Transcreation as a Translation Service: Process Requirements and Client Expectations

In order to remain competitive, many translation companies are expanding their fields of activity to include technical communication, layout, terminology, and other related services, and are thus becoming full-service multilingual and cultural communication vendors. As translation agencies expand their services and competencies in line with the broad definition of translation used in modern-day translation studies translating marketing communications materials is one potential area into which they might expand. However, international advertising campaigns for multinational companies are often handled by or with advertising agencies, frequently without the involvement of translation agencies (Anholt 2000). Capturing this additional field brings with it new process requirements, especially for translation agencies which have previously focused more on technical and/or business translation. Depending on the creative brief, the translation of marketing communications materials or advertising campaigns frequently involves a comprehensive rewriting and recreation of the message (Bondarenko 2009; Torresi 2010). The term "transcreation" is often used to emphasise the extensive adaptation thereby required (Ray and Kelly 2010; Rike 2013). However, we argue that the need for a term such as "transcreation" - or "localisation", for that matter - does not stem from a higher degree of adaptation, but from the specific service processes offered under this translatorial action label. In this paper, we look at the challenges translation agencies may face when entering this field. In an exploratory empirical study, we investigated the expectations of 10 regular clients of an Austrian translation agency regarding the translation (or transcreation) of marketing communications materials. For this purpose, 13 qualitative interviews were carried out with agency clients in Austria, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland. The interviewees were asked about their interest in such a service in principle, its potential added value, and their expectations of the product and process. The study also looked at their expectations of the briefing and review processes. The results serve to outline the necessary modifications to the processes required to offer this specific translation service.