Transcreation: When Translation Meets Creation for Global Brand Success

Idioms are everywhere in every language, but not the same in all of them. For example, how many birds in the bush is one in the hand worth? For an English or French speaker, just two; but ten for a Scandinavian. Or in German, it’s not how many, but what kind: better the sparrow you have than the dove on your roof.

A simple idiom like this one is a cakewalk for a translator worth their salt. Still, the variety of turns of phrase, puns, ambiguities, metaphors, and implications that are the spice of one language might easily be the fly in the ointment of another. A good translation, in other words, is sometimes more than just arriving at the literal equivalent, especially when the text is more about the impression it leaves than just the information it contains.

That’s where transcreation comes in. Transcreation is not just about reproducing a text in another language but producing a text in the new language that feels like the original did in the old one. And while this might at first blush bring literary texts to mind, the ramifications for branding and advertising are just as real.

For a business, fitting in is essential. In a 2015 paper, the EU’s Joint Research Centre found that European “consumers are 43 times more likely to buy a product from a domestic online seller than a foreign one”. In the first instance, this means businesses need localization. A website with a local domain suffix, written in the local language and style, listed in the local currency, can provide consumers with a sense of trust and security.

In many cases, though, localization isn’t enough. Whether core brand identity or incidental copy, not all concepts and strategies can be implemented in every local market. The history of globalization is richly decorated with tales of transcreation coups – and blunders. On the one side, there’s the cleverness of Coca-Cola’s name in Mandarin (Kekou-Kele: “delicious and fortunate”). On the other, there’s the lesson of HSBC’s “Assume Nothing” campaign, which was carelessly translated as “Do Nothing” in some countries, leading to international ridicule and millions in rebranding costs.

What went wrong was exactly the lack of a strong transcreation process. On the front lines are the translators, who need to be given the resources and latitude to identify where texts need special treatment and offer solutions. But, as the HSBC story shows all too clearly, transcreation is a collaboration. Internal stakeholders who take an active interest in their translators and strive to understand the risks and opportunities they identify will be able to guide their brand over the hurdles that translating a marketing strategy to new markets involves. When in Rome, advertise as the Romans do.