Advertiser: 11:11 FILMS
Agency: UM
Category: Best Use of Special Events and Stunt/Live Advertising
Managing Partner: Diego Pardo Cuellar (Area 52)
: Juan Camilo Valencia
Account Director: Carolina Gonzalez
Creative Director: Francisco Galan Ribeiro (UM Colombia)
Strategy
On September 28th 2012, "El Cartel De Los Sapos” (“The Toad’s1 Cartel“) would premier in Colombia. Our job, with a limited budget, was to successfully launch the movie, based on the book by legendary Columbian drug trafficker Andres Lopez (aka Fresita).The film recounts Fresita’s exploits as a cocaine trafficker in “El Cartel del Norte del Valle” (“The Northern Valle Cartel”) and as a D.E.A. informant following a prison stay. Although a true story set in Columbia and full of intrigue and action, success in Columbia was not a slam dunk. Quite the opposite in fact!Historically, home-grown movies perform poorly boasting an average attendance of only 140,000. The majority of Colombians are poor and movie tickets are a luxury. Instead, they turn to the thriving street market for bootleg copies of new movies. We had our work cut out for us to shift this paradigm on a dime.
Execution
A week before the premier, we had actors posing as pirates selling fake DVDs on street corners. After 1,500 copies of “the movie” were sold we exposed our operation to local police (with their cooperation), had the “pirates” arrested and added intrigue and scandal into the mix.People had their DVD experience hi-jacked by the movie’s Cartel characters. Instead of the movie they saw the characters in a theatre confronting a pirate recording the movie! Outraged, they insist that piracy won’t be tolerated. Repentant, he is invited (with everyone) to view behind-the-scenes footage of "El Cartel De Los Sapos”, and support the Colombian movie industry.The scene was posted on YouTube with an invitation from the actors to see their film. Twitter support rounded out the effort. We needed a bold move to break through “the system” creating buzz while shining a light on the damage piracy causes. It worked!
Effectiveness
Despite limited launch budget, the movie was a box office success!-No. 1 opening weekend, beating Hollywood films Resident Evil and TED, released at the same time. -447,000 movie-goers – +219% over average attendance for Colombian movies.-Within two weeks YouTube received 245,000 views, 645 likes, and excited comments from Venezuela, Mexico and the Dominican Republic (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZQmdDx2n6I).-Mainstream media generated press worth COP $ 247.530.000 (approximately USD $ 137,000).-Enormous ROI against COP $9,000 (approx. $5,000 US) investment level -Anti-piracy efforts made a difference! Next Colombian film premiered in December enjoying higher than average attendance