content.
When is transcreation used?
Now that we’ve answered ‘what is transcreation’ (in great detail, we might add), it’s time to figure out the when, the where, the how, and the why.
You may be surprised to hear there’s actually no hard and fast rule as to how transcreation is applied. As a general guide, though, transcreation is most effective when targeted, thoughtful marketing copy needs to be transformed — or even freshly created — so that a certain style, tone of voice, or emotional effect is preserved for a new audience.
It can be particularly important to have customer-facing adverts and promotional material connect with audiences, rather than simply be understood by them. Even more vital is the moving of an existing brand into new, unfamiliar markets. You don’t want to enter into this task with just a bilingual dictionary and good intentions!
When literal information is more important than tone or emotional effect, you may find that translation is a better fit for your needs — as long as it’s done skillfully to ensure any key terms and phrases are understood by new readers, and as long as the general style is preserved.
What does the transcreation process involve?
No two transcreation projects are the same. Still, in our experience, the process can often be helped along if it flows in a similar direction, with time invested in early discussions leading to more productive, fruitful work down the line. What might a good transcreation process be, step-by-step? What is transcreation done well, and how do you achieve it?
Step 1. Receiving the brief
The more detailed a creative brief you’re capable of providing, the better placed your transcreation team will be to ensure your message is developed using the style and vision you have in mind.
A creative brief might also contain source material to be used as a guide, loosely or otherwise, regarding what you want to appear in your transcreated content.
Top language service providers will take the time to understand your brief properly, and will ask detailed questions about certain aspects — especially those relating to your intended tone, your branding, and your target audience. These discussions can feel time-consuming, but it’s always better to clarify your vision at this stage than end up with muddied waters further down the line, when the more detailed creative work is already underway.
Step 2. Transcreation begins
What we’re talking about here is the actual writing, editing, and content creation. Once a creative brief has been discussed and clarified, it’s time for a talented team of linguists, copywriters, and local experts to work on crafting the words you’ve been looking for.
Different linguists approach this core task differently. Many will use discussion and cultural comparisons to work out how a certain impression or emotional effect can be achieved in a different audience, using more relatable content or shared references.
It’s worth noting here that translators suitable for a top transcreation project will be fully bilingual in the languages used, will have significant experience living, working, and thinking in both languages, and will be working to transcreate content into (rather than out of) their native tongue.
Content is most likely to retain its effect and nuance when translated by a native speaker and writer — someone who has grown up immersed in all the subtleties of the language and culture you’re looking to communicate with.
Step 3. Taking feedback and making edits
As you might expect from any language project, a series of drafts and re-drafts will likely move back and forth between you and the creative team, ensuring your message is honed to best suit your brief and vision.
As with initial discussions to clarify tone, voice, and vision, try not to equate a lengthy redrafting process with a process that isn’t working properly. The best linguists and writers will be willing to invest the time and energy needed to reshape and fine-tune their creative work. They use a client’s expertise and vision as guiding lights, whilst also bringing to the table their own unique linguistic talent and experience.
Once a finished version of the content is agreed upon, final checks can be carried out by a professional proofreader, and any late-stage edits and polish can be added.
How can you ensure transcreation works for you?
So, after all this, what is transcreation really?
Transcreation is a collaborative journey embarked upon by creative people, working together to achieve a common goal. It’s not a simple process that can just be carried out by an automated translator or a team with little experience in the field.
Investing in the working relationships that make transcreation possible is a vital part of helping your linguists create the best message they can. The fine-detail discussions, the conversations about strategy and brand vision, the suggestions and the edits and the feedback loops — these are all crucial components of a successful transcreation project, and shouldn’t be seen as frustrating add-ons or unnecessary frills.
Similarly, you should always be ready to provide your transcreation team with as detailed a brief as possible, answer any questions they might have about your intended tone and style, and keep an open mind when suggestions come back to you.
Remember, transcreation is about learning new ways of thinking and new ways of communicating. Seeing it as an exciting journey of discovery can help make the process more enjoyable, as well as more fruitful. What is transcreation all about if not making the best of something?
Finally, transcreation is about talented people working together to produce detailed, effective language. You want people working on your project who are passionate about words, culture, and international communication, and who have a wealth and breadth of experience to draw from.
Here at ZippyLingo, we’re proud of the talent our team is composed of. We love the fact that we get to work alongside local specialists, linguistic high-flyers, native cultural experts, and the best copywriters in the business to create and reshape messages that travel the world.
Why not have a chat with us today? We’re always happy to talk about how we can help your messages travel further and connect with people more meaningfully, wherever it is you want them to land.
