Quick Summary
What does Bad Bunny performing salsa at the Super Bowl have to do with your business? More than you think. This post explores why evolving your marketing strategy is not about abandoning tradition, but about staying relevant in a changing culture. Just like salsa found new life through reinvention, design and construction firms must adapt how they show up online. Search trends, screen time, and digital behaviour are shifting. The question is not whether change is happening. It is whether you are willing to evolve with it.
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Bad Bunny performed salsa at the Super Bowl last weekend, and as a salsa enthusiast, I have to talk about it.
(I dance every day and met my very Mexican boyfriend at a salsa club.)
Beyond the cultural and political impact, what caught my attention is what this moment says about reinvention.
Salsa, Historically
Salsa has existed since the 1950s. The most iconic names – Buena Vista Social Club, Celia Cruz, Willie Colón, Frankie Ruiz – are legends.
Also: they’re all dead.
Salsa is often seen as “old school.” Something your grandparents dance to. Timeless, sure. But not exactly current.
Until now.
Enter Bad Bunny
Bad Bunny’s latest album, Debí Tirar Más Fotos, made salsa modern. He mixes classic salsa sounds with pop and trap. His music videos use CGI, and the lyrics don’t just talk about love (a classic theme) but also about real issues, like gentrification in Puerto Rico.
His Super Bowl performance, during a time of big conversations about immigration and ICE, made salsa feel current, emotional, and powerful again.
The search data backs this up.
This week, people are Googling “salsa dancing” more than they have in years.
Culture moves first. Online behaviour follows. (I do SEO! I couldn’t not mention it.)
The Purists
What’s fascinating is that longtime salsa fans don’t all love this.
I hear it all the time at my salsa school. On the one hand, people appreciate the influx of new students. More and more people are signing up for classes because Bad Bunny made it trendy.
On the other hand, purists argue that this isn’t real salsa. Or “salsa pura”.
Say what you will about purity. Bad Bunny is allegedly worth $100M because he wasn’t afraid to evolve.
The Parallel for the Design and Construction Industry
Like salsa, the design and construction industry is old school.
It’s slow to adopt new technology, business practices and digital marketing strategies. Many firms still rely on referrals or resist change because past methods worked years ago.
But the world has changed.
Everyone has a phone, and the average American spends 7 hours a day on screens. Your clients are searching on Google and forming opinions based on your website and social media … whether you like it or not.
No matter how “pure” you try to stay, cultural and economic forces are reshaping the industry.
Just like Bad Bunny gave salsa a modern remix, design and construction firms can do the same with how they show up online—misma esencia, nueva energía.
See you need week,
Daniela
