Hi there,

When my Venezuelan wife first introduced me to Bad Bunny, I honestly thought, "What the hell is this auto-tuned garbage?" I was even more baffled when I learned he'd been Spotify's most-played artist for three straight years before Taylor Swift finally dethroned him.

It was a perfect reminder of the echo chambers we live in and why Latin America remains one of the most underestimated markets on the planet. But that's a conversation for another day.

Turns out Bad Bunny understands branding better than most people who actually do it for a living. Sure, he had a slight glitch dating Kendall Jenner along the way, but you learn from your mistakes.

His latest move, a 30-show residency in San Juan, Puerto Rico—became a masterclass in building a brand that stands for something.

While most global superstars chase the biggest venues in the biggest markets, Bad Bunny did the opposite. He went home to his roots and made the entire world come to him.

The results? Over 600,000 visitors flooded Puerto Rico, generating $200+ million in economic impact and creating a cultural moment that made Las Vegas residencies look like corporate karaoke nights.

The Setup: An Album That Wasn't Just Music

Bad Bunny's latest album, DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS (I Should Have Taken More Pictures), dropped in January 2025 and immediately shattered records. Not just streaming numbers, though 36.95 million day-one streams and 1 billion in 13 days will do that, but cultural impact.

This wasn't another reggaeton album. It was a love letter to Puerto Rico wrapped in a protest song. Every track responded to gentrification, cultural erasure, and the complex reality of being Latin American in 2025. The title itself—about wishing you'd captured more moments before they disappeared—set the tone for everything that followed.

The rollout was pure genius. Instead of the usual press tour circuit, they turned the entire marketing campaign into a treasure hunt. Fans decoded clues through Google Maps and Spotify while streets across Puerto Rico lit up with graffiti teasing song titles. The mystery became the momentum.

But the real stroke of brilliance? The quiet video Bad Bunny released weeks after the album launch. No flashy production, no celebrity cameos. Just Bad Bunny talking about what's being lost in Puerto Rico - the language, the wildlife, the traditions that make the place what it is. Then he delivers five words that became the entire campaign:

"No me quiero ir de aquí."

I don't want to leave.

The Residency: Vegas Rules Don't Apply Here

Most artists at Bad Bunny's level would kill for a Vegas residency. Guaranteed sellouts, minimal travel, maximum profit margins. Bad Bunny looked at that playbook and said, "Fuck that. I'm staying home."

Here's the marketing genius nobody's talking about: residencies exist for convenience - for the artist, for the industry, for the machine. Bad Bunny flipped it completely. He made inconvenience the entire point. If you wanted to see him, you had to come to Puerto Rico. You had to experience his culture on his terms.

The first nine shows? Exclusive to Puerto Rican residents. No VIPs jumping the line, no international fans with deeper pockets. Just locals getting first dibs on their own artist. Tickets sold in four hours, with people lining up across the island to buy them in person. It felt like the old days, before algorithms decided who got to see what.

Only after Puerto Rico got theirs did the rest of the world get their shot. Spain, Brazil, Colombia, Japan all came calling. But the message rang crystal clear: home comes first.

The Show: Culture as Currency

Opening night hit different. Bad Bunny built a traditional Puerto Rican house on stage. A literal mountain representing the countryside. Indigenous instruments mixed with modern production. It felt like walking into someone's actual neighborhood, not a concert venue.

The moment that mattered most: during "Lo Que Le Pasó a Hawaii," a song about Puerto Rico potentially suffering Hawaii's fate of cultural displacement, Bad Bunny stepped back and handed the mic to other Puerto Rican artists. It wasn't his show anymore. It was theirs.

@overtime

El Bron don’t know a single lyric but WE LIT!!! 😤 @Bad Bunny #lebron #badbunny #concert #puertorico #music #shoutoutot

The numbers tell the story:

• 600,000 visitors to Puerto Rico during what's normally low season

• 140% surge in Airbnb searches spreading beyond San Juan to smaller towns

• Hotel occupancy jumped 70% from last year

• Over $80 million in local economic activity

• 12 million global interactions for #NoMeQuieroIrDeAquí

But here's the stat that matters most: 60% of attendees were under 30. Gen Z showed up for their culture in a way that would make most brands weep with envy.

What Every Brand Should Steal From This

Make Them Come to You

At his level, Bad Bunny could tour anywhere. Instead, he planted his flag in Puerto Rico and made the world come to him. In our age of global everything, there's incredible power in saying, "This is where I am. If you want me, you know where to find me."

Most brands chase their audiences everywhere—social platforms, conferences, markets they don't understand. Bad Bunny proved that sometimes the smartest move is digging deeper where you are, not spreading thinner where you're not.

Put Community Before Commerce

Nine shows for locals first. Hotel packages that prioritized small Puerto Rican businesses. Free events for people who couldn't afford tickets. None of this made economic sense short-term. All of it was brilliant branding long-term.

