I got your Google translate right here

While you’ve been told Google Translate is no match for the real thing, it’s easy to get that quick, one-off translation. What could it hurt when all you need is a headline, right? But not only could a single letter change the meaning, you could completely fail to communicate your marketing message. This is where transcreation comes into play – by taking a concept in one language and recreating it into another.

If you ever visit the World of Coca-Cola in Atlanta, you can taste more than 100 international and domestic beverages. Ultimately someone will coax you to try the Beverly, an intensely bitter beverage. And you’ll ask yourself, “Who could ever enjoy this?”

Well… the Italians did from 1969 to 2009.

Just like we have different tastes, we have slang, cultural nuances, humor and colloquialisms that do not translate literally in our advertising. Not only do they not translate from one language to another, they don’t always translate from one culture to another. A Latino marketing campaign by a credit union or community bank, for example, should consider differences among Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans and others. The language might be the same, but the appeal will be quite often different.

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