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Christmas without snow: Connecting with the Latin Spirit
Every year, brands roll out their Christmas campaigns. But while the Northern Hemisphere celebrates snow, fireplaces and hot drinks, in most of
LATAM, December means summer, music and family gatherings.
The result: many so-called universal creative codes end up feeling out of sync with Latin American reality — and out of context.
So why not tell the stories that really happen here? Long family tables, secret-Santa exchanges, or the big Christmas dinner. When the story starts
there, it feels genuine and unmistakably Latin.
Global campaigns don’t always translate well.
Many brands thrive in their home markets, but when the same idea lands in LATAM, something gets lost.
The ad looks festive, but it doesn’t connect.
What usually goes wrong?
- Winter codes: snow, sweaters and hot chocolate, right in the middle of summer.
- Neutral casts and accents that don’t sound like the people from the region.
- Slow-paced music, when here the celebration is loud, joyful and shared.
- Moments that don’t fit. Christmas is celebrated on the night of the 24th, not the morning of the 25th.
- Imported decorations that cover up local flavors, colors and traditions.
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So, what does Christmas in LATAM really look like?
From the moment December begins, offices, schools and groups of friends play “amigo secreto”, where small gifts are exchanged until the final reveal. In Mexico, “Posadas” kick off with piñatas and ponche, while in Colombia, the “Novena de Aguinaldos” brings together families and neighbors.
Cities light up with decorations and Christmas fairs. There are last-minute shopping sprees and carols all month long, especially in Peru, where Los Toribianitos and their classic “Cholito Jesús” fill the air.
On Christmas Eve, Latin Americans dress up in their best clothes, Christmas in pajamas isn’t really a thing here. Families gather to enjoy the big Christmas dinner, filled with turkey, pork, tamales, hallacas, salads, desserts and, of course, the beloved panetón.
At midnight, baby Jesus is placed in the nativity scene, people raise a toast, fireworks light up the sky and gifts are opened. The celebration doesn’t end there, the music keeps playing, and families stay up late talking, laughing and sharing one more drink.
Christmas in LATAM is a celebration that’s lived and shared together.
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What can global brands learn?
Map local traditions: Choose a real moment like amigo secreto or Christmas Eve and tell that story in full.
Local voices and faces: Use words, accents and people that reflect each country and city’s diversity.
A clear product role: Show how your brand makes that moment better—by helping prepare dinner, arrive on time or set up the perfect playlist.
Global and local symbols: Christmas trees and lights, yes—but mix them with long family tables, local carols, traditional dishes and subtle regional details.
Useful content: Quick recipes, country-specific playlists, gift guides or toast ideas.
And the numbers back it up: in LATAM, 62% of brand choices are local or regional, according to The Brand Footprint 2024 report.
In such a diverse region, real connection with consumers starts by recognizing their identity, their environment and their way of celebrating.
Cases and learnings
Panetón D’Onofrio (Peru)
Every year, the brand returns to the same idea: Christmas in Peru feels like home — surrounded by people and a panetón at the center of the table. Simple stories, local cast and real traditions.D’Onofrio shows that when a scene feels familiar, you don’t need big plot twists — it’s enough to tell it as it really happens.
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Claro (Colombia)
The telecom brand created a digital version of “La Novena de Aguinaldos” for people to download and share, bringing one of December’s most beloved rituals online and making it accessible to everyone.
Claro shows that you can take an existing tradition and turn it into something useful for your audience. This way, the brand stays present right where people already are, in their customs and in their everyday lives.
Harina P.A.N. (Venezuela)
The brand celebrates hallacas, a centerpiece of the season, by launching a special holiday packaging that reflects the spirit of Venezuelan festivities. It also joins the celebration by including the product in “combos hallaqueros” and sponsoring the “Festival de la Hallaca”.
Harina P.A.N. shows the power of embracing a cultural ritual that drives purchase behavior, like making hallacas, to earn a place at the table.
Pollo Campero (Guatemala)
The brand hosts a massive year-end event featuring fireworks and drone shows that bring families together and mark the start of the Christmas season.
Pollo Campero shows that by connecting with a tradition that brings people together, a brand can become the true host of the celebration.
Conclusion: Understanding the region is the best strategy
Winning Christmas in LATAM isn’t about changing the decorations, it’s about reading December’s emotional calendar, choosing the moments that truly represent the region, and offering simple solutions that make what already happens at home even easier.
In a region where 62% of brand choices are local or regional, the campaigns that truly resonate are the ones that understand the tone, timing and symbols of each country.
