Here are five ways I help create world-class results for Swedish digital markets. 

Transcreation means taking a message written in one language and modifying it to better resonate with speakers of a different one. While this sounds a lot like what a translator does, the two terms are in no way interchangeable. While translation often focuses on mimicking the content of a document, transcreation focuses on recreating its effect. This often leads to the transcreator making significant changes to his or her source text. This difference, however, is just one of many. Read on to discover five other things that set translation and transcreation apart.

FIVE KEY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TRANSCREATION AND TRANSLATION

1. Transcreation is Better Suited for Creative or Marketing-Oriented Copy:

   Translation is great for instructional and informative texts. One does not need to be Hemingway in order to teach someone in a different language how to assemble a barbeque grill, after all. In these sorts of texts, there’s not a lot of room for emotionality or nuance. In advertising, marketing, or fictional content, however, that’s not the case. A formulaic translation of Fido’s death, for example, might not evoke half as many tears as a transcreated one. A word-for-word translation of an English advertising slogan, on the other hand, might leave Swedish audience shaking their heads. So, when an emotional response or a purchase is your goal, transcreation is often the best choice.

2. Transcreators Are Writers:

   People who specialize in transcreation are often copy or content writers. This grants them a level of mastery over the written word that’s difficult to find in your typical translator. This also means that they can typically deliver the intended message of a client’s copy in a way that is more impactful than a straight translation. The fact that writing is their focus, however, often means that they’re rarely acquainted with the same groups and associations as translators. If you’re looking for a transcreator, I’d suggest starting with a writing association in the target market.

3. Transcreation Begins with a Creative Brief:

   Translation often begins the second the client sends the source text. Any initial meetings are typically brief and intended to hammer out terms such as cost and project deadlines. The transcreation process, meanwhile, starts with a creative brief. Instead of merely providing the source text and leaving the transcreator to their own devices, the client will have to furnish documents which clarify the tone, intent, and desired results of the intended copy.

4. Transcreation is More Expensive:

   Creating copy that sells takes time. Transcreators will likely spend hours researching the company’s industry, brand, and target market before they ever set pen to paper. This initial research will often be followed by two or three rounds of drafts. There is also a lot more back-and-forth between transcreators and their chosen clients. Simply put, transcreation is a process that takes a lot of time and energy. And, the transcreator must be compensated accordingly.

5. Transcreators Often Advise on the Look and Feel of a Piece:

   Aside from updating labels and captions, translators rarely interact with the more visual aspects of their source text. This is not true for transcreators. They are often in charge of helping clients adapt their branding and illustrations for their target market. A color that’s known to signify jealousy in Germany, for example, would not be suitable for the logo of a transcreated dating site. The best place to see this aspect of transcreation in action is on international book covers. The Chinese covers of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, for example, features a water-color design.

EXAMPLES OF TRANSCREATION

To help drive home the difference between translation and transcreation, I’ve scoured the internet for a few examples of the latter. While these examples showcase transcreation at its best, you should know that there are plenty of times where the opposite happened. So, be careful to vet any transcreator before hiring them. After all, they’re going to cost you a pretty penny.

• Spider-Man: India:
  

  Marvel was worried that the friendly neighborhood Spiderman would not do well in the Indian market. So, they completely revamped the comics before releasing them in the Indian market. In addition to changing Spider-Man’s name to Pavitr Pabhakar, they replaced any mention of New York with locations familiar to Indian readers. In this version of the story, his powers came from a spell laid by an ancient yogi instead of radioactive spider bite.

• Intel Brazil:
  

  Intel is a technology giant that specializes in computer chip design and manufacturing. To help them succeed in the Brazilian market, the company dropped its popular slogan, “Intel: Sponsors of Tomorrow.” Why? In Portuguese, this slogan implied that Intel would be slow to deliver on its marketing promises. Those in the Brazilian market are now pretty well acquainted with the updated version: “Intel: In Love with the Future.”

