Transcreation – the creative way to bridge cultures, markets, and continents*

Sometimes, translations do not suffice. That’s when transcreation comes into play. For example, it would not have been appropriate for McDonald’s to translate its iconic “I’m lovin’ it” into Mandarin. Instead – and in adherence to the Chinese conventions and retaining its youthful, confident street vibe of the original – McDonald’s opted for “I just like (it).

Although “Transcreation” is a relatively new term, it already found its way into Wikipedia: “[…] A successfully transcreated message evokes the same emotions and carries the same implications in the target language as it does in the source language. Increasingly, transcreation is used in global marketing and advertising campaigns as advertisers seek to transcend the boundaries of culture and language.” As opposed to localization, Transcreation is based on translation, but adds an element of new creation in the target language.  

Complex Process 

As clear and thorough as this definition may sound, it obviously does not cover the complex processes that are a prerequisite for successful transcreation projects and all the needed parties involved in it. Being allowed to deviate from the source text allows creative and more "fitting" approaches, but reduces the control clients have over their documents in all cultures. And the further you take transcreation, the clearer the original message brief must be conveyed to all stakeholders: Creative briefs – normal starters for source-language marketing campaigns – become a key requirement for transcreation, too. The degree of transcreation also depends on the type of campaign you envision and how much difference there is in the way a product is used in the target markets, and what features are perceived to be important. How far can transcreation go, and what does a client have to provide in order to ensure the target texts still remain faithful to the original intention while allowing the local color to find its way into the messaging? How can the many more parties involved work together to make the end product work while still conveying the same general intention? What are the skill and tool sets all the parties need? How can existing translation technology cope with this and where are new approaches necessary? And what approaches? What are the implications on turnaround times and cost? Are clients willing to take longer deadlines and additional cost into account and why?  

Thorough Insight 

These and more questions have been the focus of a project at eurocom which was co-funded by the Vienna Business Agency, a subsidiary of the City of Vienna, and was nominated as a finalist in the "Service Awards 2013". Together with two master thesis students at the University of Graz we have investigated the opinions, expectations and possibilities of both our clients (!) and our vendors to venture into a process like this. For example, 92% of all interviewees would appreciate a transcreation portal of some kind which should be easy to use, intuitive, have the possibility of defining workflows, allow several users to access documents at same time, track changes and make these traceable to different collaborators, integrate terminology and include visuals so reviewers can see text in context of where it will be used. We also have analyzed the little literature that exists on this topic. And based on all this input, we have developed a refined collaborative process, defined a skill set and built a prototype of a platform that can cope with all these expectations. This platform helps us to reduce process costs – remember, it’s a very complex process! – avoid slips and eventually helps our customers to sell more with customized marketing materials with less work.  

Key Findings 

So, let’s summarize what we have learned from all our investigations and projects so far: In order to cope with transcreation projects successfully you need

• to decide on type of campaign and level of transcreation
• to get a briefing for message
• to define a team and who decides what (internally and externally)
• to introduce and adhere to collaborative process and tools

Contact us if you need more information!

*Please note that this is a joint blog post with Kaleidoscope. eurocom and Kaleidoscope hosted a session on the topic of transcreation at Gala 2014 in Istanbul.

eurocom Project Managers:

We live multilingualism

Internal Study documenting eurocom’s language skills

The American language philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson conceived that “Language is a city to the building of which every human being brought a stone.” It’s of course the idea of Babel to which he refers, but it’s a perception of Babel put in a very positive and modern way. It is also the way we perceive our work and the process of translation - as an important element within a global world which is full of permanent exchange and communication and which we enhance by speaking different languages. Our project managers are not only trained on managing and optimizing processes but also passionate language learners. All of them have a linguistic background and huge cross-cultural competence. Some of them were born outside Austria, some of them are bilingual, and every one of them has lived abroad and studied languages, and therefore has a huge savoir faire in linguistic issues from very different angles.

We conducted a small internal study to document our language skills and the results are astonishing!

Our team of currently 16 project managers actively speaks 18 different languages.

We cover:

• 7 Slavic languages: CS, HR, PL, RU, SRB, SK, SL
• 4 Romance languages: ES, FR, IT, PT
• 3 Germanic languages: DE, EN, SV
• 3 non Indo-European languages: HU, JA, ZH
• 1 Hellenic language: EL

Resulting from this:

• The number of possible translation combinations resulting from our skills is 306.
• We have 5 different mother tongues and each of us speaks an average of 3.5 languages.
• In terms of their written records we speak two of the three oldest languages of the world: EL, ZH.
• We are very proud to cover 5 of the 7 Austrian minority languages with official status: CS, HR, SK, SL, HU (we do not cover –yet!– Romani and the Austrian Sign Language).
• We are able to communicate in 13 of the 24 official EU languages.
• And we have of course a regional linguistic focus covering every language of Austria’s neighbour states.

Thus, our project management team is also working in a personal field of passion.

We are definitely not lost in translation!

Project management

At eurocom, project managers will take care of all aspects of the project, from selecting the best translator – depending on language combination and subject area – and preparing the documents through to the final verification checks on the translation. They are responsible for bringing all the different aspects together. All project managers follow clear, standardized procedures in order to maximize traceability.

Unique and irreplaceable

Our project managers are key to our long-term success. Their combination of linguistic training and project management expertise makes them unique. They are dedicated and friendly, and quite simply irreplaceable and the central point of contact. Or, in the spirit of Ralph Waldo Emerson, all eurocom project managers are cornerstones!

Moments of Madness...

... or how to handle "large" projects successfully

Of course it is difficult to first of all determine what a "large" project actually is. Large means something different to a freelance translator working alone than to a major agency with huge translation and project management resources.

