How to become A Transcreator

Transcreation is creative translation. Transcreators are marketing geniuses. They understand the brand and know how best to get its message across in their country. They can transform taglines, slogans, and ad copy in one language into something that resonates beyond words in their culture.

• Creative Translator
• Cross-Market Copywriter
• Foreign Language Copywriter
• International Copy Adaptation Specialist
• Cultural Adaptation Specialist

What do Transcreators do?

A Transcreator would typically need to:

• Understand the concept, objectives, and the desired outcomes of the campaign; fulfill the aim of the original campaign and trigger the intended emotional reaction and response
• Have multilingual skills and expertise in the subject matter; reinvent idioms, colloquialisms, language, humor, and slang
• Understand first-hand the cultural differences and any other current political, social, or other issues that will impact the way the message is perceived
• Make substantial changes to the original content to adapt the message, so it resonates with the target audience while remaining true to the client’s brand
• Write copy, select images, and change the font to ensure the message is relevant to the target audience
• Ensure the content does not sound or look foreign to the target audience and does not include text or images that have negative connotations in the target culture
• Produce transcreations that are optimized for search and user experience for all channels (e.g., websites, online advertising, email, mobile, and video)
• Come up with a finished product that is a combination of newly developed content, translated content, and content that has been recreated
• Take part in a site audit, tracking and correcting defects of product descriptions and other localized content
• Train and develop juniors

You need to work closely with the clients to ensure that the end product meets their requirements. Travel to the clients’ locations may be required. Residency in the target audience’s country will help you keep up to date with the current events occurring there as much as they will affect your work. A casual dress code is the norm unless otherwise specified.

Transcreators usually have regular work schedules from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Freelancers have the choice of flexibility of timings. You may work on part-time and short-term projects as well. 

Advertising agencies and marketing departments of companies usually hire Transcreators. Some Transcreators may choose to work as freelancers. Finding a new job might seem challenging. Transcreators can boost their job search by asking their network for referrals, contacting companies directly, using job search platforms, going to job fairs, leveraging social media, and inquiring at staffing agencies.

Transcreators are generally employed by:

• Consumer Product Manufacturers
• Life Sciences Concerns
• Financial Services
• Banking & Insurance Industries
• Travel & Leisure Firms
• IT Companies
• Video Game Manufacturers
• High-Tech Companies

Professional associations and organizations like the International Association of Professional Translators and Interpreters IAPTI) are crucial for Transcreators interested in pursuing professional development or connecting with like-minded professionals in their industry or occupation. Membership in one or more adds value to your resume while bolstering your credentials and qualifications.

• Stay creative while remaining brief; go with the client's style and not your own
• Familiarity with current expressions and the way people talk; fluency in both languages Familiarity with the target audience in terms of interests and personas

A successful career in Transcreation may be kickstarted by more than five years of experience in copywriting, more than two years of experience in advertising, or more than one year of experience with translation memory software. Experience with multiple sources of content, including Translation Memory eXchange (TMX) and XLIFF, working in online commerce in an in-house environment, or Digital Marketing and Product Management, will also prove advantageous.

As in any career, reading as much as possible about the profession, talking with a high school coun­selor, and interviewing those working in transcreation are other important ways to explore your interest.

A typical Transcreator will be a qualified native mother-tongue translator, with a higher qualification such as a Masters or PhD (often both) within the field of Communication or International business.

Certification demonstrates competence in a skill set, typically through work experience, training, the passage of an examination, or some combination of the three. Voluntary certification in search engine optimization (SEO) from an objective and reputed organization can help you command higher fees, stand out in a competitive job market, and help larger clients with their SEO content campaigns.

Many new entrants to the industry are unaware of the career choices available to them, meaning 40 percent of graduates leave the industry after taking up entry-level roles. A Transcreator working with an agency may rise to managerial levels, dependent on experience and work quality.

A Transcreator with experience would be able to move into freelancing effortlessly and provide the personalized experience and quality translations sought after by the client. As a freelancer, you need to make the best use of social media platforms to promote your work to individual customers and language service providers (LSP). Speculative applications to top-ranking LSPs will bring in a lot of traffic as well. You could also perform a lot of quality assurance (QA) work as a Reviewer and Approver.

Individuals with fluency in more than two modern languages and readiness to be challenged have the best job prospects.

Transcreators often begin with copywriting. A good writer from any field within humanities can quickly enter the field of copywriting.

What many marketers want is a talented, ambitious writer that they can develop. The next step would be to hone one’s language skills. One may pursue certification courses in languages they already know or pursue a master’s or PhD in communications.

The aspirant needs to be bilingual, with their mother tongue being the same as the target language. Thorough knowledge of the target market would also help ideas to flow. Transcreators must also be content experts on the information that is being localized.

Transcreation is a specialism; it is a creative writing and localization process carried out by specialized mother-tongue translators and copywriters. Transcreation matures translation by conceiving the cultural differences while avoiding the consequences of cross-cultural marketing.

Most Transcreators are qualified native mother-tongue translators with a higher qualification such as a Masters or PhD in communications. Transcreation is an industry that is very challenging but has a lot of potential and is very rewarding. Transcreation is also being applied to mobile apps, websites, digital games, videos, and images.

The term “transcreation” originated in the 1960s and 70s when the word transcreation was first coined and used to translate creative advertisements.

Global advertising flops are always good for a laugh. The “Fiat Uno,” e.g., did not do well in Finland where nobody wanted a car that indicates the driver is an “idiot” (Uuno). This is where Transcreators come in---decomposing a text and rewriting it, so the emotion and message is tailored to the language and culture of the target group. They know what works and what will fall flat!

Have an in-depth understanding of the advertising regulations as well as the media and commercial backgrounds of the target audience.