The Word Gym Ltd.

Creative translation (or "transcreation") is much more demanding than technical translation.

The purpose of a technical document is simple: to instruct, inform or explain. Creative copy has a more ambitious purpose. Copywriters sum it up as AIDA: exciting Awareness, Interest, Desire and finally, Action. In short, hooking your readers, reeling them in, then getting them to go out and buy!

But you can't just "translate" copy - a lively, witty headline in French may be a complete turn-off in Swedish; a portentous phrase in German may sound patronising in Spanish, a hard sell in Chinese may seriously offend in English. Transcreation is similar to literary translation (finding equivalent idioms, concepts, registers, resonances), but with one major difference: the result must be capable of selling a brand, product, service or idea powerfully and effectively to the target audience in the target market.

In today's multimedia world, you want your copy to create the greatest impact in the shortest time, whatever the medium (radio, TV, the Internet, the press...). There are plenty of embarrassing ads out there, doing the opposite of selling.

But if you work with The Word Gym, you know you'll get the support you need, from conceptualisation right through to market delivery.

From concept to copy

In an ideal world, you'd involve us in the creative translation process from the very first stage: conceptualisation.

Language isn't just about words. It's about the secondary meanings, conventions and expectations associated with each word.

We can help you make sure your concept will transfer easily into target cultures, so you don't waste time (and money!) developing an idea in English that has zero impact (or worse, negative impact) in e.g. Chinese.