When your community knows they come first, they don't just buy from you—they become evangelists. Bad Bunny turned Puerto Ricans into his global marketing team, and they did it gladly because he proved he actually gave a shit about them.

Stand for Something That Matters

This residency wasn't just about music; it was about identity, resistance, and belonging. While brands speak in focus-grouped platitudes, Bad Bunny took real positions on gentrification, cultural preservation, and what it means to be Puerto Rican in 2025.

Yes, it was risky. Yes, it was political. But it was also authentic in a way that cut through all the noise. Today's audiences, especially Gen Z, aren't buying products anymore—they're buying belief systems. Bad Bunny gave them something worth believing in.

The Real Lesson: Authenticity Beats Algorithm

Bad Bunny could have played it safe. Another world tour hitting the same venues, the same markets, the same playbook that works for everyone else. Instead, he bet everything on something much riskier: being himself, unapologetically.

He chose his homeland over maximized reach. His culture over mass appeal. His people over profit margins. And in doing so, he created something unprecedented: a global cultural moment that felt genuinely local, a commercial success that didn't feel extractive, a brand story that people actually wanted to join.

The residency ends September 14th, but the impact will last decades. Bad Bunny didn't just put Puerto Rico on the map; he redrew it entirely. He showed what's possible when you stop chasing everyone else's definition of success and start building your own.

Most importantly, he proved that in 2025, your strongest brand asset isn't what you sell but what you stand for. And sometimes, the most powerful move you can make is planting your flag exactly where you are and making the world come to you.

So next time you're tempted to chase the biggest stage or the widest audience, remember Bad Bunny's Puerto Rico playbook: Go deeper, not wider. Choose authenticity over algorithms. Make them come to you.

Because in a world full of brands trying to be everything to everyone, the ones that win are the ones brave enough to be something meaningful to someone.

Brand Wars: Battle of the Briefs

Calvin Klein 

Bad Bunny in his underwear with lightning in the background. That's it. That's the whole campaign. While other brands are hiring focus groups to figure out what "aspirational masculinity" means, Calvin Klein just picked the guy everyone's already obsessed with and let him be himself. $8.4 million in media buzz in 48 hours because sometimes the obvious choice is obvious for a reason. Though admittedly, when you're built like Bad Bunny, selling underwear isn't exactly rocket science.

Hugo Boss 

David Beckham still knows how to work a camera. The man's been selling underwear since before Instagram existed and he's still got it. Clean, sophisticated, undeniably handsome—it's the kind of campaign that works because it's worked before. Sometimes you don't need to reinvent the wheel when the wheel looks that good in boxer briefs. Hugo Boss bet on proven appeal over cultural gambling, and there's something to be said for knowing your lane. Even if that lane is "let's hire the guy who makes everyone else feel bad about their abs or lack of..

Ad Vault: Calvin Klein

Deja Tu Huella (2022)

Bad Bunny's three-year partnership with Cheetos proved that the best collaborations happen when brand values actually align with the artist's mission. The "Deja Tu Huella" (Leave Your Mark) campaign gave Bad Bunny a platform to champion Latino culture during his Spotify-dominating peak, while Cheetos got authentic access to a community that genuinely mattered to their business.

The partnership worked because it felt real - Bad Bunny genuinely cared about representing Latino culture, and Cheetos put their money where their mouth was with a $500,000 commitment to Hispanic communities. When the brand strategy matches the artist's actual beliefs, everyone wins.

Lento Vibes

A bit of random inspo from around the grounds:

• Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle Ad Gets Roasted: A new campaign starring Sydney Sweeney has TikTok users in stitches — but not for the right reasons. From awkward poses to meme-worthy lines, the internet isn’t letting this one slide. 👉 Watch the ad

• Brand Love or Friend Zone? Adweek digs into why some brands stay in the “friend zone” with customers — loved, but not loved enough to win loyalty or sales. 👉 Read the piece

• Nike’s Classy Tribute to Scottie Scheffler: After Scheffler’s Open win, Nike dropped a quiet, wholesome nod that feels more heartfelt than hype — proof they still know when to keep it simple. 👉 See the tribute

• TikTok Wants to Follow You Everywhere: A new advertiser tool promises to track user behavior beyond the app itself — a big step in data targeting, and likely a big step into privacy debates. 👉 Read the update

• Sarah Michelle Gellar Slays in Uber One Spoof: The ’90s scream queen is back in a cheeky horror-inspired Uber One spot that pokes fun at her iconic role in I Know What You Did Last Summer. 👉 Watch the spot

• The UK’s £32B Ethnicity Pay Gap, in Print A powerful outdoor campaign lays bare the staggering scale of pay inequality in Britain, using hard data to make it impossible to ignore. 👉 See the ad