Rewriting the Rules: Crafting Betfair Spain’s New Tone of Voice for a New Generation of Fans
In 2024, I had the opportunity to lead one of the most creatively demanding and culturally rich projects of my career: redefining the Tone of Voice for Betfair Spain. This wasn’t just a local copy refresh—it was a deep dive into the mindset of Spanish sports fans, especially Gen Z audiences, whose media habits, humor, and emotional codes are reshaping the way brands need to communicate.
Working alongside Felipe Ferreira, Betfair’s Global Creative Director, and Leonel Andrade Reyes, Brand Manager for Spain, we set out to design a new verbal identity that could resonate across multiple touchpoints—social media, CRM, in-app content, ATL—and still feel unmistakably Betfair. Our challenge? Balance global consistency with local authenticity, turning a pan-European sports betting brand into something that feels like it grew out of a bar in Lavapiés, a debate in WhatsApp, or a shout from the stands at the Metropolitano.
The Spanish fan—particularly the madrileño fan—is passionate, ironic, and razor-sharp. They don’t just watch the game; they narrate it, remix it, and meme it in real time. They live between tradition and modernity, between Casillas and Twitch, between the tío culture of old-school radio and the instant dopamine hit of TikTok reels. And they can spot fake enthusiasm from a mile away.
To connect with them, the new Betfair Spain tone had to be fast, funny, fearless—but never fake. We created a toolkit of voice principles rooted in street-smart intelligence, with a mix of football slang, cultural references, and bold calls to action that speak their language without trying too hard. We also designed modular copy systems to make daily content production easier for internal teams and local agencies, keeping the tone sharp and scalable.
Above all, this was a collaborative and international project. We worked in tandem with Betfair’s European brand team to ensure alignment with broader strategies, while pushing the creative limits locally. The result is a tone that doesn't just talk to Gen Z—it speaks with them, from their turf, in their voice.
