How is transcreation different from translation? 

          Translation is a process that aims to convert written text in the source language into optimally equivalent text in the target language. Transcreation, also known as “creative translation” is a process of rewriting the same text in a different language, taking into account the cultural context. Transcreation requires an in-depth understanding of the original content combined with good copywriting style in the target language. Transcreation is even less literal than what is referred to as “liberal” or “non-literal” translation:

TRANSCREATE = TRANSLATE + CREATE

          Unlike translation, the goal of transcreation is not to say the exact same thing in the target as in the source language. That is sometimes not only difficult or impossible due to linguistic and cultural differences, but sometimes it is simply not expedient. For example someone could feel offended or develop the wrong impression of your company and your product or service — the opposite of what you were trying to make. At a minimum differences and barriers rather than connections would be emphasized.

        Transcreation, by contrast, will save you from the awkwardness of literal translation that may come out incomprehensible, silly, or even offensive to a target audience from a different culture.

        Compared to “normal”, straightforward translation, the effect of transcreation will be more appealing and more convincing, meaning more success with leads and conversions and ultimately a more successful product or service, more market share, more income and more long-term value for your company.

        The goal of transcreation is to skilfully reflect the ideas and emotions conveyed by your original copy, articulating them in whatever style and manner will be the most appropriate to the target local market, getting the same reaction and effect in both languages.

          Transcreation — combining linguistic and cultural and business awareness — serves to render communication more effective in a foreign market while retaining all of the impact, emotion and meaning of the original content, and to support the client in providing each brand, product or service with a strong and consistent international image.

          Transcreation will help you improve your communication with customers from different cultural areas, transcending the boundaries of culture and language. If your translations are meant to reach a recipient from another culture, then transcreation is the right approach.

In line with the “show, not tell” principle of marketing presentation, it will be best to illustrate transcreation with a specific example. 

For Promotur Turismo de Canarias I transcreated from Spanish to Polish a large number of marketing materials, and this is one of the examples:

“Sílbame y voy” is a famous saying from La Gomera, a Canary Island that is well-known for its whistling language. “El Silbo Gomero” (the Gomeran whistle) is a whistled form of a dialect of Spanish used by inhabitants of La Gomera to communicate across the deep ravines and narrow valleys that radiate through the island. The Gomeran whistle enables messages to be exchanged over a distance of up to 5 kilometres! In 2009, it was was inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, emphasizing the great utility of this unique form of communication as a communication system adapted to the island’s environment and the great technical complexity with which it has evolved.

How to transcreate “Sílbame y voy” to Polish conveying all this emotional message with only a few words? In Polish there is a saying “być na czyjeś gwizdnięcie”, which means that someone is fully available for another person, and it contains the verb “to whistle”! The Polish saying may have a pejorative connotation in certain contexts, but certainly not in the context of nature inviting you and welcoming you with its open arms and assuring you of its full availability. Additionally, to arouse curiosity in a Polish speaker not familiar with the Canary Islands and the Gomeran whistle, I left the word “gwizdnięcie” (whistling) in quotation marks. The quotation marks are the tool which allows me to whisper into a Polish tourist’s ear: Please check what’s going on with the “gwizdnięcie” word since it is unnaturally left in quotation marks. (And this is linguistically acceptable because the existence of a special meaning makes the use of quotation marks correct.)

Now I invite you to listen to a sample of the “Silbo Gomero.”

What skills does transcreation require? 

          In order to achieve our goal of getting a successful, understandable, powerful, influential, and touching marketing message across, the following components need to meet:

SUCCESSFUL TRANSCREATION = LANGUAGE + CULTURE + MARKETING + TALENT

          An excellent command of both the source and target languages, cultural awareness and sensitivity, marketing skills and a talent for creative expression are the crucial elements of successful transcreation. All this shows that the mental process of transcreation is also inherently very extensive and complex.

          Transcreation is most commonly used in marketing and advertising. Legal, medical or technical texts are rarely transcreated.

          My transcreation services most often include: catchphrases and advertising slogans, company and product naming, branding, advertisements and advertising campaigns, product or service offerings, requests for proposals, websites, promotional materials, product descriptions, fair/event materials, catalogues, brochures, leaflets containing product descriptions, TV/Radio scripts, press releases, sponsored articles, SEO texts and positioning phrases.

What makes a great advertisement?

          What makes one advertisement good (i.e. not to be missed), and another one bad (i.e. no one is interested in it)? It will be easier to explain it if we analyse an example of bad advertising. What comes to your mind when you think of a bad ad? Most people will probably respond that it is an advertisement which is low quality, carelessly worded, poorly arranged, probably made in a rush by an unqualified person, etc. I cannot agree with that! Such an ad would probably never see the light of day, never leave the studio, never be approved in a professional context.

          On the contrary, a bad advertisement may be high quality, accurately worded, carefully arranged, a result of long hours dedicated to mastering the content… Believe me, it may very well have all of these components in place, but if it fails to create a strong positive emotional response in the viewer, it can only be compared with a great joke that failed because for some reason it was not understood by the audience. A good advertisement goes beyond just being creatively refined and technically masterful, and gives an extra value to the content by moving the customers’ deepest emotions of customers, touching their hearts, and attracting the target demographic to the product or service sold.

How long does it take to transcreate a slogan?

          Nowadays the marketing industry seems to be fixated on the idea that, when it comes to slogans, the shorter the better. For this reason “slogans” are now often called “taglines.” What other features to look out for when creating slogans? Above all, an excellent slogan needs to provide a dose of real emotion and surprise with creativity in order to be memorable! To reach this goal the transcreator needs to follow these steps:

✓ gather as much information about the company and its products as possible,

✓ establish the expectations of the company,

✓ determine the target audience and adapt the language accordingly,

✓ keep in mind cross-cultural nuances,

✓ apply marketing techniques and use a powerful message to make the slogan win the hearts of customers and became a memorable,

✓ make sure no other identical slogan has been used so far.

         Creating a powerful slogan can require anywhere from a few hours up to a few days work. I will risk saying that an excellent brand name, logo, and slogan are the cornerstones for the success of your business in today’s saturated market.

And now I invite Polish, Spanish and English speakers to play a game together! The requirement is that you need to know at least two of these three languages. Please read Polish, Spanish or English names of the famous dwarfs from Wrocław, one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, and match them with the corresponding names in the first, second, and third column. In 2016, Wrocław was inhabited by as many as 396 dwarfs! Tourists turn into Dwarf Hunters and have a lot of fun searching for, counting and photographing dwarfs in groups or alone… and I had a lot of fun translating their names from Polish to Spanish. ?

Examples of my transcreation work:

• • • • Transcreating a large amount of marketing materials for Promotur Turismo de Canarias from Spanish to Polish.
      • Transcreating marketing and cultural materials for the “Wroclaw – European Capital of Culture 2016” promotional campaign from Polish to Spanish.
      • Transcreating Desigual Christmas 2016 campaign from English to Polish.