What is transcreation and how do you determine you need it? Customer success story on overcoming the challenges of the transcreation process delivered at the SDL Customer Success Summit Montreal 2016.

1. SDL Proprietary and Confidential
Transcreation for Deep
Cross-Cultural Connection
Why choosing precisely the right words matter
Jeffrey Constantin, SDL
Paulette Haedo, Royal Caribbean International
SDL Language Customer Success Summit | June 7, 2016

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Today’s presenters
Jeffrey Constantin
Business Consultant
Paulette Haedo
Manager, Global Business Solutions
Paulette HaedoJeffrey Constantin

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The challenge of achieving
cross-cultural emotional connection

5. Challenge #1:
Content must make
an impact quickly
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
2000 2015
Human attention span
is shortening
Source: National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine
Goldfish’s
attention span:
9Seconds
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6. Source: Institute of Practitioners of Advertising
Challenge #2:
Emotional content
works better
Profitability
31%
26%
16%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
Emotional Combined Rational
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7. “Got Milk?” “Finger Lickin’ Good”
Challenge #3:
Getting the message
just right across
cultures is tricky
“Are You Lactating?”
…translated to…
(L.A. Spanish)
“Eat Your Fingers Off”
…translated to…
(Chinese)
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To translate or to transcreate, that is the question…
Transcreation
“… is the process by which new content
is adapted for a given target audience.”
 Team of Bilingual Copywriter(s)
 Concept or paragraph-based
translation with or without TM
 Paid by the hour
 800 to 1,200 words per day
Translation
“…is the communication of the meaning
of a source-language text by means of
an equivalent target-language text.”
 Solo Translator
 Sentence-based translation with TM
 Paid by the word count
 1,500 to 2,000 words per day
Informative, factual
Faithful to original source
Motivational, inspirational
Faithful to creative strategy and overall concept

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English
The world
awaits
Transcreation
(French)
Translation
(French)
Le monde vous
tend les bras
Le monde
vous attend
Back-translation:
“the world is reaching out to you”
Translation vs. Transcreation
Transcreation
(Portuguese)
Translation
(Portuguese)
O mundo à
sua porta
O mundo
espera
Back-translation:
“the world at your door”

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Do You Need
Transcreation?

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1What are we trying to
communicate?
Consider the complexity and components within the message.
The more complex and less direct the message, the more
likely it is that transcreation is needed.

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2What cultures and languages
are being translated?
The basic rule to remember is that the greater the disparity
between the source and the target market, in terms of
language, norms, etiquette and culture, the more likely that
transcreation is required.

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3How does your target market
differ from your local one?
When there are many cultural contexts and references involved
in a complex marketing message, then even similar cultures
may not be able to share exactly the same marketing.

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4Will you be translating content
that requires cultural context?
Many expressions can be entirely culturally-specific and
have almost no shared characteristics. Culturally-specific
reference points rarely translate well, if at all. Remember that
what may mean one thing to a certain culture may have an
entirely different contextual meaning to another.

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5What type of content is it?
Transcreation is meant to capture the essence of a creative
strategy, while adapting the content to a target market. This
can be a targeted effort on a tagline or marketing concept, it
does not need to apply to an entire piece of content.
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Example: Creative copy
Give your clothes the TLC they deserve with sturdy
hangers that help garments hold their shape. Bonus:
matching hangers give your closets a clean,
uncluttered look.
Get Sorted
Get Hung Up
The bedroom should be the place where you go to
rest and relax. Master the mess in your bedroom
and closet with storage, furniture pieces and
accessories to make it your oasis of calm.
Make your closet one of your favorite spaces in your
home. A great closet organizing system will increase
your usable space and put all of your clothes, shoes
and accessories right where you find them.
English
CanadianFrench
Store It in Style
Clean Sweep
Give your closet a fresh start. With the closet empty,
take the time to wipe down all of the shelves, dust
and vacuum thoroughly.
La chambre à coucher devrait servir de lieu de repos
et de détente. Éliminez le désordre en vous servant
de meubles et d’accessoires pour créer plus de
rangement et, par le fait même, votre havre de paix.
Métamorphosez vos garde-robes pour les rendre
des plus agréables. Un bon système d'organisation
du garde-robe augmentera l'espace disponible et
vous permettra de tout trouver sans devoir chercher.
Traitez vos vêtements aux petits oignons avec des
cintres robustes pour qu'ils conservent leur forme.
Un plus : des cintres qui s'agencent pour une
allure nette et dégagée.
Pour un renouveau tout beau. Maintenant que votre
garde-robe est vide, essuyez les tablettes, enlevez
la poussière et passez l'aspirateur.
Chic et pratique
À vos ordres!
Au sens propre
La cintre paix

18. HAND-OFF CHECKLIST FOR
TRANSCREATION PROJECTS
1. Creative Brief
2. Terminology and/or Branded Term
List (Copyright, Trademark, etc.)
3. Visual references
4. Any relevant content associated to
the same Creative Brief
5. In-country SME contact information
6. Confirmation if back-translations are
required (yes/no)

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