Trick or treat... or nothing
Sometimes the best localization is to not localize
From the bottom of my heart mind
Fresh stories from a Spanish Copywriter.
Last September, I moved to New York to live here for 3 months. And I could write endless newsletters about the differences I’m seeing between the U.S. and Spain.
Regular local things that are still strange to me: the noise in Manhattan, booking a table for dinner at 6 PM, or how many people wear a cap.
In just a few days, I'll experience my first American Halloween and I can see what is coming: a lot of houses already have their decorations up, the stores are dressed with pumpkins and ghosts, and many brands are working their marketing around this festivity.
Someone asked me a couple of days ago how Halloween is in Spain.
Growing up, Halloween wasn't really a thing. We just knew it existed because of the movies, and as a teenager, we'd just go out and party (1st November is a National Holiday in Spain, so it was more an excuse to party than Halloween itself).
Some people would dress up, but not everyone and not in a super elaborate way.
I've never done "trick or treat." I've never spent hours thinking about my costume. I've never collected any candy. I've never put any Halloween decorations in my place.
Nowadays, it's different for kids (mainly due to the Hollywood influence), and they do go house to house, dress up properly, and collect candies.
Maybe if you are from the U.S., you are thinking, "Oh no, poor people from Spain, they don't get to celebrate this." No worries. We do celebrate a lot of things. Someone would say too many.
At this point, imagine you are a global brand (maybe you are) and you run a special campaign for Halloween. Before thinking about how to localize it to Spain (or to any other market), you should think if you want to localize it at all.
Does it make sense to have that campaign (and investment) in every market?
Are you doing it "just because we do it globally," or do you have a stronger reason?
Is it relevant for your audience?
Is it relevant for your product?
Sometimes the answer will be "yes," and that's great: I've seen great Halloween campaigns in Spain.
But sometimes the answer will be "no," and that's okay too: you can take another angle, communicate something different, or just keep rolling with your current campaigns.
It's a "trick" one (sorry for the bad joke), so let me know what your thoughts are on this.
Market-in
Resources to reach your peak level.
💡I run into this article with 141 interesting questions to ask your market when starting a localization project.
Outside the desk
Where the magic really happens.
🏖️ I’m sending this newsletter from the sunny Miami, where I’m doing a bit of “workation” this week. Summer in the middle of the fall? Yes, please!
👔 You know those series/movies where you just think “God, I could use that at work”. This is the feeling I’m having watching “Better Call Saul”: word magician and great sales-person, he would be a world-class copywriter.
🚶I’m not counting the steps, but is crazy how much do you walk in New York when you are in the “tourist mode”. And the pain in your neck from watching the skyscraper is real.
Make it global, baby
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All the best for the rest of your week,
💙 Ricky from Textonality.com 💙