What Is Transcreation? Why Culturally-Relevant Marketing Goes Beyond Translation
September 6, 2025
You Do Have a Multicultural Marketing Budget. Here’s How to Find It
November 6, 2025
I went fishing recently — something I try to do whenever I can find the time. But no matter how much I spent on gear or how early I got to the water, I knew I wasn't going to catch anything if I didn't go where the fish actually were. And if I didn’t bring the right bait.
By Wilson Camelo, President & CMO, Camelo Communication
Sounds obvious, right? But when it comes to growing revenue and market share, a surprising number of organizations are doing exactly the opposite. They're casting their marketing into the same waters they've always fished, using the same bait they've always used. All while the fish have moved to a completely different part of the lake.
The fish, in this case, are your customers. Your patients. Your constituents. Your communities. And increasingly, they're Hispanic.
The Pond Has Changed
Hispanic consumers now represent 19% of the U.S. population — nearly 65 million people — with purchasing power exceeding $4.1 trillion (Nielsen / Latino Donor Collaborative, 2025). They drive 23% of all dollar growth in U.S. retail (NIQ, 2025). And they account for more than 70% of recent U.S. population growth.
By 2045, the United States will be a majority-minority nation. But if you're operating in Florida, Texas, California, New Jersey, Georgia, Maryland, or Nevada — you're already there. Nine states crossed that line as of 2024 (U.S. Census Bureau).
The pond has changed. The question is whether your marketing has changed with it.
Are You Fishing Where Your Fish Are?
Here's a simple exercise. Look at the demographics of your service area — whether that's a city, a county, a state, or a region. What percentage of the population is Hispanic? What percentage is Black? What percentage speaks a language other than English at home?
Now look at your marketing budget. What percentage of it is specifically designed to reach those communities with culturally relevant messaging?
If the first number is 25% and the second number is close to zero, you don't have a budget problem. You have an allocation problem. You're spending money to reach "everyone" — but your bait only works on some of the fish.
I have seen this constantly in my career. I spoke with a hospital system in a market where 60% of the population is Hispanic, and yet they claimed they didn’t have a budget for Hisapnic marketing. They translated a brochure from time to time and ran Spanish-language social posts during Hispanic Heritage Month and never wondered why their Hispanic patient acquisition numbers are flat.
They're fishing in the right pond. They just brought the wrong bait.
It's Not Just Language. It's Culture.
This is the part that general market agencies often get wrong and sometimes deliberately misrepresent to clients who ask about Hispanic marketing.
The common line is: "You're already reaching Hispanic consumers through your general market campaign. They consume English-language media too."
That's technically true but very strategically misleading. Yes, Hispanic consumers see your English-language ads. But reaching an audience with an ad and connecting with them are two very different things. Culture influences how we process messages, what motivates us, how we make purchasing decisions, and who we trust. English advertising with strategies, creative, and copy developed with a general market audience in mind will not necessarily connect with us or motivate us to act.
Marketing to Hispanic consumers isn't just about language, it's about speaking to culture. The values. The family dynamics. The lived experiences. When you build a campaign from the inside out with cultural intelligence, you don't just reach people. You move them.
How to Start Fishing in the Right Pond
If you're realizing your marketing hasn't kept up with your market's demographics, here's how to start:
Re-analyze your target audience. If it's been more than a year or two since you've looked at the demographic composition of your service area, your customer profile has almost certainly shifted. The U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey at data.census.gov is free, detailed, and updated annually. Pull the data for your market. Look at population by race and ethnicity, language spoken at home, and age distribution. You may be surprised how much has changed — and how much of your budget is aimed at an audience that's shrinking while the growing audience gets ignored.
Reallocate before you add. You don't necessarily need new budget. If 20-25% of your market is Hispanic, consider shifting 15-20% of your existing marketing spend toward culturally targeted efforts. Start with digital as it's the most cost-efficient channel and the one where Hispanic consumers over-index the most. It’s also measurable. This isn't additional spend. It's smarter spend.
Don't just translate — transcreate. Taking your English campaign and running it through a translation service is like fishing with bait the fish don't eat. Transcreation means rebuilding the message with cultural context from the start. The insight, the emotional appeal, the imagery, the tone — all developed for the audience you're trying to reach, not adapted from something built for someone else.
Invest, don't just test. When the economy tightens, the instinct is to cut. The smart organizations are investing some of those cuts into the Hispanic market as a way to gain share while competitors retreat. When the market bounces back, these organizations don't just recover their general market position — they've built a new base of brand-loyal customers. If you want to start small, invest in a comprehensive campaign in a single test market. Measure the results. Then scale what works.
Work with partners who understand both the fish and the water. A general market agency can help you reach general market audiences. But reaching Hispanic and multicultural communities authentically requires cultural fluency that goes beyond a Spanish-speaking account manager. Work with a partner that understands the culture from the inside — because that's where the insight comes from.
If you're not sure where your organization stands on readiness to reach Hispanic audiences, our Latino Readiness Assessment can help. It evaluates your communications, community engagement, and cultural competency — and gives you a clear roadmap for where to start.
The Fish Are Waiting
The demographic shift isn't slowing down. The Hispanic market isn't a niche — it's one in five Americans and growing. The organizations that align their marketing with where their audiences actually are will grow. The ones still fishing in the old pond with the old bait will keep wondering why they're not catching anything.
In case you're wondering how my fishing trip went — I did pretty well. Reeled in a few nice ones. But only because I went to the right spot and brought the right bait.
That's really all there is to it.
If you're ready to rethink where you're casting your marketing, we'd welcome the conversation.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I use demographic data to improve my marketing strategy?
Start by pulling demographic data for your service area from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey at data.census.gov. Compare the racial, ethnic, and linguistic composition of your market to your current marketing budget allocation. If there's a significant gap — for example, 25% Hispanic population but near-zero culturally targeted marketing — you have an opportunity to reallocate existing spend for better results.
What percentage of my marketing budget should go toward multicultural marketing?
A practical starting point is to align your multicultural investment with your market demographics. If 20% of your service area is Hispanic, consider directing 15-20% of your marketing budget toward culturally targeted efforts. This can come from reallocating existing general market dollars — not necessarily from new budget.
Is general market advertising enough to reach Hispanic consumers?
Hispanic consumers do see general market advertising, but seeing an ad and connecting with it are different things. Culture influences purchasing decisions, trust, and motivation. Campaigns developed with cultural intelligence consistently outperform translated or general market efforts when reaching Hispanic audiences.
What is the difference between translation and transcreation?
Translation converts words from one language to another. Transcreation rebuilds the message — the insight, the emotional appeal, the cultural context — for a specific audience from the start. In multicultural marketing, transcreation consistently outperforms translation because it speaks to culture, not just language.
Where can I find demographic data for my service area?
The U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS), available at data.census.gov, is the most comprehensive free source. It provides detailed population data by race, ethnicity, language, income, and more — down to the ZIP code and census tract level.
