What do we mean by transcreation?

For international campaigns, traditional translation of marketing copy is often not enough. Rather, creative re-creation is required to ensure that the global brand is received locally.

Situated between translation and content creation, the aim of transcreation is to communicate the source language message as effectively as if it had been written in the target language, and to evoke the same intellectual and emotional response in the target market. Creativity is limited only by the need to maintain the brand's tone of voice. Transcreation can therefore be positioned between translation and content creation; it can produce bold transformations, but always with the aim of conveying the original brand message.

Transcreation therefore sits somewhere between translation and creative content creation. The language used should be natural and attractive to consumers in the local market, appropriate to the target audience, but also consistent with the brand.

Request a quote: Transcreation

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Our workflow

Before we start, we examine reference material: the corporate identity, previous campaigns and visuals for the current campaign. We need to understand our client's creative intent and the role of the campaign in the life of the business.

Transcreation is not a mathematical operation with a single correct answer. From our initial text proposals, we present several significantly different versions generated by synonyms, multiple meanings, idioms and puns. We avoid alternatives that are not part of the task or that would not work in practice, e.g. because they require too much attention or prior knowledge.

The target text is then translated directly back into the source language. The purpose of this annotated retranslation is to reflect all the nuances and connotations in the target language. This is necessary so that the client, who does not know the target language/culture, can check the transcreation. A rationale is also included to provide insight into how solutions to the challenges of the source material work. The rationale, which is formal and linguistically sophisticated, includes the following

• The challenges of the target language of the source text
• The proposed solutions, e.g. puns, similes, idioms, rhythm and rhyme, similarities with other words
• Other cultural connotations of the words/phrases used
• Reasons for changes in vocabulary and structure
• Additions and omissions
• Relationship between text and pictures

If something may offend local cultural sensitivities, contravene existing legislation or have negative repercussions, we will suggest alternative solutions. All suggested solutions should sound natural.

The final polish of the adaptation is editing and proofreading. Editing is the process of improving the flow and stylistic quality of the text: we filter out unwanted ambiguities, replace omitted words and aim for a consistent style. Proofreading is the final check of the edited adaptation. The original material is not checked, only the smoothness and readability of the finished text. We format the text typographically.

We are also available to answer any questions our clients may have after the work has been submitted.

DTP and translation of English-Hungarian publications

From a single source

From business cards to posters, we offer a one-stop solution for the translation of all your printed materials.

Are the texts in InDesign or Photoshop? No problem, we do the translation and editing of the source files, with care for the formatting.

Or perhaps the editable files are no longer available, just ready-made images and PDFs? Our DTP specialist can even create the editable file from scratch, including both source and target language text, and export the material in any format or size you require.