I bet that you have read somewhere that transcreation is a kind of “creative translation.” In fact, judging by Google results, “creative translation” appears to be the most commonly used term to describe transcreation.
Yet “creative translation” is a misnomer. Misleading at best.
It took me a long time – decades, that is – to come up with a good and easy-to-grasp definition of what transcreation is. And why we should it treat it as a category in its own right rather than as a sub-category of translation.
If you want corporate communication, public relations, or advertising material to make a (positive!) impact in other languages, a translation is most likely not the best solution. Better get a transcreation instead.
Why? What’s the difference?
The book that I hope you will read (or have already read) is all about ways to render high-quality transcreation services. It is important to stress, however, that there may be situations in which transcreations are necessary, but won’t be possible. That is the case when: