Transcreation is the fusion of two words: translation and creation . It is a complex form
of translation that preserves the original intent, context, emotion and tone.
It is originally conceived by marketing and advertising professionals because its goal is to duplicate
the message carefully, seamlessly and without the public realizing that a translation ever occurred .
Ultimately, the finished product must provide the audience with an emotional experience that is
identical to the main message, while remaining natural.
Creative freedoms are essential in transcreation, so for it to be successful, an approval process must
be implemented with the buy-in of a brand manager specialized in the campaign’s target market.
Have you heard about Red Bull’s campaign in the Chinese market?
This is a great example of how this process can be used to increase conversions .
The energy drink giant transcreated its entire brand to appeal to the Chinese consumer. This involved not only altering its text slogans, but also the colours , images and shape of the packaging.
Today, the Chinese version of the drink that “gives you wings” comes in red and gold cans, as these colors symbolize prestige and luck in China, influencing consumer behavior and brand perception .
Transcreation and translation: Are they the same thing?
The main difference between transcreation and china phone number list translation is the creative freedom within the marketing strategy to ensure that the message is appropriate and attractive to the target market.
In a “traditional” project, the first step is a translation and the second is a revision. At this point, the reviewer will check at least the following elements:
- terminology;
- format and functionality;
- spelling;
- style, grammar and syntax;
- punctuation marks;
- special characters;
- date and time format, measurements, numbers;
- telephone numbers, technical numbers;
- company-specific information, copyrights and trademarks;
- precision.
Transcreation will take all of this into account, but will also cover other elements:
- target audience of users;
- tone of voice;
- bias-free language;
- sense and style;
- SEO keywords;
- images used.
When translating, we must remain faithful to the choice of words, style and tone, ensuring the accuracy of the original text.
But with transcreation, the transcreator uses their understanding of the target audience and adapts these elements according to their expectations of the brand .
While translation works perfectly for technical and legal documents, marketing materials such as
websites, advertising slogans and other branding factors that consist of and are affected by a number
of different aspects need to be transcribed to ensure engagement with the target audience.
Why is transcreation important in marketing?
Transcreation is a fundamental tool for marketing; we cannot simply rely on “direct”
translations—word for word—because they can generate different
interpretations depending on the language and culture .
For businesses that have a global audience, it is crucial to ensure that the meaning of their message is
correctly translated to their audience. Failure to do so could result in damage to relationships
and reputation , which can be costly and difficult to reverse.
In some marketing campaigns, the phrases used are often location-specific, or simply references that would not make sense to a broader audience.
However, by using a transcreation approach, brands can create a closer, more personal relationship
with their consumers; taking the time to create messages that work globally makes the target
audience feel cared for, which increases brand loyalty .
Indeed, transcreation is necessary because it helps duplicate marketing messages in a way that hides
the fact that the translation took place. Ideally, this process provides the audience with the same
emotional response that they would have gotten from the original message.
Culture plays a key role in ad engagement. The key is to ensure that all marketing materials feel like they were specifically designed for the culture they are targeted at.
How about we determine its relevance with an example?
As well as good examples like Red Bull in China, there are also bad ones, where they apply direct translation instead of transcreation.
The case of HSBC Holdings, an international according to construction sites bank based in the United Kingdom, became very popular due to a campaign with a serious translation error that made little sense.
The discord campaign had a launch value of approximately USD $1.5 million , and in English it says: “ Assume Nothing ” or Don’t Assume Anything in Spanish.
However, the direct translation for several countries was “ Do Nothing ” and, as expected, when they
realized this they spent more money to change their motto to “The Private Bank of the World.”
This cost them a staggering $10 million just to change the slogan again.
6 tips for successful transcreation
Below, we are going to detail 6 key tips on how to achieve a charming transcreation that hits the mark:
1. You have to adapt to the culture
Not only may each local market speak a b2b reviews different language, it will also have different traditions, religions, customs, social behaviors, purchasing behaviors, and many more traits that vary.
High-level marketing and advertising campaigns, content must be tailored to each target market, adapting the service from one culture to another.
2. Multilingual SEO
Transforming content from one culture to another is one step in the transcreation process, the next step is making sure it is found in search engines because not all countries have the same search habits.
In the United States, for example, 1.17 billion people use Google search, but in China, they mostly use Baidu.
