Due to the great feedback I got on a series of client-transcreator dialogues that I wrote on LinkedIn, I am posting the five-week series here for anyone wanting to re-read them in full: WEEK 1: FIRST CONTACT — THE BIG REVELATION – I‘m a transcreator. – Say WHAT? – A transcreator. You know, someone…
What can you do when you ask for a marketing text to be translated and then realize, upon seeing the translation, that the target text is not at all what you expected?
Problems arise when clients request – and pay for – a translation but actually expect something that a copywriter would have written.
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.
What exactly do I mean when I refer to transcreation? What makes it so different from translation? I define transcreation as a unique type of service in the field of multilingual communication.
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?