CASE STUDY / 01 • INDRIVE
A local voice in a market of giants.
How I helped inDrive compete with industry giants through a brand voice that feels genuinely local.
CLIENT
inDrive
MARKETS
Mexico · Argentina · Chile · Peru · Colombia · Central America
DISCIPLINES
Localization · Transcreation · Linguistic QA · Cultural Consulting · Vendor Coordination
Standing out in a crowded market
When you’re competing with established names like Uber and DiDi, being another ride-hailing app isn’t enough. You need to give people a reason to choose you, and a clear understanding of what makes your experience different.
For inDrive, that distinction lies in its approach to mobility: a model built around fairness, choice, and giving drivers and passengers greater control over their interactions.
But communicating those values across Latin America brings its own challenges.
What sounds convincing in Mexico may feel unfamiliar in Argentina. A clever expression in Colombia may carry unintended implications in Chile. And a campaign developed for a global audience may not resonate with the cultural expectations or regulatory realities of individual markets.
The challenge isn’t simply translating a global message into Spanish. It’s helping a global brand develop a genuinely local voice while maintaining a recognizable identity across markets.
That’s where my work comes in.
02 / MY ROLE
More than translating the message
My ongoing collaboration with inDrive spans multiple capacities, from hands-on content localization to linguistic quality oversight and cross-regional coordination.
But the most important part of my role often happens beyond the content itself.
It involves balancing regional preferences with terminology consistency, navigating regulatory requirements, identifying potential communication risks, and explaining the reasoning behind linguistic decisions to stakeholders who may not speak the language.
Above all, it means recognizing that local relevance is not achieved by exaggerating cultural differences. Regional slang, stereotypes, and familiar expressions might make a campaign sound local on the surface, but authenticity requires a more considered understanding of the audience.
The goal is to help inDrive sound like a brand that understands its users, rather than an international company trying too hard to fit in.
THE THINKING
“Local relevance is not achieved by exaggerating cultural differences.”
03 / Hands on
Product naming: Clarity, identity, and consistency
OPTION 01
Repartidores
People providing the service
OPTION 02
Envíos
Items being transported
OPTION 03
Entregas
The service and experience
Adapting the name inDrive Couriers presented a deceptively simple challenge: finding a name that clearly communicated the service while remaining distinctive and consistent with inDrive’s product ecosystem.
Among the alternatives considered were inDrive Entregas, inDrive Repartidores, and inDrive Envíos.
While all three were linguistically viable, each emphasized something different. Repartidores focused on the people providing the service, Envíos on the items being transported, and Entregas on the service and experience itself.
Evaluating these options meant looking beyond literal equivalence to consider user expectations, clarity, brand positioning, and how naturally the name would fit within the wider inDrive ecosystem.
It’s a small example of a much larger principle: localization decisions should be informed by how people understand and interact with a product, not simply by what individual words mean.
04 / BEYOND TRANSLATING
Brand transcreation: Making fairness feel familiar
THE ORIGINAL
Feel the Fairness
THE FINAL SPANISH EXPRESSION
Como debe ser
One of the most interesting challenges involved adapting inDrive’s global brand message, Feel the Fairness.
An initial adaptation, Se siente justo, had been selected by the in-house marketing team in Mexico. However, concerns about potential linguistic interpretations prompted a broader review.
Alongside language specialists from Argentina and Colombia, I was entrusted with exploring alternatives that could resonate across different Spanish-speaking markets without introducing unintended meanings or compromising the campaign’s original purpose.
After several rounds of collaboration and refinement, the process arrived at Como debe ser.
The difference is significant.
Rather than attempting to reproduce the English expression word for word, Como debe ser communicates something more intuitive: the idea of an experience that works as it should, reflecting people’s expectations of fairness and a better way of doing things.
05 / THE VALUE
A global brand with a genuinely local voice
Throughout our collaboration, my work has helped inDrive maintain a coherent brand identity while adapting its communications to the linguistic, cultural, and regulatory realities of different Latin American markets.
It also means connecting different perspectives within the organization: corporate teams protecting a global identity, regional marketers advocating for their audiences, and local language specialists bringing cultural and linguistic knowledge into the decision-making process.
During this period, inDrive has continued expanding its presence and attracting users in markets where established competitors already enjoy significant recognition. While that growth reflects many factors beyond localization, effective local communication plays a supporting role in making the brand’s alternative approach accessible and understandable.
My contribution is part of that broader effort: helping inDrive express what makes it different without losing what makes it recognizable.
06 / THE BIGGER PICTURE
Local identity is more than local language
Competing with established brands requires more than translating their marketing playbook into another language.
It requires understanding what makes your own brand different, what matters to local audiences, and where those two perspectives meet.
My collaboration with inDrive reflects how I approach localization at Charuan AB: as a multilayered process that brings together language, cultural insight, marketing strategy, stakeholder management, and a deep understanding of the customer experience.
Because the goal isn’t simply to make a global brand speak Spanish. It’s to make its message feel like it belongs.