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How do you adapt to a market with the same language but a different culture?

How do you adapt to a market with the same language but a different culture?

Cristina Tosca highlights the importance of adapting to diverse markets, particularly in Latin America, where 70% of Playground's audience resided. She emphasizes that despite sharing the same language, cultural nuances require a deep understanding of local dialects and insights, illustrating this with the need for translators for Argentine expressions. Tosca discusses how immersion in local culture allows for richer advertising strategies, such as tailoring campaigns to align with local holiday practices. This approach reflects strong leadership in team management and communication, aligning with company values and career planning. According to Cristina Tosca, genuinely engaging with a market's unique mindset can significantly enhance branded content effectiveness. Don’t miss more tips and insights on market adaptation in the full episode.

2026·Season 3·Episode 1Highlight
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Cristina Tosca · Directora General

Leadership insights

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Transcription

00:04

Adapting to new markets

00:12

Let's see, next question."How to adapt to a market with the same language but different mindset?" I like this. It's got some fire in it.

00:22

There was a time which I actually remember as really special at Playground, that was also number one media outlet in the Spanish-speaking world.

00:31

Of course, in the end the numbers showed that around 70% of our audience of Playground were from Latin America.

00:38

It was like, we must open a market there.It was like, hey, there's going to be a team in Barcelona working from 2 p.m. to 11 p.m. to match Latin American time zones.

00:48

And it was like, "Alright, let's do this, let's open the advertising market in Latin America." Not like we had a choice, it had to be done.

00:57

But it became that challenge of: "I've spent years doing branded content for the Spanish market, let's see how it goes in Latin America.

01:05

And it was fascinating, because it was like, wow,we're going to show this market new formats they haven't tried yet.

01:13

And something that struck me was that they sent three people to Latin America, one to Mexico City, one to Buenos Aires, and one to Bogotá,and I, as a writer, had people translating my Spanish content to the dialects there. Even though we all speak Spanish,I have people translating articles into Argentine lingo.

01:31

It was so interesting to see that, even speaking the same language,everyone has their own insights, their own way of speaking,and in the end you also need a Spanish translator in those country.

01:43

Was it just about the language, or did the content itself also change during the translation?

01:49

Of course, when... It's like, "Look, we're doing a car campaign in Mexico City." In the end, you had to soak up everything that was happening in that city,because in Spain we have 22 or 24 days of holiday a year.

02:01

Over there, people get just a few days of holiday per year worked.

02:04

So it's like, "Wow, that's an insight I'd never know about,maybe there's like a big campaign and we can link these cars from the campaign to people who won't meet for Christmas," that was it, right?

02:15

So really immersing yourself in another country's culture to make ads felt like such an enriching challenge.

02:24

I remember it all very fondly.