Localize a video ad for other markets

TikTok Shop sells in the US, UK and Ireland, ten EU markets (DE, FR, IT, ES since 2025; AT, BE, NL, PL since June 2026), seven in Southeast Asia and Japan (ID, TH, VN, MY, PH, SG, JP), and SA, AE, MX, BR, AU (third-party lists, Oct 2026; Shopifreaks). A winner in one market is the cheapest ad in the next one, if it is transcreated, not translated: literal captions are the most common reason localized ads flop.

1. Per market: an offer card and a brief

MARKET: es-MX · LANGUAGE: Spanish (Mexico, not Spain) · CURRENCY: MXN, price from the MX listing
OFFER: 1 pair, $349 MXN, free shipping 3-5 days · CTA: "Toca la bolsita naranja" (TikTok Shop tag)
APPROVED CLAIMS: cut-resistant level 5 (certificate) · FORBIDDEN: "irrompible", medical claims
NEVER SAY: literal English idioms, "you guys", prices in USD
FONT/SCRIPT: Latin · DIRECTION: LTR

Variants matter: es-MX ≠ es-ES, pt-BR, Gulf Arabic for SA (right-to-left), Taglish for PH, Thai and Vietnamese need fonts with diacritics, Japanese needs CJK line breaks. EU prices include VAT. Health and beauty claims differ by market (Japan's PMD Act, Indonesia's BPOM and halal wording): when unsure, cut the claim and flag it for native review.

2. Transcreate the script

Give the model the source transcript with word timings, the offer card and these rules: rewrite the hook (first 3 s) for the market, keep every line within ±10% of its source syllables so it fits its slot, swap units and currency, keep brand and product names, drop claims not on the card, keep the anchor phrases that start each beat (the cut points). Spanish runs 15–25% longer than English: shorten, don't speed the voice past 1.1×.