Transcreation. What an interesting word 🤔
If you’ve never dealt with translation before, I am sure you’ve never heard of it.
Transcreation is the combination of two words: translation and creation. As simple as that!
When your business needs to reach foreign countries, make an impact, and win a new market, it’s essential to understand which content can be translated and which one needs a more creative approach.
But how to understand which kind of content needs transcreation?
Well, it’s not that easy, and it often depends on your brand’s style and attitude.
Broadly speaking, the contents that need transcreation rather than a translation can be ads, taglines, payoffs and everything strictly related to advertising. Some other copies that could use creative translation are the social media posts, along with editorial content you may have on your website.
However, if your brand has a strong attitude and a very distinctive voice, I’d suggest using a creative approach even in other kinds of copies to make sure your branding does not go lost in translation.
How exactly does the transcreation process work, and why does it have a higher price compared to translation?
First, when you ask for a transcreation you will not only get the translated text but detailed comments on the choices taken along with what we call “back translation”: a literal translation back to your mother tongue that helps you understand how the creative text will sound in the foreign language.
Beyond that, there’s much more effort and expertise required behind transcreation: having copywriting skills, a bit of marketing knowledge, and knowing your market very well are all essential skills.
A one-word payoff can require hours, or even days, of work to find the perfect words that will catch your reader’s attention and make the same impact as the original copy.
These are some of the main reasons why the rates go up: plus, think about a leading brand that wins a foreign market because of a successful campaign, how much will the brand earn thanks to the translator’s work? I think that’s priceless!
Have you ever heard of transcreation before? Do you think your business could use it?
If you want to know more about it, drop me a line!