Companies use many different tools and strategies to expand into new markets; however, their goals remain the same. If the message fails to reach and engage with your international audiences, there is almost no chance to build brand awareness or acquire new customers. Translation was only used to convert the content from one language into another language without the spirit of the original message, so if you want to deliver an effective message, transcreation is the way.

What is Transcreation? 

Think of it like this:

transcreation = translation + re-creation

Transcreation is a more creative process than standard translation. It blends translation and creative writing to deliver a message in other languages that resonates with your target audience. Emotion plays a crucial role in transcreation as it influences consumer attitudes and purchasing decisions. Transcreators produce copy that is specially designed for your brand, such as through storytelling, metaphor, or humor, and they ensure that the final text is culturally appropriate because if the right idioms and phrases haven’t been used, a marketing message can fall flat.

Great examples of Transcreation

• The Ring Movie

Not only are all the great transcreation examples in the marketing field, but they could also be from the world of films; the horror movie “The Ring“ is a perfect example. A Japanese movie called “Ringu“ does well in the Japanese market, so an American producer wants to create a version that is more relevant to American audiences as well as audiences in other English-speaking countries. The film is about a videotape that kills everyone who watches it. They have the same hypothesis as the movie (a killer video) and a lot of plot details. However, the plot, titles, and settings of the film change to suit a more North American audience. Japan is used as a film location for the Pacific Northwest, for example. Despite these changes, the idea is the same: to scare you. The emotional impact of the film doesn’t change.

·        Apple iPod Shuffle

Do you remember the iPod shuffle? Apple advertised the MP3 player perfectly, encapsulating the response the tiny device could evoke using the slogan “Small Talk.”

That little slogan proved to be quite difficult to translate. We know it is only two words long, but it is an idiomatic phrase, so direct translation is meaningless in most of the other languages, so transcreating the slogan proved to be much more effective than simply translating it. Apple crafted custom slogans for different regions and cultures. Here’s how it was transcreated for four different target markets:

• French: donnez-lui de la voix, or Let him speak.
• Canadian French (Québécois): Petit parleur, grand faiseur, or Says a little, does a lot.
• Latin American Spanish: Mira quién habla, or “Look who’s talking. 
• European Spanish: Ya sabe hablar or “It already knows how to talk.

Each slogan sounds completely different, but they all conveyed the iPod Shuffle’s capabilities while maintaining the brief and simple tone of the original English slogan.

Intel – In Love with the Future

Intel gave us another successful transcreation advertising example. Intel created the slogan “Sponsors of Tomorrow” to show their commitment to pushing the boundaries of new technology; however, they faced issues in translating it for the Brazilian market because in Brazil’s native tongue, Portuguese, it didn’t carry the same meaning. Intel transcreated their slogan to “Apaixonados pelo futuro” (In love with the future). It is not the same as the English version but still has the same spirit of the original message that highlights Intel’s innovative aims for technology.

Haribo

Kids and adults all over the world enjoy Haribo candy. Do you know that the brilliant nostalgic slogan “Haribo makes children happy, and adults too.” that was easy to say and remember is translated from Haribo’s German slogan “Haribo macht Kinder froh,  und Erwachsene ebenso”? While The Delicious German Gummy Sweet’s slogan translates well into English and works for the English-speaking market, the message needed to be transcreated into other languages, including French, Italian, and Dutch:

French: “Haribo c’est beau la vie, pour les grands et les petits” (Haribo life is beautiful, for big ones and little ones).

Italian : “Haribo è la bontà, che si gusta ad ogni età” (Haribo is the delicacy that one can taste at any age).

Dutch : “Luk op for noget godt! Luk op for Haribo! Den er go” (Open for something good! Open for Haribo! It is good). 

Nike –  Just Do It

The company’s iconic “Just Do It” slogan is one of the most memorable and successful slogans. It includes so much meaning that it is almost impossible to translate. Nike struggled to recreate “just do it” in Chinese using translation, so after many years of experimentation, in 2011, Nike used 用运动 in one of its advertisements, which transcreated the meaning of the English version slogan to “make sport” or “have sport,” and it was a much more culturally relevant way of delivering the same brand meaning to the Chinese market.

White Friday vs. Black Friday

“Black Friday” in America is a well-known expression to indicate a big sale. However, the word “black“ indicates sadness, mourning, and tragedy in Arabic countries; it is the color that people wear to express grief and sorrow. Therefore, advertising a Black Friday sale in Arab countries will lead to uncomfortable feelings, so they transcreated these major sales events into “White Friday” to suit more Arabic culture. 

These brilliant examples of transcreation show how you can create a playful slogan in several languages that sticks in the mind of the reader, so it is a powerful way for companies seeking to expand into the global market.