Transcreation

What is Transcreation? (Definition)

Transcreation is a specialized form of translation that goes beyond literal word-for-word conversion. It involves creatively adapting content from a source language to a target language and culture, ensuring that the message evokes the same emotional response and carries the same strategic intent as the original. This process is essential when direct translation might lose cultural nuances, humor, idioms, or persuasive power. Unlike traditional localization, which focuses on linguistic and technical accuracy, transcreation prioritizes cultural relevance and emotional resonance. It often requires copywriters and marketing experts who are native speakers of the target language and deeply understand its cultural context. This ensures that product descriptions, marketing campaigns, and brand messaging feel authentic and compelling to the local audience.

Why Transcreation is Important for E-commerce

For global e-commerce, transcreation is vital for connecting with international customers on a deeper level. Simply translating product descriptions often results in awkward phrasing or culturally irrelevant messaging, reducing conversion rates and brand trust. Transcreation ensures that marketing copy and product storytelling resonate with the emotional and cultural sensibilities of each target market. A PIM system supports transcreation by providing a centralized repository for all original product content and its translated/transcreated versions. It allows for the management of multiple language variants, ensuring that the appropriate cultural adaptations are linked to the correct products and distributed to the right channels. This enables brands to maintain a consistent global brand identity while delivering hyper-relevant local experiences, significantly boosting international sales and customer engagement.

Examples of Transcreation

• 1A luxury fashion brand transcreates its campaign tagline for the Dutch market to evoke the same feeling of exclusivity and sophistication, rather than a literal translation that might sound generic.
• 2An electronics company adapts its product feature benefits for the German market, emphasizing engineering precision and durability, which are highly valued locally.
• 3A food retailer adjusts the names of certain dishes and descriptions on its e-commerce site for the French-speaking Canadian market, incorporating local culinary terms and cultural references.
• 4A beauty brand ensures that the emotional appeal of its product descriptions, which highlight self-care and indulgence, is effectively conveyed to audiences in different Asian cultures.

Tips for Transcreation

• Provide a detailed creative brief: Include marketing objectives, target audience profile, brand voice, desired emotional response, and any specific cultural sensitivities.
• Work exclusively with native transcreators: Engage professionals who possess a deep understanding of the target culture, local idioms, and marketing landscape.
• Test transcreated content with local audiences: Conduct focus groups or A/B tests to validate the emotional impact and effectiveness of messages before widespread deployment.
• Establish clear feedback loops: Create a structured process for reviewing and refining transcreated content with local market experts or brand stakeholders.
• Integrate transcreation into your content strategy early: Plan for cultural adaptation from the initial content development phase, not as an afterthought.

Trends Surrounding Transcreation

• AI-powered initial drafts: AI tools assist in generating culturally relevant content ideas and initial drafts, which human transcreators then refine for nuance and emotional impact.
• Integration with headless CMS and PIM: Seamlessly delivering source content from headless CMS or PIM systems to transcreation platforms and publishing adapted content across multiple digital touchpoints.
• Data-driven transcreation: Utilizing audience data, sentiment analysis, and performance metrics to inform and optimize transcreation efforts for specific markets and campaigns.
• Focus on sustainability messaging: Adapting sustainability and ethical claims to resonate authentically with diverse cultural values and consumer perceptions.
• Automated workflow for content delivery: Streamlining the entire content lifecycle from creation to transcreation, approval, and automated publishing across various e-commerce channels.

Tools for Transcreation

• WISEPIM: Centralizes and manages all source product information and marketing content, facilitating its distribution for transcreation and storing the culturally adapted versions for various channels.
• Akeneo: A PIM solution that supports managing rich product content, including specific attributes and descriptions tailored through transcreation for global markets.
• Salsify: A Product Experience Management (PXM) platform that helps centralize product content, enabling its adaptation and syndication for diverse sales channels and regions.
• Contentful: A headless CMS used to manage source content, which can then be seamlessly delivered to transcreation teams and published as adapted content across various frontends.
• Smartling: A translation management system (TMS) that provides robust workflows for transcreation projects, including linguistic quality assurance and project management features.

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