Agency: Nobox Account: Netflix (OITNB brand) Project: Create Written Explanation for each of the seven (7) categories Nobox is entering/submitting their "Cry in Spanish with Itatí Cantoral" video to Cannes Lions. Copywriter for Written Explanations: Henry Chinea Creatives for Project and Case Study: Joa Tous (Creative Director, Nobox) and Angel Van Der Biest (Head of Content, Nobox)
C05. Social Video Category Explanation (the other 6 categories have similar ones that are changed to address the questions at hand)
Background: Netflix was ready to launch the much-expected 5th season of their award-winning show Orange is the New Black (OITNB). This season's story centered around the Latina rebellion inside Litchfield. We knew Hispanics would especially love this season, so we wanted to reach them by continuing an activation using a social influencer that was tailored to Latin America. Part one happened in 2016 for the season 4 launch. We seamlessly mashed up scenes from the show's three previous seasons with newly staged material featuring Itatí Cantoral – our social influencer for both parts – as Soraya Montenegro (queen of the "Cries in Spanish" meme) in an orange jumpsuit acting as if she was in the show and had been responsible for the most memorable scenes. Both parts aimed to create buzz around OITNB and FOMO among those who haven’t yet seen the show and get them to sign up for Netflix.
Creative Idea: Orange is the New Black is sometimes much like a Mexican Telenovela: both have a dramatic storyline, catfights, and over-the-top villains. What if we turned OINTB into a Mexican Telenovela? What if the most iconic telenovela villain of all time, Soraya Montenegro, would get transferred to Litchfield and terrorize the inmates with her infamous "Maldita Lisiada" performance? “Naranja Es El Nuevo Negro" was born. (Or Orange is the New Black in Spanish, starring Itatí Cantoral.) We knew that Itatí sharing a scene with characters of the show was a strong example of content marketing that used a social influencer to generate immediate buzz that would create major conspiracy theories of how she might be on the 5th season.
Strategy: During part 1 of the activation, news that the famous Itatí Cantoral would be associated with Netflix’s Orange is the New Black was involuntarily leaked to the press one week before the release of the social video. The world went mad! The leak generated press assuring Itatí Cantoral was going to be part of Season 5; fans even created a petition page to get her in the show. The activation targeted the regional Latin America market (Mexico). So we decided to treat our fans with part 2 of the activation that made their dreams come true: Bring Itatí back to Litchfield once again… but this time for real! We invited Itatí Cantoral to film another social video on the set of the show in New York, and not as we had done before with editing tricks!
Execution: We made Itatí audition to become the newest addition to the Litchfield prison as the newest bunk mate to our lovable latina couple: #Flaritza. So the story goes, as the Latinas realize that it is indeed THE Soraya Montenegro who is their new bunkmate, they react in full fan girl fashion and beg Itatí to recreate the famous "Maldita Lisiada" scene. Itatí in turn tries to stay in character, because she (the actress) wants to get hired for Season 5! A very funny back and forth ensues as she teaches them her telenovela acting skills, auditioning to become the newest member of the cast… all ending terribly for her as all they really want her to do is #CryInSpanish! We reached our audience through a video posted on multiple social media platforms (Facebook, YouTube, Twitter). The campaign ran between 22/05/17 - 05/06/2017.
Results: The results of the social video were as expected and the conversation went viral in matter of minutes. We got the entire country of Mexico to talk about Orange is the New Black prior to the new season launch, and it spread to the US Hispanic market, with the video having generated over 26 million organic video views within the first 24 hours of being published. It broke all kinds of records and became the most successful Netflix video worldwide. It holds a total of 45 million+ combined views, over 4 million reactions and 1 million+ organic comments and shares to date. Everyone was talking about it, including the press, with over 300 press notes! Thanks to our social influencer Itatí Cantoral and this clever content marketing campaign, we broke the Internet and got more than 50 million people to talk about our show prior to the new season launch!