With transcreation being so fundamental for the successful internationalisation of a brand and crucial for the positive reception of a marketing campaign in a foreign market, we decided to share with you what it means and why it is so important for companies aiming to expand globally.
2. @conversis_uk
• Language Service Provider founded in 2003
• Dedicated internal project manager ownership
• Fully integrated quality systems
• Support 100+ languages
• Harness human and technological resources
• Multilingual, one-stop-shop localisation company
About Us
3. @conversis_uk
• Translation
Process of translating words or text from one language into another.
• Localisation
Process of adapting a product/service or content, including non-text
elements, to a target language and culture. It covers translation, but
also takes into account cultural, social, and political differences.
• Transcreation
Process of adapting a message from one language to another, while
maintaining its intent, style, tone and context. It is the creative
recreation of a concept in another language, generally for marketing
purposes.
Definitions
4. @conversis_uk
1) Client sends us the headlines/content to be transcreated alongside the briefs about the brand,
the product/service, the company, the target audience, and the tone of voice;
2) Conversis defines the linguist copywriters for the transcreation project. Transcreation + revision
by a second independent translator to check if he/she agrees with the recommendations
provided by the first translator;
3) Conversis provides to the client a table with a recommendation, 1-2 alternatives, English back
translations and rationales & comments section for each headline.
• Optional: Prior to the start of the transcreation project, Conversis can also carry out a cultural consultation for the brand in
the local target markets. This would include making sure that the campaign is suitable for the markets that the client wants
to run it in. It would also give the client an idea about the competitor landscape, what kind of campaigns have their biggest
competitors run in the country, the point of sales presence of the competition and so on. This is a service you would
normally offer before transcreation.
Conversis Transcreation Process
5. @conversis_uk
Conversis Transcreation Process - Example
Original Master
Key Features
Brief
Transcreation
Adaptation
Final Result
Headline 1 Recommendation English back translation: Rationales and comments:
NATURE IS A POWERFUL THING.
A NATUREZA É ALGO PODEROSO NATURE IS SOMETHING POWERFUL
This version carries a greater impact than the
proposed alternatives. Same meaning of 'nature
is powerful.'
Alternative 1 English back translation: Rationales and comments:
A NATUREZA É UMA COISA PODEROSA NATURE IS A POWERFUL THING
Basically the same message, but weakened by the
word 'coisa' - thing. 'Algo,' which also means
'thing' (from the fisrt recommendation) goes
much better with 'Poderoso'. 'Algo' carries more
importance than 'coisa'. 'Coisa' can have a
negative connotation.
Alternative 2 (Optional) English back translation: Rationales and comments:
A NATUREZA TEM PODER NATURE HAS POWER
Carries less impact as it says that nature has
power rather than 'is powerful'.
6. @conversis_uk
• Back translations are always given as a standard as our global clients might not
understand the language the transcreation is in. Back translations are for the
global client to assess if the copywriter/local client has not moved too far from the
original idea and the way that you want to present your brand globally.
• Comment/rationales explain the approach that we needed to take for the
transcreation, giving some insight and cultural background to the choice of words
and explaining why the copywriter needed to change the original turn of phrase,
whilst retaining the overall feel of the original, to fit the particular market.
Conversis Transcreation Process
7. @conversis_uk
• We worked on a recent transcreation project for an advertising agency that has developed an app
aimed at 5-10 year old children (mainly boys) who suffer from a specific disease. The app needed
to be adapted into several languages including Italian and there were various instances where
transcreation was needed.
• The main character of the app was a dragon and it enabled the patients (users of a specific drug)
and also their parents/relatives to share their experiences and also encouraged them to interact
with the app and the overall study.
The dragon mentioned: A-blazing! “amazing + blazing”.
Our Challenge: Find a similar play with words in Italian:
• Solution: a-blazing = Raaargh! Sarebbe fiamtastico! (you are Fiamtastico!)
FIAMtastico > a combination of “flame” and “fantastic” so works very well and retains the English
idea of “amazing + blazing”.
Case Study
8. @conversis_uk
• Conversis Quality Management System (QMS)
• Conversis is ISO9001:2008 and EN 15038:2006 certified
• Linguist recruitment and monitoring - our active resources database
contains over 1500 professional translators
• QA check includes translator and project manager’s checks and
independent translator review
Quality