When a brand adapts to the local context, it earns a place in group chats, at the dinner table and in people’s memories, leaving them with the feeling that the brand speaks their language.
If your brand wants to speak that language with a local accent, Positive Agency is here to help.
We adapt global messages to the LATAM context and turn them into stories that connect and get shared.
Want your campaigns to sound more local and perform better? Get in touch. We’re the partner that speaks LATAM’s cultural language.
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Growth hacking in Spanish and technical jargon
Let’s start in Miami. A startup founder—let’s call him Chad—is pitching his edtech app to a room full of Colombian parents. His deck is filled with words like “CAC,” “LTV optimization,” “scaling loops,” and “viral coefficient.” He ends his speech with: “And that’s how we hacked our way to 100K users!”
The room stares back at him like he just recited the periodic table in Klingon. One of the parents timidly raises a hand and asks: “¿Pero qué significa hackear usuarios?”
Spoiler: the pitch tanked.
Spoiler #2: this happens more than you think.
Jargon doesn’t travel well. Especially when you’re crossing cultural borders, not just linguistic ones.
“We’re not translating. We’re transplanting.”
That’s a phrase we use often in Latin American marketing strategy. Because when a U.S. brand thinks all it takes to scale in Spanish-speaking markets is to hire a translator or copy-paste their tactics into a Canva template with salsa music… things go wrong. Fast.
Growth hacking isn’t just about A/B tests and onboarding funnels. It’s about contextual velocity.
And if the context isn’t right—your growth will rot before it ripens.
Let’s break this down with an example you’ll love (or hate, depending on where your budget went):
A DTC brand selling smart fitness gear tried running Facebook ads in Mexico with copy like:
“Reach your KPIs. Bio-optimize your day. Hack your routine.”
And here’s what the audience read:
“Suena bonito, pero ¿qué mier... están diciendo?”
Engagement was dead. Comments were mostly emoji laughs and confused reactions. The campaign tanked.
Why? Because nobody in Guadalajara, Bogotá or Lima is thinking about 'bio-optimization' when doing sit-ups. They’re thinking about not getting yelled at by their trainer or about how they’ll explain to mamá that they bought another gadget instead of paying off their credit card.
Growth needs cultural nuance. Not cultural negligence.
Let’s make one thing clear: the Latino market doesn’t need you to “dumb down” your brand.
They just need you to understand what they value.
If your growth strategy assumes that everyone thinks like a Bay Area product manager… you’ll miss the point (and the profit).
Here’s what actually drives conversion in Latin America:
- Trust, not just tech.
- Social proof from people like me, not influencers from Silicon Valley.
- Relatability over automation.
- Emotion-first, data-second. (Yes, we love dashboards—but we cry at commercials too.)
You can be the most technical, optimized, AI-powered startup in the world, but if you say “retargeting funnel” to someone whose idea of marketing is still tied to la feria del barrio, you’re not landing. You’re floating.
From Growth Hack to Culture Crack
So, what’s the fix? Should we erase every metric-driven tactic from the playbook?
No. But we do need to reframe.
Growth hacking in Spanish isn't just translation. It's reinvention.
It’s asking:
- Would this campaign go viral in Cartagena without paid media?
- Would a Cuban abuela understand the value prop?
- Would a Mexican Gen Z repost this if it didn’t have a celebrity?
You start winning when your brand stops acting like a tourist and starts acting like a local disruptor.
The Latin American Growth Formula (aka: what your agency should actually be doing)
Want growth? Start here:
1. Local slang isn’t optional.
If your CTA says “optimize your flow,” you're out. If it says “pon tu rutina en modo bestia,” you're in. (Yes, even for SaaS.)
2. Humor beats data—until trust is built.
Remember: many Latin American consumers have been burned by shiny foreign tech. They won’t be impressed by charts until they like you.
3. Your metrics need a human face.
We don’t just want to hear “+78% user retention.” We want to meet Lucía, a 37-year-old mom in Quito who’s using your app to help her kids study. Tell us about her.
4. Let the emotion lead the funnel.
Start with storytelling. Then plug in the tracking pixels. Not the other way around.
So… should you go it alone?
You could.
You could keep running Google Ads in Spanish that sound like Google Translate and crossing your fingers for CAC to drop.
Or…
You could partner with an agency that’s been in the trenches—testing, launching, and scaling brands that actually stick in Latin America.
Because when you treat the Latino market like a “segment,” you lose. When you treat it like a culture, you win.
And here’s the thing: we don’t just get the language. We get the rhythm. The timing. The emotion. That’s what drives sustainable growth south of the border. So next time you're thinking of hacking growth in Spanish, maybe start by unlearning English.