alma’s Young Lions: “Hispanic Marketing Isn’t a Category, It’s a Universe”

Since 2003, Circulo Creativo’s Young Lions competition has selected the ‘USA Hispanic’ creative team under 30-years-old who go on to participate as Cannes Young Lions at the Festival of Creativity in Cannes.

This year, the contest was won by alma’s Erika Peitersen and Alina Stopello, an art director and digital creative, respectively, working on a brief for The Home Depot in the Digital category. The duo had met just days before the deadline and will soon be competing against international young talents at Cannes Lions – a second year in a row for Erika.

LBB’s Ben Conway caught up with the pair to discuss their win, why Hispanic marketing isn’t just a category, and the “unexpected learnings” that Cannes has in store for them.

LBB> We hear that you met just before the deadline for the contest – did you click immediately? How did you get to know each other and your individual talents and personalities?

Alina> Yes! We clicked instantly. We met just a few days before the deadline – I'd just started at the agency that same week and Erika’s partner had to drop out at the last minute. The stars aligned, and we were able to jump in.
Once we got to work, it felt like a creative blind date. We sat down and basically played ‘creative partner 20 questions’: favourite colours, working styles, strengths, you name it. We immediately connected and found a great balance.

LBB> Had you also been planning to enter the competition prior to meeting Erika?

Alina> Yes, we had both been hoping to compete but didn’t have partners. Virgilio Flores, the president of Círculo Creativo, played matchmaker by introducing us, and luckily, it worked out perfectly.

LBB> Erika, this is your second win – what did you learn from your first Young Lions experience that helped or motivated you this time around?

Erika> This time, I competed in the Digital category, which has a completely different structure and pace, so that was exciting in itself. After last year, I learned to keep pushing ideas as far as we could until we truly felt confident (which we definitely did until the very last second).

Last year’s win motivated me to compete again because, even though I didn’t bring home a Young Lion, seeing the winners celebrate their work and represent their countries on the global stage was incredibly inspiring. I want that to be us this year (knock on wood). Note to self: SIMPLE, SIMPLE, SIMPLE.

LBB> The sponsor this year was Home Depot – what was the criteria and main challenge for this competition?

Erika and Alina> The brief asked us to reintroduce The Home Depot to US Hispanic millennials in a way that felt culturally relevant. The challenge was to shift this new generation of doers’ perception of the brand, from just a generic hardware store to a culturally aware ally in home projects, by creating a campaign that felt like part of our identity.

LBB> Tell us a bit about your winning entry ‘The Home De-’. What was the idea built around, and how did you develop it into the final product?

Erika and Alina> We realised there was already something powerful hidden in the brand’s name, The Home Depot. In Spanglish, ‘The Home De—’ translates to ‘The Home of…’, a phrase rooted in how Latinos describe their homes: la casa de Abuela, la casa de los Ramírez, la casa de Julia.

Our idea, ‘The Home De-’, played with that cultural shorthand by swapping the last three letters of the brand name with Hispanic first names – Luis, Carmen, José – turning it into something more personal: The Home DeLuis, The Home DeMaria, etc. It was a simple Spanglish insight that made the brand feel like it belonged to each of us.

From there, we built a campaign around personalisation: renaming local stores on Google Maps, launching custom websites with name-based discounts, and inviting the audience to see themselves reflected in the brand.

LBB> What was the hardest part of the project, and how did you overcome it?

Erika and Alina> The hardest part was trusting the simplicity of our idea. It came to us early, but we kept second-guessing it, wondering if it was too obvious or if someone else might’ve already thought of it. We explored other directions, but we kept circling back. In the end, we decided to follow our gut and lean into what felt the most honest and culturally grounded, which made all the difference.

LBB> What are you looking forward to in Cannes? Besides competing, is there anything you’re hoping to learn or get out of the experience?

Erika and Alina> We’re excited to meet other young creatives from around the world and see how different cultures approach creative problem-solving. We also want to soak in all the inspiration—talks, the work, the energy—and come back even more motivated to create. The best part about Cannes is that you get to absorb everything, especially insights that go beyond advertising itself. Those unexpected learnings are often the ones that make our work stronger.

LBB> Hispanic marketing for the US is a growing point of interest on the global stage – what do you think makes Hispanic marketing stand out? How do you want to represent this work, and alma, in front of the international community?

Erika and Alina> Hispanic marketing isn’t a category, it’s a universe. It holds hundreds of insights, nuances, and cultural codes that might apply to one person – or millions. It’s a rich blend of languages, generations, and traditions.

On the international stage, we want to show that Hispanic creativity isn’t niche: it’s powerful, it’s global, and it belongs in every major conversation. Culture can be deeply specific, and still universally resonant.