Translation vs transcreation: what’s the difference?

As many companies who trade outside of Australia know, sometimes a literal translation isn’t enough to get your message across. Languages like Mandarin Chinese simply can’t be directly translated into or out of – not if you want to do business or sell to a Mandarin-speaking audience and have them take you seriously.

For example, Pepsi’s “Come Alive!” slogan of the 1960s transformed their image in the United States from “cheap drink” to “what any self-respecting teenager wants” seemingly overnight.

But when the brand launched tried to replicate this success in China, they ran into problems.“Pepsi will bring your ancestors back from the dead” is a brand promise which is meant to be broken.

Instead of a translator, what you really need for corporate slogans and brand launches like this is a transcreator. But what is that exactly?
What’s the difference between translation and transcreation?

Translation is a process wherein you rewrite a document from one language into another while preserving the terminology, tone and quality of the source material.

A qualified and experienced translator should only translate into his or her native tongue to ensure that the final text is linguistically correct and acceptable in terms of cultural nuances. Generally, a translation service is accomplished faster and is more economical if you choose the right language service provider. Using Translation Memories also yields favourable returns.

When translating creative copy, however, mishaps like the Pepsi example above could prove to be disastrous. Overlooking cultural aspects in favour of producing a translation which is accurate is rarely a good idea with advertising.

Transcreation, on the other hand, is the modification of the copy in the spirit of the original message. Your content will be rewritten in a way that your audience will understand and relate to. Marketing copy and documents which have been transcreated tend to be much more tailored to any given local audience compared to translated ones. Consequently, they’re not always accurate translations. But they are better for the job they’re designed to do.

Transcreators are not just simple translators. Rather, they’re writers who start with a creative brief before a project instead of just reading your copy. They want to hear your concept and they want to know the response you want to get from your target audience.

Transcreators could also change the imagery of your content to better suit the locale:

In the 1970s, Proctor & Gamble launched their Pampers diapers in Japan using the same imagery that they used in the US, in which a stork is bringing the newborn to its parents. This confused Japanese consumers because in Japan giant floating peaches are the magical beings to bring babies to deserving parents.

The possible disadvantages of transcreation would include:

1. The amount of time and money it takes, since it uses a different methodology more akin to copywriting and will often come with multiple rounds of editing.
2. There is a risk of inconsistent global campaigns so a back translation is a must-do to ensure that your messages in each target market are indeed acceptable.

Bilingual engineers or medicine or legal practitioners who qualify as translators are very effective in localising content which is highly technical. They are very familiar with the terminology which is common in their field and, thus, will know whether something is accurate. Likewise, a specialist marketing translator will convey the meaning of your content in a more stylish way.

But a good marketing translator does not automatically make a good copywriter. Transcreation specialists are writers who come up with creative, customer-focused translated copy while maintaining a strong link with the messages of the source copy.

A brand message that resulted in you making sales in your domestic market in Australia may get zero traction whatsoever abroad. This is when you need a transcreator to replicate the “wow” factor of your brand.

A good example of this is Haribo, a highly popular German brand. Their original slogan in German is “Haribo Macht Kinder Froh Und Erwachsene Ebenso”. In English, this would usually be translated as “Haribo makes kids happy, and adults too”.

It’s not exactly compelling. But for most of the English-speaking world, that’s not Haribo’s catchphrase. It’s been transcreated as:

‘Kids and grown-ups love it so, the happy world of Haribo”.

In a nutshell, the difference between the two processes can be summed up like this:
For facts, translate. For ideas, transcreate.

Need to know whether translation or transcreation would be best for your next language project?

Contact Asian Absolute now – or leave a comment below for some free advice.