The Art of Creative Translation for Unique Brands

Wooxurious cooperation

The brand’s communication is characterised by witty short stories and polished sense of humour. E-shops rarely hear how eager their clients are to pay the invoice.

We started off with a sample translation to see if we’re a good fit. After the client’s positive feedback, we got a green light for the whole project. It’s a long-term cooperation which involves two types of services:

• Localised translation – we use CAT tools for all the product specifications and texts that don’t speak directly to the website visitors
• Creative translation – the rest is in the copywriter’s hands

Creative brief: A recipe for success

Success in marcom favours the bold. Clients often fine-tune their unique brand voice to stand out among today’s fierce e-commerce competition. Transcreation helps you stay true to your message and relevant across languages and cultures. Even countries with their history as intertwined as the Czech Republic and Slovakia have distinctive cultural features, behaviours, and sense of humour.

Creative brief is the cornerstone of any successful cooperation. It contains all the important questions and information from the client which help the copywriter / transcreator craft a spot-on copy.

The creative brief for WOOX was precise and thorough. It was essential in our cooperation with copywriters and helped us meet all the client’s needs and expectations.

Example: Creative brief helped us understand how Woox communicates. Their style is witty, conversational, friendly, and informal. We knew that we would have to find a way to communicate unique puns, specific humour, and slang.

Our battle-tested copywriter managed re-create the original product descriptions and authentically incorporate them into Slovak cultural and historical context.

Creative translation examples

CZ: Jarda Vrchlický by šel za trochu lásky světa kraj, což je chvályhodné, jde o poměrně efektivní evoluční taktiku. Jenomže on by šel s hlavou odkrytou a šel by bosý. Upřímně – kdyby si své vysoké čelo zateplil novou merino čelenkou ručně uštrykovanou a podšitou v Jeseníku, nemusel by se hnát takovou dálku. Někdo by si ho odchytil nepoměrně dřív.

SK:  Aďo Sládkovič napísal najdlhšiu ľúbostnú báseň na svete a nazval ju Marína. Oukej. Keby však predtým oskúšal našu ručne štrikovanú, v Jeseníku podšitú čelenku z ovčej vlny, tú báseň by pomenoval Merina. Už nezistíme, ako by to dopadlo, ale vy môžete lásku k nej otestovať s chladnou hlavou v teple.

EN:  Robin Hood and his company of Merry Men were often on the run, left to mercy of hostile elements of the English weather. In our opinion, they would’ve been far ‘merrier’ in our merino wool. There’s no way to find out, but you and your friends can now enjoy the winter in comfort.

CZ: Většina populace od obratníků k pólům je v zimě nabalená jako pumpa. Vystupte z masy převrstvených individuí v tence pěchované parádě. Zimu zablokuje, charisma znásobí.

SK: Väčšina populácie od obratníkov k pólom je v zime zababušená ako Mrázik. Vystúpte z davu prevrstvených indivíduí v parádnom tenkom kúsku. Zimu zablokuje, charizmu znásobí.

EN:  Onion layering is a well-known winter ritual – albeit not very stylish. Our elegant, thin design will keep you warm and ready even for unexpected photo ops. Stay warm, stay ‘rizz’.

Apparel and translations: Unique style and performance

• It’s not easy to find a translator who is also a good copywriter. Even less so for a demanding client and task. But thanks to our extensive database of experienced professionals, we’ve saved the client’s time and valuable resources. The copywriter was a perfect match for the brand’s style and voice.
• Creative translations don’t work without mutual trust. The target copy may be completely different from the reference text. Sample text will do the trick to make sure we’re on the same page with the client.
• Good things take time. Great things even more so. The client knew that and was generous enough to give our copywriter as much time as needed. The results speak for themselves.
• Transcreation is the top dog in the world of multilingual content. This is also reflected in its price. Having valuable experience with localisation engineering, we first analysed the texts. This helped us customise the solution to meet the client’s needs. Combination of two types of services ultimately saved the client valuable time and money.