The power of transcreation

In a global world, the possibilities to reach new markets and expand your business are endless. The first step for companies looking to speak to new audiences around the globe is to translate their ads to one or more languages.

When people think about digitized translation, they probably picture the many online services that automatically change a word in one language to that word in the other. These switches happen quickly, in an automated system that does its best but often falls short and jumbles translations.?

In a digital age, when a company’s paid media ad is one of many, having an accurate, culturally relevant, and searchable translation is critical for their campaign’s effectiveness and their brand’s reputation.

For years, translators have used the term “transcreation” to describe a type of creative translation. The concept started in literature, moved to the gaming industry, and of course has made its way to marketing.?

Transcreation goes beyond the one-to-one model to bridge the language divide. It captures the original context, style, tone, essence of the message, and voice of the brand while carefully considering the nuances, figures of speech, and connotations of the new language.

Transcreation also considers how languages vary in different countries and cultures. This is even true when it comes to the same language.?

After all, not all English-speaking countries use vocabulary in the same way. A “vacation” in the United States is a “holiday” in the United Kingdom. These differences matter. If a European travel agency were to advertise in the U.S. saying “Go on holiday at our hotels,” Americans would raise an eyebrow at the culturally odd grammar and wonder why anyone would spend Thanksgiving at a hotel.?

The same happens in any language spoken in different countries, including Spanish, for example, a market with 559 million speakers around the globe. A person from Argentina wanting to rent a car will search “alquilar un auto,” but in Mexico, you won’t have the same search volume with this phrase. Instead, they may use “rentar un coche,” and Colombians would use “arrendar un carro.”?

At our company, we know the importance of nuance. It’s why two former Google employees, Diego Antista and Juan Fusoni , came together to start GetGloby , a platform that transcreates ad campaigns in more than 100 languages.?

Our founders knew that for businesses to effectively expand to new markets, their campaigns have to stay relevant, meaningful, and consistent across cultures. GetGloby makes this possible at the touch of a button and in a matter of minutes.