At eurocom, we have defined a large project as one that requires the translation of more than 50,000 words per language, or more than 30,000 words if the project is particularly complex: either from a content, DTP or review point of view, or, the subject of this article, if the deadline is so tight we need to use several translators and proof-readers, and possibly project managers, to get the job done.

It is quite common for us to receive projects of up to 70,000 words which require translation typically within 4-5 days, often over weekends or bank holidays. Due to our EN 15038 certification, the process always includes translation as well as proof-reading by a second translator, and internal QA checks by our project managers (PMs). To enable us to carry out all these steps we follow a thorough planning guideline:

Prepare the project

Set up an internal meeting

PMs dedicated to the project, Management and Vendor Management get together to discuss technical feasibility, timeframes, staff resources, the general framework for the project, the client’s requirements and select the right translators for the job.

During this meeting all questions to the client are recorded and in turn discussed in the kick-off meeting. 

Hold a project kick-off meeting

We cannot stress enough how important it is to get together with the client before the project starts to clarify expectations, timeframe as well as any open questions.

Time and time again, this step is missed out because of time constraints, when in reality skipping this step will almost certainly mean spending a lot of time clearing up issues at the end of a project.

It is also vital everything discussed and agreed on is written down and the meeting minutes are distributed to everyone involved to reach a common understanding.

Set up and carry out the project

Define a folder structure

If you have not already got a defined folder structure, these projects definitely require you to work on one.  Information needs to be accessed quickly and everyone involved needs to know which documents are stored where.   

Come to an agreement with vendors

Based on our experience, we recommend clarifying important milestones with the translators before the project starts. This ranges from TM settings to special pricing agreements to naming dedicated points of contact on the vendor’s side. We recommend a telephone conference rather than simply sending emails back and forth.

The points discussed should be recorded in a written agreement between vendor and LSP.

Use a project plan

For the discussed kind of projects, a dedicated project plan (in whatever format is easiest and quickest to keep up to date) is invaluable. It helps to keep an overview of batches, deadlines, to dos for the forthcoming day, week, etc., but in moments of madness (which tend to happen during these large urgent projects) it is a great tool for getting back on track and prioritising what needs to be done.

It also helps in case a back-up PM needs to take over due to unplanned absence.

Ask for status updates

Regular updates from the vendors but also to and from the client are encouraged to keep information flowing and to help anticipate any obstacles that could threaten quality, deadline, etc.

Practise query management

Translator queries present enormous potential for enhancing quality and even lowering translation costs. Thanks to our systematic approach and our new query management solution, smartQuery, it is easy to spot all open queries, responses, comments, etc. or to search the query database. Existing queries are searched immediately when a new query is entered. No information gets lost. Precious time is saved since PMs do not have to ask customers again and again. Queries relevant for a team in multiple languages can be pushed to all members via e-mail.

Instal a good technical workflow

Large projects require good technical support from a tools perspective. For further information on how eurocom handles these, refer to our latest Case Study in cooperation with SDL.

Don’t forget about controlling

In order to control time and cost, PMs need to be even more cost-conscious than usual and involve management as soon as there is a hunch that things are not running as smoothly as they should.

And finally…

Think about the lessons learnt

Get together after every large or “out of the ordinary” project to assess the lessons learnt. Whilst everyone is always glad when these projects are completed, it is vital to take the time and talk about how they went. As we all strive to improve, there is always something each party involved can take away from it. So the next time we all can perform even better! 

Translator queries – how do we manage these at eurocom

Moving from effort to a knowledge source

Almost every translation job causes questions. Ambiguities in the text, for example in technical terms or instructions, cause our translators to investigate the exact meaning. At eurocom, we appreciate this kind of feedback a lot, especially because it can significantly contribute to the quality of the translation. As project managers we therefore strive to answer these questions as fast and as best as possible by passing them on to the client. 

Managing these queries can be very complex especially in large projects, because usually several translators and target languages have to be coordinated. So the same questions come up again and again, but as a professional LSP we simply have to ensure that we ask the client only once. Therefore, at eurocom we introduced Excel lists which contained all queries that arose during the translation of any given project. Theses Excel lists definitely were better than just relying on the memory of the particular project manager. The limits of Excel lists, however, became evident almost right away: How do you keep track of queries across multiple projects? Several months? Years? How do we know after months which Excel list contains the answer to a particular query? How do you control the access to Excel spreadsheets? And, basically, how can queries be used as term candidates and will suggestions for text improvements be forwarded to the technical writers? Is it possible to solve translator queries collaboratively and, most suitably, web-based - similar to bug tracking systems in software development? These and many other questions were our constant focus. Now, a special software delivers the answers.

Software as Support

For several months now we have been using smartQuery by Kaleidoscope. The system is set up as a role-based online portal. In other words, depending on the assigned role certain rights are granted. A project manager, e.g., has more duties and thus rights than a translator. Everyone can access the system simultaneously, so all the required information is always available.

For us, the core of smartQuery is the task list. Here, each user always sees the pending queries she or he has 

to answer. In addition, the tracking function lists all the queries which can be filtered and searched by certain criteria. Due to the status and user filtering features everyone involved in the process can check the "task list" of open queries, answers, comments, etc. And finally, you can search the entire database, even after very specific issues. In order to simplify the workflow, the system has an e-mail notification with digest function.

We have linked smartQuery to our process management system LTC Worx. This link ensures that all queries are systematically assigned to projects, customers, languages, files, etc. Vice versa, all queries of a certain project can be viewed and edited immediately. SDL MultiTerm and Kaleidoscopes quickTerm cover all terminology related aspects of all the numerous queries.

Conclusion: The dreaded Excel lists have finally served their term. Now, everyone is always up-to-date. Access is easy. Nothing is lost. On the contrary, queries flow back into the terminology and can even help to improve the source texts.