Category: Best non-fiction program, series or film where a client has successfully created a reality, documentary or light entertainment show around a product(s) or brand(s)
Advertiser: DANONE
Product/Service: DANONE NATIONS CUP
Agency: AFTERSHARE.TV
Creative Director: Toni Tugores (Aftershare.tv)
Partner/Managing Director: Marc Ros (Aftershare.tv)
Partner/Executive Creative Director: Risto Mejide (Aftershare.tv)
Media Director: Carlos Bosch (Danone)
General Director: Oriol Sabala (CPWorks)
Media placement: TV Program - TV Channel - 21 July 2011
Campaign Description
All of the conditions needed to bring about an explosion in Branded Content are present in the Spanish advertising market: the loss of effectiveness of conventional advertising, the media's need to complete its offering with content that is partially or fully funded by third parties and, finally, users who are constantly on the lookout for interesting and gripping stories to gobble up. However, the industry of brand-produced content is still in its infancy. The risks posed by such initiatives for the media and brands (where both lose a degree of the control they used to have over messages), the lack of an effective 'route to market' and the absence of a model to measure and analyse results are the main obstacles hindering the development of the industry in Spain. Nevertheless, we have begun to see some very interesting and successful cases, which make us feel optimistic about the future of branded entertainment.
Effectiveness
The challenge Danone set the agency was to heighten media coverage of the world’s most important junior football championship, seeing that, as no major footballers were playing, it would barely receive a mention in the press. The challenge was to reinforce the message that behind even the smallest teams are great stories that the public want to hear about. The agency came up with a communications strategy that entailed the creation of a TV programme that would enable viewers to experience the excitement of an 11 year-old football team, the San Roque Club, for themselves.
The result: a docu-reality that followed the team's adventures very closely. From the team’s delight when the players of the rival team decided to present them with the trophy for best fair play during the championship, or when they were told they had made it to the final, to the harder moments. The TV programme also recreated the human stories surrounding the San Roque Club, and the Club’s village. Their effort, dedication and, above all, hope, enabled the production of an exciting and value-filled documentary that was given a prime time slot on one of the country’s most important DTT sports channels. It was also shown on regional television channels. It was possible to film some highly emotional human stories. When told from a unique and personal perspective, the pieces reflect Danone’s support for such important values as hard work, the desire to succeed and fair play.
Implementation
The TV programme told an interesting story that the viewer was naturally drawn to, due to the right combination of entertainment and dissemination. It was possible to show that even behind a junior football team there were great stories to be discovered. The storytelling created by the agency was capable of transforming an anecdote that happened at a match between 2 teams into a 30/60-minute formula for a TV programme broadcasted on Catalonia and Andalusia regional television. The values that the championship was aiming to communicate to young people became the main point of the story.
Outcome
When aired on television, the programme won the support of the audience, attracting higher audience ratings than average for channels like TV3 and Canal Sur, where it was shown. As a result, the Danone Nations Cup was covered by the country's major media.