Why is this work relevant for Brand Experience & Activation?

We engaged Money Heist fans across India at various touch points - through offline activations where we distributed special Dali-designed masks across key locations in cities as well as through our social campaign - #IndiaBoleCiao, where we asked people to submit entries of them dancing to Bella Ciao to win the mask and other merchandise. People were able to flaunt their fandom on their noses and stay safe at the same time, enhancing their love for the show and increasing their excitement for the finale volume of Money Heist.

Background

Situation: India was badly hit by the pandemic’s second wave, just when the rest of the world was getting back on track. Even after its grave impact, people still didn't follow basic basic health protocols, pushing us towards a more dire situation. They needed to be reminded that the fight against the virus isn't over yet. Brief: Pop culture has always influenced India, and with Money Heist being one of the most beloved shows in India, Netflix wanted to keep the show's spirit of resistance alive by encouraging people to mask up against the virus. Objectives: We originally planned to reach out to all the Money Heist fans and non-fans across the country and get them excited about the upcoming finale through a 360 degree campaign. With the second wave, we reimagined our campaign to not only drive fans to the show but also empower them to resist the pandemic.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

While the world was slowly getting back on its feet after the devastating first wave of COVID-19, India was facing a second deadlier wave. People had grown complacent and had stopped following the recommended health protocols. As a result, the number of cases shot up drastically and the healthcare system in the country crumbled under pressure. Several lives were lost. Seeing this, Netflix decided to harness the power of pop-culture, and the popularity of Money Heist to get people to start wearing masks properly. The Dali mask in the show is synonymous with the spirit of resistance, so Netflix collaborated with the BMC to remind people that the fight against Covid isn't over yet, by distributing Dali-designed masks across Mumbai. The rest of the country too wanted to fight the good fight through the #IndiaBoleCiao campaign, resulting in a total of 180,000 masks worn and several lives preemptively saved.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

Target Audience: We created a funnel keeping the core fans at the center and influencing a bunch of non-fans and fence-sitters through the spirit of the core fans. Approach: We started communication and closed on permissions with the Mumbai Police and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation to make sure we can cover all possibilities of our planned offline activation of distributing masks at key points across the city. Following all the safety mandates we reached out to different locations like offices, vaccination centres, hospitals, traffic signals, and police stations to enhance the reach of the masks to a larger extent, for the message to be spread loud and clear.

Describe the execution (30% of vote)

Implementation We worked closely with Mumbai Police and BMC to drive the offline activation of distributing masks at different key locations in Mumbai such as traffic signals, vaccination centres, offices etc. We also distributed masks across India through similar activations, covering them through videos shared across social, and through encouraging people to participate in the #IndiaBoleCiao campaign to win masks along with other merchandise. Timeline The campaign started in September 2021, with the launch of the Volume 1 of the Season 5 for Money Heist. We closed it in December 2021, in line with the launch of the Finale Volume. Placement Starting as an offline activation across Mumbai and other cities, the campaign gradually moved to social with communications on Instagram, Youtube, Facebook, and Twitter for wider reach. Scale We successfully distributed about 180,000 masks across the country and earned more than 3.5M impressions on social.

List the results (30% of vote)

Business impact: We garnered more than 3.5 million impressions in social traffic, brand visibility across the country, rise in reach and engagement throughout the campaign. Response rate
: We observed close to 5-10% increase in the engagement, reach and positive sentiment for this campaign. Impressions
: More than 3.5 million impressions on social. Change in behaviour
: We observed a lot of positive sentiment from fans of Money Heist, which also indicated the rise in newer fans and followers of Money Heist especially for the final volume of season 5. Consumer awareness: The consumer base of Money Heist were not just engaging but also celebrating the campaign assets around the season finale of one of the most celebrated shows from Netflix.

Please tell us how the brand purpose inspired the work

Over the past couple of seasons, the Dali Mask from the show had become synonymous with the Money Heist gang and their spirit of resistance. Just as they never gave up the fight, we too wanted to inspire fans across the country to mask on and stay strong, and remind them that the fight with COVID-19 isn’t over yet. In this way, we decided to leverage the popularity of the show and influence people’s mask-wearing habits with the power of pop culture.