Create Compelling Calls-To-Action. Driving home, I saw a billboard advert for a next generation mobile phone. The translated text read, “More than you need.”
Sounds good, right? Wrong!
In the original language, “More than you need” is most likely a positive statement. It probably brings to mind images of endless resources. For example, the new phone would work very quickly, store LOTS of information, and be able to perform an endless variety of functions.
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In English, however, “More than you need” is negative. Here’s why:
1. If something is more than I need, it is too much.
2. Too much of something means that it is excessive. In other words, I don’t need as much as I am getting. This is usually perceived to be negative (except for chocolate, of course, which there can never be too much of).
3. So why should I pay more money for a product that is giving me more than I can use?
The conclusion?
I don’t need to buy this phone. I can buy a less expensive new phone because it’ll still give me more than I have now and it will save me money.
So, what’s the solution?
Transcreation (a.k.a. “creative translation,” “cultural adaptation,” “in-language copy writing,” “copy adaptation,” etc.).
Transcreation takes the target audience into account. It adjusts the vocabulary, graphics and psychology to more closely fit your potential customers.
Here’s another way to think about it:
Translation is just an accurate, word-for-word and expression-for-expression rewriting of your message into another language.
Transcreation is a reworking of your original message so that it accomplishes the same things in the target language that it does in the original language. Visit our blog.
Although transcreation can be a more involved and time-consuming process than translation, the results (think clicks on your CTAs) make your choice a no-brainer.
Transcreation: What can we do for you?
Do you need to translate a campaign for a foreign language market?
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More information?
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Further details can be discussed with us directly by telephone.
We look forward to receiving your call on +41 56 470 40 40 or you can send us an email at contact@semiotictransfer.ch.