Nike’s “Just Do It” doesn’t translate. Not because it’s hard to express in other languages, but because a literal translation wouldn’t carry the cultural weight and emotional resonance that made the slogan iconic.

This is the transcreation problem: some content needs more than accurate translation to work in a new market.

The translation-transcreation spectrum

Content exists on a spectrum from highly translatable to requiring complete recreation:

Highly translatable: Technical documentation, legal contracts, scientific papers. Accuracy matters most. Creative interpretation is unwelcome.

Mostly translatable: Business communications, informational content, news. Meaning transfer is primary, with some style adaptation acceptable.

Partly transcreatable: Brand content, soft marketing, editorial. Meaning matters, but so does engagement and cultural fit.

Highly transcreatable: Advertising, slogans, creative campaigns. Impact matters more than literal meaning. The target version might be completely different text.

Most organizations translate everything the same way, regardless of where content falls on this spectrum. The result: technical docs that are accurately translated (good) and marketing that’s literally translated but culturally dead (bad).

What transcreation actually means

Transcreation is translation plus creative adaptation:

Start with the brief, not the text. What is this content supposed to accomplish? What response should it evoke? What action should it drive?

Understand the source’s effectiveness. Why does the original work? What emotional triggers, cultural references, or linguistic devices make it successful?

Recreate the effect, not the words. The target version should produce the same response as the source, even if the words are completely different.

Validate market fit. Does the transcreated content actually work for the target audience? Test and iterate.

This is fundamentally different from translation, which starts with words and aims for accuracy.

When translation fails marketing

Literal translation of marketing content commonly produces:

Dead metaphors. “Hit the ground running” becomes meaningless or confusing in languages where the idiom doesn’t exist.

Lost wordplay. Puns, double meanings, and clever constructions evaporate in translation.

Cultural misfires. References that resonate in one culture fall flat or cause offense in another.

Tone mismatch. Casual, energetic English copy becomes stiff or awkward when translated directly.

Length problems. Headlines and slogans that were snappy in English become wordy in German or collapse in Japanese.

These aren’t translation errors. They’re the predictable result of applying translation methodology to content that needs creative adaptation.

The transcreation process

Effective transcreation follows a different workflow:

1. Creative brief. Document the purpose, target audience, tone, key messages, and constraints. The transcreator needs to understand the intent, not just the text.

2. Cultural analysis. What cultural factors affect how this content will land? What works and doesn’t work in this market?

3. Draft creation. Transcreators produce options—multiple approaches to achieving the brief’s goals.

4. Back-translation and explanation. For client review, provide literal back-translations so stakeholders understand what the target language actually says.

5. Review and selection. Client and transcreator agree on the best approach.

6. Refinement. Polish the selected version for final use.

This process costs more and takes longer than translation. It produces content that actually works.

AI-assisted transcreation

Large language models can help with transcreation, though differently than with translation:

Brief generation. Analyze source content to extract purpose, tone, target response—the creative brief elements.

Cultural context. Provide information about target market cultural factors relevant to the content.

Draft generation. Produce multiple transcreation options for human creative review.

Back-translation. Generate literal back-translations of transcreated drafts.

AI doesn’t replace transcreation expertise, but it accelerates parts of the process. The creative judgment about what will work in market remains human.

Brand voice in transcreation

Transcreation must maintain brand consistency across markets. This is harder than it sounds—the same brand voice doesn’t translate directly.

Brand voice documentation for transcreation should include:

Voice characteristics. Not just “friendly” or “professional,” but specific guidance: Do we use contractions? Do we address readers directly? What’s our register?

Terminology requirements. Terms that must appear consistently, terms to avoid.

Tone examples. Sample content showing the desired tone for different contexts.

Flexibility guidelines. Where must transcreators match source style exactly? Where do they have creative freedom?

Armed with this, transcreators can produce content that sounds like the brand even when the words are entirely different.

The cost-benefit calculation

Transcreation costs more than translation—often 3-5x per word. Is it worth it?

For content where impact matters:

• A marketing campaign that connects vs. one that falls flat
• A brand launch that resonates vs. one that confuses
• An advertisement that sells vs. one that’s ignored

The differential value of effective creative content vastly exceeds the differential cost of transcreation.

For content where accuracy matters more than impact:

• Technical documentation that needs to be correct
• Legal content that needs to be precise
• Support content that needs to be clear

Translation is appropriate. Save transcreation budget for content that benefits from it.

Knowing which you need

Content audit questions:

Is this content persuasive or informational? Persuasive content often needs transcreation.

Does it use creative devices (humor, wordplay, cultural references)? These don’t translate.

Would literal accuracy serve the purpose? If yes, translate. If no, transcreate.

Is the target audience internal or external? Internal audiences are more tolerant of translated content. External audiences expect native-quality experience.

What’s the cost of content that doesn’t work? High-stakes content justifies transcreation investment.

Getting this classification right before sending content for localization prevents the disappointment of translations that are technically correct but commercially useless.

Language Ops supports both translation and transcreation workflows, with brand profile integration and AI-assisted creative drafting. Discuss your content strategy with our team.