AVOID WTFS: TRANSLATIONS VS TRANSCREATIONS.

Mascarilla puesta. Siga adelante. If you know Spanish, I’m sure you just thought, WTF does that mean. If you don’t know Spanish, let me just say you’d say WTF too if you knew Spanish. 

But for the record, it reads Mask on. Move on. 

Sounds alright in English, right?

But in Spanish… it’s definitely WTF. 

Let me take you on a trip down memory lane. It’s 2021 and the City of Reno, City of Sparks, Washoe County, and Washoe County Health District have joined forces to execute a communications campaign to motivate the community to follow guidelines to keep their community safe. They hire the masterminds at KPS3 and my team to work together and Mask on. Move on.is born!

Mask on. Move on. was all over the TV and radio, social media, bilboards, casino signs, malls, face masks, and even on sidewalks!

The English campaign was a hit…BUT we knew right from the start that when it came to reaching the Spanish-speaking community, a literal translation wouldn’t be successful. 

Not only wouldn’t it make much sense in Spanish nor would it appeal to the Latino community. 

PONGAMOS DE NUESTRA PARTE.

That’s when we started to craft the Spanish-language campaign (yes, it had its own full strategy) we came up with «Pongamos de nuestra parte,» which translates to Let’s do our part, a carefully crafted message that embraced the unique cultural values and concerns of the Latino/a population while keeping the same branding as its sister campaign. 

This is why we make a distinction between translating and transcreating. When we translate, it’s a straightforward word swap, while transcreating focuses on capturing the essence of the message and making it relatable and overcoming language barriers.

In the case of the campaign “Pongamos de nuestra Parte”, it meant tapping into the collectivistic views of the Latino/a community and addressing their specific worries, and adapting the message to resonate with them. Emotions are universal, all humans experience them, but what triggers those emotions can differ across cultures. When transcreating, we shape the message in a way that inspires the same emotions, actions, and reactions as the original one. 

While translating is more like swapping words, the process of transcreation has more to it. When crafting a new message, we dive deep into the meaning behind the objectives the original message has, and brainstorm different approaches to the subject. We have the advantage of being a multicultural team who is in touch with a local network from a range of backgrounds and cultures, making it easier to get into our targeted audience’s shoes and see the world through their eyes.

GOOGLE TRANSLATE: IT’S A LOVE/HATE RELATIONSHIP WITH LOTS OF WTFS.

It’s 2024, and if you want to reach a wider audience, you need to move away from just translating your content to reach other markets. Google Translate doesn’t cut it anymore, and I’m here to tell you it never really did.

Being inclusive is more than just translating your content to another language, it’s about being able to adapt your message to resonate with your new audience. Think about big companies, like certain fast-food chains, and how they have their iconic characters do a reverence when advertising in Asia: that’s a move that gets the brand closer to their target audience.

When we talk about inclusion we’re not talking about just making the information accessible, but also what the message is trying to convey. Inclusion is not only about words, it’s about fostering a relationship with the audience, making the content relatable, about encouraging conversation in a way that is culturally relevant and make a real impact in the community we’re trying to reach.

Scroll al inicio