You walk past a store, and you feel like you have seen a product that feels like it was made just for you—the shade that matches your skin tone perfectly or a flavor that instantly reminds you of home. That’s the power of cultural sensitivity in action. It’s not just about selling a product; it’s about creating a connection. Brands worldwide are now yearning to strike that personalized connection with their consumers.
Take the case of Estee Lauder, which has been tailoring its products by understanding skin tones and beauty standards across markets. Then there are brands like Unilever which have successfully adapted its branding to reflect the unique cultures of the regions where it operates. These brands are committed to understanding audience preferences and brand perception, which has become a foundation for their long-term global success.
Acknowledging the importance of understanding local cultures to connect more deeply with diverse audiences, Borderless Access recently hosted an insightful webinar titled “Understanding Cultural Nuances Across Global Audiences for Deeper Insight.”
Through a dynamic conversation between industry experts Nina Ocon (former Director of Latino Programming at Peacock and NBC Universal) and Robert Pierson (SVP, Americas, Borderless Access), the session explored how brands can tap into cultural insights for effective audience engagement. They also discussed the importance of data-driven strategies and advocated a more responsible use of AI to further highlight these cultural elements in their multicultural marketing strategies.
Below, we recap the key takeaways from this discussion and what they mean for brands looking to deepen their reach and relevance in today’s diverse markets.
How to Target Specific Audiences in an International Market?
In a large-scale, multicultural market, having a grip on language preferences, cultural values, and unique content preferences enables more precise engagement.
One of the central themes of the webinar is a deep dive into understanding cultural sensitivity in marketing. For instance, the Latino market in the United States—a rapidly growing, economically influential audience. With around 65 million Latinos in the U.S. as of 2020, their purchasing power stands at approximately $2 trillion, rivaling the GDP of some countries. This segment is, therefore, highly sought after by marketers and content creators alike.
Nina shares an insider’s view from her experience at NBC Universal and Peacock, explaining how marketers often misunderstand or underestimate the complexities of reaching Latino audiences. She illustrates four primary ways to classify content for Latino viewers, each serving different consumption preferences:
- Spanish Language Content: Originally created in Spanish language, shows like La Casa De Papel (Money Heist) are primarily tailored to Spanish speakers, but have gained a wider audience due to a sharp increase in its popularity.
- Latino-Led Content: Features Latino leads, such as Marry Me or Superstore, but lacks overt cultural ties.
- Latino-Relevant Content: Specifically crafted to highlight aspects of Latino culture, like On My Block and Going Varsity in Mariachi, which feature cultural narratives that resonate deeply with Latino audiences.
- Over-Indexing Content: Popular shows (e.g., Yellowstone, NFL) not aimed at Latinos but still resonating heavily with this audience. This mainly includes content that might be reaching the audience by accident rather than design.
The Importance of Platform Fit and Audience Alignment
To have the maximum impact on the target audience, brands need to match their content to the right platform.
A powerful case study from Nina’s experience highlights the impact of selecting the right platform and audience alignment. She shares how a bilingual, progressive show targeting the “200 Percenters” (those who identify as both fully Latino and fully American) initially struggled on traditional broadcast but found success when shifted to streaming platforms.
The bilingual, culturally dynamic content resonated more effectively with a younger, bilingual, and progressive audience when presented on a streaming service like Peacock, where audiences were more aligned with the show’s themes and format. This highlights the importance of choosing the right medium for different cultural segments within a larger demographic, especially as media consumption habits evolve at a break-neck pace.
Emerging Tools for Better Understanding Cultural Nuances
One of the foundational points addressed in the webinar is the role of data and analytics tools in understanding cultural nuances across diverse audiences.
Robert shares how tools like brand affinity tracking are essential in providing insights into audience preferences, languages, and cultural drivers. These tools help brands identify:
- Key drivers behind customer engagement and purchasing choices.
- Brand interaction preferences across different cultural and linguistic groups.
- Demographic insights that go beyond basic data to uncover individual desires and motivations.
Brands that establish reliable tracking systems and prioritize analytics from the start are better positioned to ensure their marketing campaigns resonate effectively and drive desired audience engagement.
Taking cue from Robert’s insights, one of the webinar attendees asked a critical question: How can established brands promote global equity while addressing local markets? Robert underlined the importance of three key strategies.
Responsible Adoption of AI to Accurately Represent Audiences
Robert and Nina also discuss the role of AI in cultural marketing. They warn that AI models trained on biased or incomplete data can amplify cultural biases, potentially missing important nuances.
To avoid this, Nina recommends starting campaigns with clear audience parameters and investing in accurate, culturally informed data. This setup requires a well-coordinated effort among marketers, data scientists, and content creators from the outset. Feeding AI systems accurate data and carefully curating tags, metadata, and cultural attributes, can reduce the risk of cultural biases and better align their campaigns with actual audience preferences.
Defining and Owning Your Current Audience
Nina shares an essential takeaway for brands at any stage of their audience-building journey: “Be honest about the audience you currently have.” Recognize their value before pivoting to new demographics.
For instance, if the audience is primarily Spanish-speaking, explore ways to deepen engagement there rather than rushing to attract bilingual viewers.
If expansion is the goal, brands must decide whether to gradually branch out or focus entirely on the new audience while still supporting their existing one. This honest assessment is vital for brands aiming to become recognized leaders within specific cultural groups.
The Power of Strategic Planning and Data-Driven Infrastructure
A very critical point emphasized in the webinar was the importance of investing in data infrastructure early in a campaign’s lifecycle. Robert and Nina explain that an effective data team should be in place from the start, with tools and analytics systems designed to measure the right metrics for a brand’s specific goals. Nina notes that data-driven planning might take longer upfront but ultimately prevents missteps and ensures campaigns resonate with intended audiences.
Yet, a vital question prevails, which was highlighted by one of the webinar attendees: How to staff a campaign with limited time and budget? Nina outlined three essential roles.
Watch the Full Webinar
Test, Adapt and Thrive
Nina strongly encourages marketers to create a test-and-learn environment, even if there is high confidence in a specific campaign approach. She highlights the importance of A/B testing to experiment with creative elements, captions, and formats, ensuring strategies resonate effectively. Flexibility and adaptability are key—using testing outcomes to refine campaigns and uncover insights for future improvements. Testing isn’t just about validation; it’s a tool for continuous growth and long-term success.
Building a Sustainable, Audience-Centric Marketing Framework
In concluding the webinar, Robert reiterates the significance of creating a sustainable, audience engagement strategy grounded in cultural nuance and audience insights. But, in order to achieve this, brands must:
- Continuously learn: As preferences evolve, so should your strategies.
- Stay flexible: Use real-time feedback to pivot effectively.
- Think big: Cultural engagement drives not just connection but revenue.
Every part of a marketing campaign—from how you segment your audience to how you craft your messaging—needs to be intentional and informed by cultural insight. It’s methodical. It’s deliberate. And when done right, it’s transformational. Because, with a culturally sensitive approach, brands don’t just reach audiences—they inspire loyalty, spark conversations, and leave a lasting impression in markets around the world.
