Specialized translations have become a necessity in today’s competitive global environment. Hence, numerous translation services are expanding their service portfolio to incorporate technical translations such as financial translation services or legal translation services.
Initially large multinational companies utilized the services of marketing agencies for global expansion. And never availed assistance from translation services. But due to the untapped market potential of different regions around the globe, modern-day businesses need to penetrate foreign markets. However, it cannot be done effectively without help from transcreation services.
Describing the Concept of Transcreation
Transcreation is a process in which translators rewrite the subject matter and revamp it to construct a new passage that acts as a stimulus in the targeted segment of the market.
Such activity requires a lot of innovation and creativity from the professional team of translators. Hence, is a lot different from the standard translation process, in which the translator adheres to the original text. And avoids changing the intended meanings of the passages.
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Redesigning Multimedia Texts
Initially, marketing communication materials were not given much consideration vis-a-vis translations. The fact that entire passages and texts had to be redesigned, refrained translators from taking on such an arduous task. Over time, the era of millennium propagated the notion, that transcreating marketing materials can impact the consumer market like never before.
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Beyond Linguistic Translation
One cannot grasp consumer attention with simple linguistic translations. Client expectations are high due to the constant bombardment of advertisements and messages that they face periodically in this fast-paced internet-driven marketplace. This constant stimulus discourages clients from actually paying attention to new messages. In such times, your business can only get through to the consumer, if you take your translations to another level. And start implementing visual, audio, and other semiotic translations.
Challenges of Transcreation
Organizations expand their operations globally by penetrating foreign markets. This penetration is done vis-a-vis;
- Manufactured products and services are exported to foreign domestic markets.
- Joint ventures
- Establishing worldwide branches by franchising.
Despite these endeavors, successful penetration into a foreign market can only take place if the focus is given to transcultural communication. Along the way, there are certain challenges that organizations need to face;
Deciding between Universal Or Differentiated Marketing Strategy
Cultural differences are prevalent in the global marketplace. These differences often lead to a particular dilemma. And i.e, should there be a universal marketing strategy for every region or culture, or should there be a different one for each?
The dilemma of uniformity
The upper management or the corporate structure of an organization aims to construct a universal strategy throughout the marketing campaign for every culture. So for instance, a firm taking assistance from financial translation services would design a uniform campaign for every target market.
Nature of Specific Approach
Though this strategy might work in certain cases, the chances that it is going to be successful every time are minute. The notion that globalization has actually aligned the needs and wants of the people all around the world is not entirely true. Demographics vary, and consumer buying behavior changes accordingly. Thereby, transcreation services have to differentiate between different segments of the world. So that they can be precise and clear in their message. Rather than being vague vis-a-vis generalized statements.
Cultural References
There are certain phrases in a language that can only be understood by native speakers. This aspect is known as a cultural reference. Transcreation services have to be careful in choosing between keeping the cultural references intact or not. Once that is decided, next comes the how part. How can translators maintain cultural references?
word-to-word translations often lose the touch of cultural references. Hence translators should opt for the re-creation of the intended meanings of the phrases that capture the cultural references, even if there is an addition or subtraction of words.
Tone of Voice
Taglines usually carry the tone of voice. Changing words can significantly alter the tone of voice. In transcreation processes, the tone of voice carries the mantra of the message. Mantra is what entices fear, encouragement, motivation, and feelings of love in the target audience. And during transcreation, if you change the tone of voice, your mantra or tagline might lose its feel. Therefore, translators need to maintain the originality of the tone of voice in the translated content.
Layout
Layout issues are also prevalent during transcreation processes. There are numerous ways to display a particular tagline. Acceptance of such visuals varies with the diversity in cultures. Hence, transcreators need to alter their visual representation with respect to the cultural intricacies and preferences of target audiences. Some visuals might not work in a particular cultural setting. Meanwhile, they can be swiftly adopted in some. Hence, translators need to do their research before finalizing visual layouts.
Conclusion
The primary aim of this article was to expound upon the process of transcreation. And how it differs from the traditional process of translation.
Conclusively we can proclaim that transcreation is the reconstruction and redesigning of the marketing text so that it can cater to a specific market. However, this process is much difficult than the simple linguistic conversion of words. A translator has to deal with layout, tone of voice, and cultural references issues. Meanwhile, he has to decide which marketing strategy to alter and which to standardize.
