4 success stories in transcreation

If you aren’t sure what transcreation is and how it can help you be successful in the internationalization of your business, you should keep on reading. This service blends translation and creativity to make your message’s recipients experience the same feeling, regardless of the place or language.

Transcreation is the process of creative, cultural and linguistic reinterpretation through which your product or service communicates, taking into consideration the target country’s language, context and culture as well as the impression to be given. Therefore, transcreation goes beyond translation and it will help your message make an impression on the target audience, awakening the feeling you’re looking for.

Transcreation: the translation of creativity

A transcreator is responsible for a complex process that includes coordinating the translation, adaptation (localization) and creative reinterpretation. The importance of each factor and the balance between them, depends on who it is addressed to, the text type and the communicative purpose.

It is sometimes necessary to fairly detach from the original content or even create something new to maintain the brand’s essence or awaken the same feelings.

4 examples of successful transcreation

Since the best explanation is a good example, we will tell you about 4 stories in which context adaptation and the translators’ and transcreators’ creativity turned the transcreation into a complete success.

Apple and double meanings

Apple launched the iPhone SE in three colors: black, white and red.

The slogan was: «Comes in Black. White. And Pow». Instead of red they used pow, an abbreviation for power and played with one of the metaphoric meanings of that color.

In Spain transcreation found the perfect word with the same meaning, but linked to local culture. The result was: Viene en negro. (Come in black.) En blanco. (In white) Y Olé». (And Olé) Absolutely fantastic.

Haribo and how the transcreation of a slogan can have hundreds of constructions

One of the slogans of the German candy company Haribo was:

“Haribo macht Kinder froh, und Erwachsene ebenso,” the literal translation being: “Haribo makes children and adults happy.” A sentence that is too long and not catchy enough for an advertising campaign. Therefore, the transcreators got to work and came up with the perfect slogan in each language. The result was the following:

  • In Spanish: “Vive un sabor mágico, ven al mundo Haribo.” (in English: “Taste the magic, come to Haribo world.”)
  • In Italian: «Haribo è la bontà, che si gusta ad ogni età» (in English: “Haribo is the sweet taste enjoyed at any age.”)
  • In French: «Haribo c’est beau la vie, pour les grands et les petits» (in English: “Haribo is a beautiful life for children and adults.”)
  • In English: “Kids and grown-ups love it so... the happy world of Haribo.” «A los niños y a los adultos les encanta… el mundo feliz de Haribo»).

As you can see, it is sometimes necessary to be unliteral in order to preserve the original message’s spirit. This is how the Haribo brand obtained the best slogan for each country.

Procter and Gamble’s rhythmic transcreation

Sometimes transcreation makes the original text better. That’s the case of Procter and Gamble’s Italian campaign for Swiffer cleaning products. The original slogan in English was When Swiffer's the one, consider it done.”

The literal translation in Italian didn’t mention the benefit the product provided the public with (“Quando Swiffer è l'unico, consideralo fatto”), so they changed it to “La polvere non dura, perché Swiffer la cattura” (in English: “Dust doesn’t stay because Swiffer catches it”). Rhythmic and clear.

Leroy Merlin and a slogan that made sense with its transcreation

The original slogan of the French multinational Leroy Merlin, dedicated to DIY is: “Et vos envies prennent vie!” A fun rhyme to communicate that at their stores you will find everything you need to transform your house into the home you want.

The French rhyme was lost when it was translated and didn’t have the same meaning that was wanted. The transcreation process adapted the motto to other countries and the result was natural and creative:

  • In Italy, the slogan was: “A casa da sua casa” (in English: “Your house’s home”).
  • In Spain, the slogan was:Da vida a tus ideas,” a clear and concise message.

In all three cases the essence of the message is maintained and is made clear where you should go if you want to improve your home.

If you need to give the multilingual content of your company a creative boost, a professional transcreation service is the best option for you.

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