Camila Quintana of Locala: “Latino audiences demand more than Spanish-language campaigns”

For brands looking to connect with Hispanic and Latino consumers, simply translating campaigns into Spanish is no longer enough. Understanding cultural context, mobility habits and the way consumers interact with brands in their everyday lives is becoming increasingly important.

That is according to Camila Quintana, Sales Director, LATAM at Locala, who argues that brands investing meaningfully in Latino audiences are recognizing the importance of moving beyond language and demographics.

“Brands that are truly investing in Hispanic and Latino audiences have understood something very important: it’s not just about translating campaigns into Spanish, but about understanding cultural context, mobility habits, and how these audiences interact with brands in their everyday lives,” Quintana says.

According to Quintana, mobile behavior is particularly relevant when understanding Latino consumers. At Locala, the company sees these audiences as highly mobile and deeply connected through their devices, with the relationship between digital and physical environments playing an important role in consumer behavior.

This is especially evident when consumers move from digital discovery to physical locations, including stores, restaurants and points of sale.

“At Locala, we see Latino audiences as highly mobile, deeply connected through their mobile devices, and strongly influenced by the connection between the digital and physical worlds,” she explains.

However, Quintana says one of the biggest misconceptions among marketers is treating Latinos as a single, homogeneous audience. Consumer behavior can vary significantly across countries, markets and cities, making local relevance increasingly important for brands seeking to build meaningful connections.

“What many brands still overlook is that there is no single ‘Latino audience.’ There are major differences across markets, cities, and even local consumer behaviors,” Quintana says.
For brands, that means developing campaigns based not only on cultural identity, but also on real-world behaviors, interests and local context.

“The campaigns that truly perform are the ones that create local relevance and connect with people based on their real behaviors and interests,” she adds.

The approach reflects a broader shift in multicultural marketing: rather than treating Hispanic and Latino consumers as a demographic segment that can be reached through language alone, brands are increasingly looking at how people live, move, consume media and interact with businesses to create more relevant experiences.