Transcreation: Let your brand bloom

Your brand is flourishing in its home market. You’ve tended to your marketing, pruned your microcopy, and sales are in full bloom, so you’ve decided to set your sights on new pastures. Only, what’s this? The foundations are so different here! And what worked at home doesn’t seem to be having the same effect! Sound familiar? It’s time to get creative … transcreative.

Are you privy to the power of localized content? Studies by CSA Research, Unbabel, and RWS reveal the wonders that localizing your content can do for your brand. It strengthens trust, promotes customer loyalty, and ultimately increases willingness to select your product or service. But what’s the key to resonating with your new audiences abroad? And how can you tailor your brand messages to ensure they land, rather than sink?

You could opt for translation. After all, that’ll see your copy relayed in your audiences’ target languages, right? While this is true, to really stand out in your new markets, you need to use language in a way that really resonates with your new audiences. You need a service that goes beyond translation. One that takes cultural factors, values, and emotions as well as language into account. You need transcreation. But what exactly is transcreation and how does it compare to translation or localization? Read on to find out.

Translation, localization, transcreation: What’s what?

Though all three terms have something to do with transferring text from one language into another, they’re really rather different services in terms of objective, scope, and the degree of creative freedom that may be taken.

Of the three services, translation comes with the fewest bells and whistles. Your text’s language will change, yes. But when compared with localization and transcreation, very little else does. When translated, a text’s structure, content, and style largely remain intact: It’s all simply relayed in another language. Of course, translation’s never just a matter of swapping out words from one language into another. Grammar, idioms, and stylistic conventions are always taken into account as well. Take legal contracts, for instance. The goal when translating a contract is that the content in the translated version will end up identical to that which is contained in the original. A high degree of skill is required but not necessarily creativity.

Localization goes slightly beyond translation. It entails more consideration for cultural, regional, and idiomatic nuances. Here, the ideal result is a text so idiomatic that you would never have guessed there was a foreign language source text to begin with. With that in mind, localization is usually the service you are after for your websites, video games, and apps.

Transcreation, in comparison, does all of the above … and even more. Slogans, headlines, campaigns, brochures, product names, and brand claims: the whole point of marketing is to persuade your audience to choose your brand over all others. And the key to doing so is eliciting an emotional response in your reader, which requires deep cultural understanding.

Stirring emotions

Transcreation surpasses translation and localization in that the resulting text is something entirely new: an original rather than a replica. A few aspects must remain the same, of course. The resulting text still needs to sound like it comes from your brand. But the text will be adapted specifically with your new target audience in mind, to persuade them that it’s you they should choose.

Let’s take an example. Let’s say a camera manufacturer is looking to launch their product in Germany. In English, their slogan reads: “Because every picture tells your story.” Before we begin, let’s undertake a brief analysis of the source text. By addressing the reader directly (“your”,) the company’s brand voice comes across as personable and familiar. And referring to our “stories” gives the slogan an ever so slightly poetic undertone.

If you were to commission a translation of the slogan, you would end up with something like: „Denn jedes Bild erzählt deine Geschichte.“ And sure, this mirrors the original. But it isn’t very catchy. What’s more, the casual tone of the original hasn’t been preserved: Any native speaker would tell you that the slogan is a little too lofty for a camera ad. So while this is a perfectly accurate translation, it might not rouse the desired response from your audience.

Looking beyond mere faithfulness to the source text, a transcreator would ask herself: While retaining aspects of the original brand voice, how can I make my slogan appeal to a German audience? An alternative could be: „Dein Leben. In Bildern.“ (“Your life. In pictures.”) That’s more like it. It’s punchy, directly addresses the reader, and preserves that poetic undertone. The result is at once more natural and effective.

Creativity meets cultural intelligence at Leinhäuser

Transcreation is a blend of the words “translation” and “creation.” It necessitates linguistic precision, profound cultural awareness, and a flair for creative storytelling. At Leinhäuser, we’ve developed a holistic understanding of transcreation. Thanks to our international network of freelancers and many years of experience, we have a keen sense for languages, target audiences, and product marketing. We are familiar with the requirements of different markets and will help you cultivate a brand voice that’s consistent yet effective across different markets.

As a first step, we will analyze your existing copy to get a feel for your tone of voice. For each commission, we will offer you a selection of transcreations to choose from, including back-translations, and a brief justification of our creative decisions to make sure you get the full picture. To ensure the highest quality, we always have a dual control principle in place, and prepare project-specific glossaries for the consistent use of important terminology.

Bloom with transcreation

For your comms to have any hope of thriving in your new markets, you need the creative assistance of those who understand the landscapes. Beyond translation, you need a service that digs deeper and yields better results. Leinhäuser Language Services is your creative and strategic transcreation partner. Let’s grow together.