Speaking to Türkiye

A global brand can translate its website in a week. Making people feel it belongs to them takes years.

My job at Canva is to make that happen in Türkiye: shaping strategy, campaigns and culture so the brand doesn’t just speak Turkish, it speaks to Türkiye. Before that, at Pexels, I did the same across EMEA, giving a global plan a local heartbeat: the language, the dreams, and the sense of humor of each market.

It starts with words. Since 2021 I have written Turkish and UK English copy for Canva’s template library. I make words work, though sometimes they make me work harder. Every line gets a touch of wit, some local color, and a hint of soul.

Then it grows into something bigger. With a small team, and without a single career marketer among us, we made Canva’s first brand campaign in Türkiye, Bunu Nasıl Yaptın? (“How did you do that?”). It won four Kristal Elma awards, Türkiye’s most prestigious advertising prize, including two Crystals for best film and best use of humor.

How did we do it? With Canva, of course.

But the bigger prize was what we learned, and the bonds we built with each other and with the people we make it for. We love this country and everything about it. That is the whole secret of localization, really.

We’re not just growing. We’re building relationships. And we don’t just expand, we belong.