For instance, in the 1990’s, British telecommunications company Orange UK ran into trouble with their slogan, “The future’s bright… The future’s Orange,” when it expanded into Northern Ireland. There, orange is a symbol of Protestantism, a hot-button topic for an Irish Catholic population still dealing with sectarian violence at the time. Glad you asked, because understanding what these terms will help you become the go-to expert on localization and translation in your organization. Choosing between translation, localization, and transcreation depends on the scope of your content and its goals—especially for complex deliverables like software localization services.
American English Google Help Center:
This approach improves customer engagement and enhances the company’s reputation in the region, leading to higher sales and stronger loyalty among Brazilian consumers. Global businesses often need a mix of approaches to maximize success in target markets. We’ll compare localization vs. translation, explain when to use each approach, and show how businesses can leverage them to drive sales and ensure effective global communication.
Transliteration vs. Localization vs. Transcreation
It also helps you connect with your audience, particularly young people, when you’re speaking the local lingo. Both translation and localization come with their own set of challenges that businesses must navigate to succeed globally. This case study gives quite some insight into how local businesses have no critical need for localization. In most multi-lingual states like Texas where the cultural expectations are pretty similar, translation often serves the purpose. But if you’re looking to maximize profits in multiple markets, it’s very important to move beyond translation to localization. It might get the job done if you only want to communicate some technical details or instructions, use few graphics or photos, or avoid advanced use of idioms and marketing content.
What is Localization? More Than Just Words
They also let you add the most popular payment methods in each region. sworn translation helped WOM cut through the noise in a market long dominated by more conservative, established players like Movistar, Entel, and Claro. By 2023, WOM had secured a spot as the third-largest mobile operator in Chile, boasting a double-digit market share. Learn how to create courses that engage learners through real-world scenarios and meaningful interactions. 👉 Get in touch with Elmura Linguistics and unlock the full potential of your global brand.
Translation for Luxury Brands
- In other words, localization and translation are 2 complementary processes that work together to help you reach your global audience.
- You’re not only literally speaking their language—you’re talking like a local.
- It’s a flexible spreadsheet platform ideal for managing and localizing content for games, software, apps, or websites.
- By understanding what each process involves, your business can build a stronger, more genuine international presence.
- When managing multinational campaigns, translation and localization are essential to reaching local audiences.
- Specializing in corporate, legal, medical, and technical translation, it bridges communication gaps globally.
- But for brands looking to connect with audiences on `a deeper level, translation alone may not be enough.
- Rio Bank took the lead and decided to translate its website to Spanish.
We don’t blame you if you’re starting to get confused as the localization and translation industry has a language all it’s own. When content is translated, it is kept consistent and accurate when transferred from the source text into the target language. While sentence structures and grammar are, of course, adjusted, it is important for the translator to stay true to the original content.
Exploring Localization: Adapting Content for Cultures
How to Find Localization Services
A relatively new term, transcreation has become fundamental to brand-building in an increasingly connected world. Localization is a more comprehensive process that involves adapting content not just linguistically, but also culturally and contextually. Localization goes beyond translation to modify content so that it resonates on a deeper level with the target audience. Boost engagement, conversion, and brand loyalty in every market you reach.Sign up today and try LipDub AI.
What is the Purpose of Transcreation?
Remember, the key is not just speaking different languages but speaking the language of your audience. When done right, it builds trust, drives engagement, and helps grow your brand worldwide. You’ve probably come across the terms translation and localization, but do you know the key differences? Many businesses assume that simple word-for-word translation is enough to connect with international customers. However, true global success requires more than just language conversion—it requires cultural adaptation. Translation is the process of converting written text from one language (the source language) into another (the target language). While translation converts words from one language to another, localization adapts the entire experience—language, visuals, tone, and cultural context—so it feels made for your audience. With translation, problems of intent and clarity often arise if the source language remains in a primitive, word-to-word state. This can happen, for example, when machine translations aren't followed by a professional editing cycle. For example, a localized website might feature user testimonials from people in the target region while also ensuring that its color choices and imagery don’t breach any local taboos. The localization team will also ensure that the new content doesn’t breach any local laws or regulations, such as GDPR. Translation is all about rendering the message or meaning of the source text into a target language.
Transcreation: The Spirit of the Brand, Adapted for a Whole New Customer
There are many different types of translation, which vary from the complexity of the translation to the field that the translation is for. They often reveal a lot about the speaker’s social background, age, and even mood. Simply replacing them with their dictionary equivalents might not only sound unnatural but also fail to deliver the message as intended. Different languages might also call for changes in formatting and layout. If you found this post helpful, please check out our YouTube channel, where we constantly upload short & easy-to-follow video tutorials. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter to be the first to know each time we post.
Technical Factors (Media, SEO, Automatic Translations)
With diverse backgrounds in various fields, they bring unique perspectives to their articles, aiming to inform and inspire our readers. Translation is a great first step to entering global markets, especially when you need to scale fast. The result was a database of content that could be optimized for use in any language.
Localization vs. Translation: A Guide for Freelance Translators
The user interface, text scrolling, and even how certain items look are all subject to change during the localization process. When it comes to literature, tons of stories have been transcreated over the ages to reach vast audiences. Classic or ancient literature, like The Epic of Gilgamesh or Don Quixote, use transcreation for archival purposes to continue to exist as educational tools and cultural artifacts.
Transcreation vs. Localization: What’s the Difference?
Voice cloning uses AI to replicate a speaker’s voice, allowing you to generate new dialogue in any language without re-recording. It’s ideal for maintaining brand voice and scaling content while keeping it personal and consistent. We’re eager to understand your needs and share how our innovative capabilities can empower you to break barriers and expand your global reach.