Transcreation
Overview
Transcreation adapts content into another language so it feels native, preserving intent, brand voice, and emotional impact rather than translating literally. The wording is reworked; the effect is kept.
Literal translation breaks marketing: idioms fall flat, humor is lost, and register goes wrong.
This skill loads the base brand profile and the target locale's overrides, reworks the copy for that market,
protects do-not-translate glossary terms, and re-checks compliance and channel limits for the new language.
It is instruction-driven and writes localized files, with no accounts, keys, or network access.
Prerequisites
- Source content to localize and one or more target locales in
xx-XXform (for examplede-DE,ja-JP). - The base brand profile plus any
content/brand/locales/<xx-XX>/overrides. The skill uses Glob and Read to find and load them and Write to save each localized asset. - The
style-guide.mdglossary section (Product and Trademark Names) for do-not-translate terms, and the locale'scompliance.mdfor market-specific rules.
Instructions
- Read the base brand files, then read any
locales/<xx-XX>/overrides. Locale rules win for that market. - Adapt, do not translate: rework idioms, humor, and references into locale equivalents, keeping the effect rather than the words.
- Set the register: choose the correct formality and honorifics for the persona and locale (Sie or du, keigo, tu or usted).
- Convert locale specifics: units, currency, date and number formats, names, and examples.
- Protect the glossary: never translate product names, trademarks, or taglines unless the brand supplies a sanctioned translation.
- Check the channel limit: text expands or contracts across languages, so re-fit each asset with the
channel-formatsspec. - Verify compliance against the locale's
compliance.md: disclaimers and prohibited terms can differ by country. - Handle scripts: apply right-to-left rules for Arabic and Hebrew and correct spacing for CJK.
- When asked, emit a back-translation plus a short note on adaptation choices so a non-native approver can sign off.
Output
One localized file per asset per locale, mirroring the source filenames under a locale folder (for example de-DE/linkedin.md). Each asset is transcreated, glossary-safe, compliance-checked for that market, and re-fitted to its channel limit. When a back-translation is requested, each localized asset is paired with a literal back-translation and an adaptation note for approver sign-off.
Error Handling
| Condition | Behavior |
|---|---|
| No locale override found | Use the base brand rules; note that no market-specific overrides were applied |
| Glossary term has no sanctioned translation | Keep the source term verbatim; never invent a localized name |
| Compliance rules differ by market | Apply the locale's compliance.md; flag any claim that cannot cross the border |
| Text overflows the channel after adaptation | Re-fit with channel-formats before writing the file |
| Idiom or joke has no equivalent | Substitute a locally resonant alternative and record the choice in the adaptation note |
Examples
Example: localize into two markets
> /localize post.md --locales de-DE,ja-JP
Loads each locale's overrides, transcreates the post for German and Japanese, protects glossary terms, and writes de-DE/ and ja-JP/ versions.
Example: request a back-translation
> /localize offer.md --locales fr-FR --back-translation
Produces the French asset plus a literal back-translation and an adaptation note for sign-off.
Example: localized as part of multiply
> /multiply brief.md --channels linkedin --locales es-ES
Drafts the LinkedIn asset, then transcreates it for Spanish and re-fits it to the channel limit.
Related skills
See also the companion skills brand-voice (per-locale voice and compliance) and channel-formats (re-fit expanded or contracted text to each channel).
Resources
- references/transcreation-guide.md — worked before/after transcreations, formality-by-locale guidance, glossary handling, unit, currency, and date conversion tables, right-to-left and CJK notes, and how to produce a back-translation.
- references/locale-checklist.md — a step-by-step per-locale checklist and the common failure modes (literal idioms, broken glossary terms, compliance carried across a border, overflowed channel limits).
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