You may have seen the word ‘transcreation’ bandied around in marketing collateral and sales pitches. You may have searched the web for a definitive definition, like the one on this website, in an attempt to understand what it means and what you are likely to get for your money.

But, as the saying goes, the ‘proof of the pudding is in the eating’, so let’s take a look at some real Wordbank examples. I have chosen a number of past projects that illustrate some of the challenges and benefits involved.

The point to be remembered is that all marketing and advertising messaging is subjective. Most importantly, when marketing internationally, the subjectivity should come from the local market, not from the central, monolingual marketers or campaign managers - except, of course, when developing the original creative.

In our experience, the biggest supporters of transcreation are the local sales and marketing people, the master franchisee or resellers of  global corporations. ‘Finally’, they say, ‘we get a voice in centrally driven campaigns so we don’t end up with cringeworthy translations splashed all over local billboards, web banners and collateral.’

Naturally, I am using somewhat dated examples of our work that have been in the public domain for a long time. Heaven forbid we should even allude to anything more current for obvious reasons of confidentiality.

The anti-ageing treatment

This campaign was aimed at women over the age of 25, appearance conscious, luxury oriented, users of prestige cosmetics, across Western Europe and Asia Pacific, where the markets were all estimated to be growing in excess of 10% per year.

The media mix included single page magazine ads and online banner and skyscraper ads. You can see from the ads that they are tongue-in-cheek, confident and slightly provocative. The models are stylish and assured.

It is easy to see the appeal in London, New York or Paris, but how would they go down in Seoul, Beijing or Tokyo?

We started with the tag line: ‘Darling, I said I’m seeing a plastic surgeon, not hiring one.’

Simplified Chinese

We came up with three Simplified Chinese variations to present to the client, the preferred one being: 老公，我只是在做美容，没打算开美容院啊。

Back-translated into English, this means: ‘Hubby, I said I was having a facial, not planning to own a beauty salon.’

Our supporting explanation for this transcreation was as follows:

It is not yet common to consult a plastic surgeon in China. For this reason we changed “seeing a plastic surgeon” to “having a facial”, which is much more popular with the target audience in China.

“Darling” or “honey” are rarely used in everyday language so we have instead used the much more familiar “hubby”.

The adaptation is based on the original message which suggests that having a more youthful appearance doesn’t have to mean expensive cosmetic surgery.

Korean

Our preferred Korean version was: 친구들에겐 비밀입니다. 난 매일 밤 성형외과 의사를 만납니다.

Back-translated into English, it means: ‘It’s a secret to my friends. I date a plastic surgeon every night.’ 

However, as cosmetic surgery is more widely accepted in Korea, the following was also possible: 친구들이 궁금해 합니다. 내가 어느 성형외과에 가는지.

Back-translated into English, it means: ‘My friends wonder. Which plastic surgery I go to.’

The choice is always the client’s

We always present several alternatives with our Conquest™ transcreation service, but the final selection is down to the local client; it’s for them to decide which version best captures the nuance and message in the local culture.

The Italian and German versions are also very interesting, but I will keep those for a later date. Contact me if you would like to discuss transcreation or leave a comment and I will respond.