Spanish Lessons
Netflix
Issue 42 | March 2017
Agency
ALMA DDB
Creative Team
Creative Chairman, CEO Luis Miguel Messianu Chief Creative Officer, Co-President Alvar Suñol Creative Director Iu La Lueta Associate Creative Director & Copywriter Bea Torres Marin Gabriel Ferrer Associate Creative Director & Art Director Luis Aguilera Gabriel Reyes
Production Team
VP of Digital Michael Sotelo Director, Digital Strategy Carly Sutherland Digital Platform Manager Alexandra Blasser Digital Content Lead Gabriela Benitez Digital Content Creator Samantha Lemoine UX Designer Kenneth Robinson Executive Producer Jorge Espinosa Digital Producer Rafael Sanchez Editor Rick Morales
Other Credits
Account Supervisor Cristina Lage
Date
August – October 2016
Background
Netflix knew they had a hit with the thrilling Narcos series and wanted to build on that with Series Two.
Specifically, they wanted to extend awareness of the Narcos story through social media and appeal to existing fans as well as generating new ones. The task was to add 2.3 million subscribers globally in Q3.
Idea
While listening in to online chat about Narcos Series One, there was a recurring theme, a nugget of an insight that inspired the big idea for Season Two. This was neatly encapsulated in the comment:
"Watching Narcos has taught me more Spanish than I learned in high school." @lauren_schattle
What the fans loved was they were picking up the Spanish of the favelas. And the cruder the language, the more the fans loved it.
From this was born Narcos Spanish lessons. The characters from the show became tutors in a series of branded content videos, each personality giving a lesson in unsubtle Spanish.
Coma mierda (ko-ma-mee-err-dah): eat shit.
Hijo de puta (ee-ho-day-poo-tah): son of a bitch.
Malditos malparidos (mal-dee-tohs mal-pah-ree-dohs): damn bastards.
Nine Spanish lessons were played out on Narcos' social channels. Audiences were able to find them if they were already fans of the Narcos pages or if one of their friends shared it from the Narcos page.
Results
Without any paid media support, the idea reached 52 million people and generated over 13.3 million views.
Sentiment was extremely positive and generated 30% of all engagement with Narcos Series Two.
Followers and fans of Narcos online increased by 50%. Within a day of posting just one of the nine lessons, the Facebook page got an additional 15,000 'likes'.
In Q3 of 2016, Netflix added approximately 3.57 million subscribers worldwide, which was 55% over target. In his letter to shareholders, the Netflix CEO named Narcos Season Two as one of the biggest factors in the company's success.
Our Thoughts
Just think about the brief for a moment. Please promote Series Two of our brash and violent show, which just happens to be in a language many people don’t speak.
The dumb approach would be to put out teasers suggesting the new plot-lines.
That’s what most production companies would have done. But what Netflix did here was not talk about the new scenarios, the new people, the new murders. They did the exact opposite and just promised more of the same as Series One. More moronic violence, more mayhem, more shouty insults. But now they invited the audience not just to watch but to become active and noisy participants.