Many businesses nowadays are looking to move themselves into new, international markets. That often means translating marketing and other material, including contracts and brochures, into a new language. There are plenty of different companies that offer this service but few combine it with transcreation.

It’s not just businesses that require accurate translation. You may be an academic, for instance, who wants to translate their paper into another language. Academic language needs to be very precise and even a slight deviation can alter the meaning of a particular piece of text.

What is a Transcreation Agency?

A direct translation in many languages can end up not making sense. Each language has it’s unique phrases and quirks, usually underpinned by cultural meaning, that can look odd or even meaningless in another language. It’s important to find an agency that can translate these little nuances properly.

It’s not only important for clarity, it can also stop you making a faux pas that may damage your business or reputation with peers abroad. Plenty of large business have got on the wrong side of erroneous translation in the past.

The Benefits of Transcreation

In order to sell your product or idea to a local audience, you have to speak their language. You’ll be surprised how often things get ‘lost in translation’ when you use an agency that doesn’t understand this simple fact.

A great, and often quoted example is the translation that the American Dairy Association got for their advert in Mexico. The original text was ‘Got Milk’ but badly translated it came out as ‘Are You Lactating’ which didn’t go down well with the local Mexican audience.

Transcreation is a hybrid of translation and creation, of course, and it’s an in-demand service. There are plenty of people who speak more than one language but fewer who are experienced at delivering an accurate equivalent for their customers. Minor mistakes can make your text look sloppy and badly written even if the overall meaning is intact.

Translation here is about not only finding an accurate word or phrase in the new language but being able to create the intended emotional response at the same time. The translation needs to capture the context and meaning in much the same way as the original did.

If a transcreation agency is dealing with marketing copy, the challenge can be even greater. It usually helps to have the underlying brief for the campaign in question so that they can see what the marketers were trying to achieve. Something that may sound great in English, for example, has little or no relevance when translated into French or German.

Getting it right may mean making changes to the wording that subtly alters the meaning but nonetheless gets the message across. It takes a certain amount of creativity and working with the original writers or creators to ensure that the replacement word or phrase suits the idea that they were trying to get across.

Hiring a Transcreation Agency

Debonair are focused on delivering great translations that maintain your copy integrity while getting your message across in a clear and concise manner. We’ll work closely with you when we find a word or phrase that changes meaning when it is translated to make sure we’ve got it right.

That way you can be sure your marketing, academic or other writing means just as much in a new language as it does in the original.

Contact us today to find out more.