Zambia’s strongest creative ideas are emerging from local truths

In Zambia, however, the opposite is occurring. Young people are consuming global culture at an incredible pace, but they are not abandoning local culture in the process. They are remixing it. 

This is according to Paul Banda, Digital and Creative Manager at Dentsu Zambia.  

In a blog post published on the Dentsu website, he notes that local music, slang, humour, fashion, food and everyday experiences are increasingly shaping how people express themselves online. Global influences are still present, but they are being filtered through a distinctly Zambian lens.

This is particularly evident in humour. Many of the most shared pieces of content in Zambia are rooted in situations or references that feel immediately recognisable to local audiences. What might seem ordinary to an outsider can become a powerful creative device because people instantly recognise themselves in it. 

“That familiarity creates connection,” Banda says. “For brands, localisation can no longer be reduced to placing a Zambian face into a campaign. It requires a deeper understanding of how people speak, what they value, what they celebrate and what makes them laugh.” 

The smartphone has changed the creative brief 

At the same time, digital platforms have transformed how people encounter brands, comfortable sharing its culture, Banda believes. 

For many Zambians, the smartphone has become the primary gateway to culture. People are not waiting for a brand campaign to appear on television. Brands now appear alongside music, creator content, community conversations, memes and entertainment throughout the day. 

“That changes the nature of creativity,” he notes. “Brands are no longer competing only with each other. They are competing with everything else in a person’s feed. The feed is free. Attention is expensive. 

“This puts greater emphasis on relevance. People decide within seconds whether something deserves their attention, and increasingly they are drawn towards content that feels authentic, entertaining or culturally familiar.”

Comfortable sharing its culture 

Banda believes Zambia is seeing the emergence of a generation that is increasingly comfortable sharing its culture, humour, creativity and perspective with the world. And that confidence is changing the creative landscape. 

“Many brands looked outward for inspiration, often taking cues from larger global and regional markets. Today, some of the strongest creative ideas are emerging from local truths, local experiences and conversations that already exist within Zambian culture,” he notes. 

“The opportunity for brands is not to ask what is trending globally. It is to understand what people are already talking about, laughing about and connecting over locally. 

“The closer creativity gets to a genuine cultural truth, the less effort audiences need to make to see themselves in it.” 

You can read the full blog post here.