What is transcreation and when should it be used? | Translation

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(This video was first published in April 2016.)

Transcreation is an important part of the content localisation process. By giving the translator (or rather, the transcreator) the freedom to amend the content to better fit the target market, it maximises the impact of the content by ensuring it is as appealing as possible to the target audience. Emily MacKenzie, a translation expert from Webcertain, talks to us about transcreation, explaining when it should be used and what makes it different from translation.

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(00:18) What is transcreation?

Key takeaways:
The word “transcreation” derives from “translation” and “recreation”.
With transcreation, the transcreator is given the freedom to adapt the original source text to make it more suitable for the target market.

(01:03) What is the difference between translation and transcreation?

Key takeaways:
Transcreation is more of a creative process.
If you’re doing transcreation, then you can’t use any computer-assisted translation (CAT) tools.
Transcreators (in the marketing industry) tend to work at a more senior level than translators and have a lot more (marketing) experience.

(02:34) When is it advisable to do transcreation rather than translation?

Key takeaways:
Transcreation only applies to marketing content.
Transcreation is best used for things such as ad copy, landing page copy, slogans and taglines.
Transcreation should be used instead of translation when working with idioms and colloquialisms.
Transcreators sometimes advise on the visual look of the page, whereas translators do not.

(05:34) Can you provide an example of a brand or a campaign that has used transcreation to good effect?

Key takeaways:
In 2004, Marvel Comics and Gotham Entertainment Group launched the Spider-Man comic book series in India. They transcreated it, rewriting the story so that Spider-Man was an Indian boy living in India.

(08:13) What are your top tips for any business considering doing transcreation?

Key takeaways:
Transcreation only really works with heavily-branded content, e.g. if you have style and tone of voice guidelines and a strong idea of how you want your brand to come across.
You should provide your transcreator with a brief.