Blog post: Transcreation: translating and recreating

8 October 2025

Some clients may ask you to "transcreate" or "adapt" a text instead of simply translating it. But what is transcreation?

Transcreation basically means recreating a text for the target audience, in other words "translating" and "recreating" the text. Hence the term "transcreation". Transcreation is used to make sure that the target text is the same as the source text in every aspect: the message it conveys, the style, the images, the emotions it evokes and its cultural background. You could say that transcreation is to translation what copywriting is to writing

One could argue that every translation job is a transcreation job, since a good translation should always try to reflect all these aspects of the source text. This is of course true. But some types of texts require a higher level of transcreation than others. A technical text, for example, will usually not contain many emotions and cultural references, and its linguistic style will usually not be very challenging. However, marketing and advertising copy, which is the type of copy to which the term transcreation is usually applied, does contain all these different aspects, making it difficult to create a direct translation. Translating these texts therefore requires a lot of creativity.

In her book on transcreation¹, Nina Sattler-Hovdar explains the difference between translation and transcreation as follows: a translation is mainly intended to inform the reader, whereas a transcreated text must motivate the reader (for example to buy a product or service).

Required skills
In addition to creativity, a transcreator should also have an excellent knowledge of both the source language and the target language, a thorough knowledge of cultural backgrounds, and be familiar with the product being advertised, while at the same time being able to write about it enthusiastically. In addition, it certainly helps if the transcreator can handle stress and is flexible, since advertising is a fast-paced world and deadlines and source texts tend to change frequently.

Types of texts
The types of texts offered for transcreation vary from websites, brochures, and TV and radio commercials aimed at consumers to posters and flyers for resellers. They could be about any consumer product or service: digital cameras, airlines, food and drink, clothing and shoes, and financial products. Transcreators are often asked to deliver two or three alternative translations, especially for taglines, and a back translation (a literal translation back into the source language), to help their client, who typically does not understand the target language, get an idea of how the message was translated. Transcreators are also expected to provide cultural advice: they should tell their client when a specific translation or image does not work for the target audience.

What makes transcreation difficult?
In addition to the difficulties posed by creating a target text containing all the aspects of the source text (message, style, images and emotions, and cultural background), marketing and advertising copy often poses other difficulties for the transcreator as well. Taglines, for example, often contain puns or references to imagery used by the company. They tend to be incorporated in a logo or image, with limited space and a fixed layout for the text. In addition, they are often used for multiple target groups: not just consumers, but also resellers and stakeholders, which means the text should appeal to all of them.

Can transcreation be done using AI?
If the Big Tech people are to be believed, AI can do "anything". The AI tools used for translation and related tasks consist of so-called Large Language Models (LLMs). LLMs are algorithms that basically "link together word patterns they've calculated from their training data"². LLMs do not understand language, so they do not write texts – they simply combine words based on algorithms.

An LLM could potentially be used for brainstorming, but using them to try and transcreate a text is not recommended, as they do not understand cultural references, idiom or word play. They may get it right in the case of commonly used references, but it is not safe to rely on this. Creating a customised transcreation for a specific target audience still requires the skills of a professional human translator.

Also, doing your own research by browsing dictionaries, thesauri, and other trusted sources, instead of getting answers from a machine, stimulates your creativity and helps you find plenty of creative options.

Sources
1. Get Fit for the Future of Transcreation: A handbook on how to succeed in an undervalued market by Nina Sattler-Hovdar.
2. The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech's Hype and Create the Future We Want by Emily M. Bender and Alex Hanna.