A cultural shock you would never guess
And the story behind it
From the bottom of my heart mind
Fresh stories from a Spanish Copywriter.
Monday, 9:24 PM at Las Peña, a local canary bar in front of “Las Canteras” beach. Sitting around the table, with some “papas arrugás”, cheese and “ropa vieja”, 4 people from Spain (Valencia, Barcelona, Granada, Galicia), one from Perú and one from Finland.
The guy from Finland has already told us about a traditional meal in his country, when you put some fish inside a chicken. And about how Finnish people don’t interact much with each other in public. And the (huge) personal space they leave between each other. Or how you live in the dark for a long time.
And yet, his biggest cultural shock came yesterday when we ordered the bill.
Wait, just one bill? For all of us? How do we know how much should each of us pay?
Apparently, in Finland, if you are 7 people, you get 7 bills: each person gets its own one and each person pays for what they have ordered.
The reason why is this: in Spain, we order a lot of food to share (our famous “tapas”), and the bars are usually really busy. That’s why it wouldn’t make sense to do it like in Finland. (“WOW, so do we have to do the maths?”, asked my Finnish friend).
And from there you can get a lot: people in Spain and in Finland are different in terms of socializing. So if I’d do a marketing campaign for Finnish people coming to Spain, this is something I’d definitely keep in mind… and the other way around
Finnish Tourist Board, I’m open for some collaboration if you want. Just saying.
I once learnt that the best copywriter is your audience. In this case, that’s 100% right… if you keep your “localization eye” open.
Outside the desk
Where the magic really happens.
⛱️ Already in the Canary Islands! So far, some sun, some beach volley and new friends (including our main character of the day, my Finnish friend).
💼 This is a bit inside the desk, but I’m getting more active on LinkedIn (traveling always inspires me). You can check it here.
📚 I’m also loosing it with the new books I mentioned last weeks. I already finished the first one (+700 pages) and the second one is already started. Perfect for the beach days.
Make it global, baby
If you want to work with me, this is the way.
🚀 Want to take your brand to the next Spanish level? Hit the “reply” bottom and let’s talk.
📬 Want to appear in one of the next issues? Let’s see how we can work it out.
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All the best for the rest of your week,
💙 Ricky from Textonality.com 💙