• Saab Sweden:
  

  You know I couldn’t leave this article without mentioning a great example of Swedish transcreation. In the 1990s, Saab launched a popular ad in the US with the tagline “Saab vs. Oxygen bars.” While these establishments were super popular in the US at the time, they were practically unheard of in Sweden. So, the marketing team went back to the drawing board. Knowing that the original advertisement was intended to imbue their cars with a sense of spaciousness, they changed their slogan to “Saab vs. Claustrophobia.” The new slogan resonated better with the Swedish market than any reference to an obscure American hangout space.

CONCLUSION

People outside of the language services industry think that the words translation and transcreation are synonyms; they’re not. While the former is ideal for ensuring that information transcends cultural barriers, it rarely merits creative freedom. When you need something creative, it’s usually time to call in a transcreator. This does mean, however, that you’ll have to come prepared with a heavier wallet, a creative brief, and an open mind.

Luckily for you, I’m not just a translator. I’m also a marketing specialist with ample transcreation experience. So, if you’re looking to have a slogan or advertising piece adapted for the Swedish market, you can contact me directly at tess@swedishtranslationservices.com. Please visit swedishtranslationservices.com to learn more.

Check also:

• How to Reach the Swedish Market with Transcreation
• Definitions of translation, localization, internationalization and transcreation
• Getting the Terminology Right: When to Use a Linguist, Interpreter or Translator

I know you all probably know what all these terms mean, but the definitions I found for translation, localization, internationalization and transcreation were very interesting. The first three terms were taken from Wikipedia, but transcreation did not exist on Wikipedia yet, also that interesting. They are all very dear terms to me, so here you go:

Translation is the comprehension of the meaning of a text and the subsequent production of an equivalent text, likewise called a “translation,” that communicates the same message in another language. The text that is translated is called the source text, and the language that it is translated into is called the target language. The product is sometimes called the target text.

Translation, when practiced by relatively bilingual individuals but especially when by persons with limited proficiency in one or both languages, involves a risk of spilling-over of idioms and usages from the source language into the target language. On the other hand, inter-linguistic spillages have also served the useful purpose of importing calques and loanwords from a source language into a target language that had previously lacked a concept or a convenient expression for the concept. Translators and interpreters have thus played an important role in the evolution of languages and cultures.[1]

However, localization and internationalization is not separated, which I think they should be. Here is the joint definition:

In computing, internationalization and localization (also spelled internationalisation and localisation, see spelling differences) are means of adapting computer software to different languages and regional differences. Internationalization is the process of designing a software application so that it can be adapted to various languages and regions without engineering changes. Localization is the process of adapting internationalized software for a specific region or language by adding locale-specific components and translating text.

The terms are frequently abbreviated to the numeronym i18n (where 18 stands for the number of letters between the first i and last n in internationalization, a usage coined at DEC in the 1970s or 80s[1]) and L10n respectively, due to the length of the words. The capital L in L10n helps to distinguish it from the lowercase i in i18n
Some companies, like Microsoft, IBM and Sun Microsystems, use the term “globalization” for the combination of internationalization and localization.[2][3] Globalization can also be abbreviated to g11n.[4]

Lionbridge has a good explanation of the difference between the two:

Internationalization readies your product for global markets and ensures it can be localized easily. It is the designing and re-engineering of a product so that it can be localize easily for global markets. It is important to complete internationalization before localization begins; otherwise, you may need to reengineer your product in parallel with localization.

Transcreation is perhaps such a new word that Wikipedia has no definition yet. Here is one definition I found:

Transcreation: Adaptation, mainly used in drama contexts, is defined as “
the ‘freest’ form of translation” and one where “… the SL [source language] culture [is] converted to the TL [target language] culture and the text rewritten” (p. 46).The idea of rewriting a text to adapt it to the norms of the target culture, to the point that little trace is left of its source, seems to be at the root of transcreation, too. Nowadays often used in advertising and the media, transcreation is a portmanteau word made by combining together translation and creation, in order to emphasise the considerable amount of creativity required in the process. (From http://www.airy-eel.blogspot.com)

Check also:

• How to Reach the Swedish Market with Transcreation
• Five Things That Differentiate Translation and Transcreation
• Getting the Terminology Right: When to Use a Linguist, Interpreter or Translator