Integrating digital marketing campaigns with linear efforts is becoming second nature to Latin American TV marketers. The region’s demanding viewer base now expects companion online and social content, say several executives, and their networks are delivering.

The result is often strong ratings for series and events for such Latin American players as The Walt Disney Company Latin America, A+E Networks Latin America, Fox Networks Group Latin America and Telemundo International, among others.

All of Disney’s campaigns in Latin America are digital from the very beginning, says Nora Tela, chief marketing officer, The Walt Disney Company Latin America, “because of the type of audience we are targeting. Our viewers are super connected and we have got to know them and to be constantly updated. [That’s why] we no longer think about the digital part of the campaign versus the material for traditional media.”

Tela says Disney’s current approach is based on offering fans valuable and entertaining new content. That includes behind-the-scenes clips, celebrities-turned-influencers, digital games and videos, bloopers, challenges and tutorials.

When it came to designing the campaign for the series Soy Luna, Disney combined many of these tools. The campaign, first released on social networks, included behind-the-scenes footage as well as pieces that highlighted the bold personality of Luna, the series’ main character, with statements such as “I am free” and “This is who I am.”

The campaign also turned key symbols from the series, such as Luna’s roller skates, into their own mini-social campaigns. Fans could customize their own roller skates, take part in a quiz about the series and mix their own custom videos.

RELATED: ‘Soy Luna’ Shines in Disney Channel Latin America’s Socially-Influenced Campaign

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Another Disney digital initiative that stands out is one especially created for DJ Junior’s viewers, in which kids and their parents were invited to record themselves performing the choreography of their favorite Disney Junior songs. A total of 18,970 videos were submitted, all of which could be watched on Disneylatino and on social networks. Some of the videos could even be seen on the channel.

One of Disney’s latest campaigns to be built with a digital presence at its core was one for the series Elena of Avalor. The series focuses on an empowered 16-year-old princess who, like Luna, reflects the attitude of today’s girls, something “we tried to emphasize in the campaign,” says Tela.

A+E Networks Latin America uses online content to trigger emotions and create context around a show’s theme, says Eduardo Ruiz, president and general manager at the company.

Each of the group’s new launches includes a social-media component, through which “the use of the [network’s] talent becomes extremely important” says Ruiz. The group also uses digital platforms to test short formats before they air on the channel.

An example of this is Na corrida (On the Run), a set of short pieces that History Brazil launched as part of the Brazilian Touring Championship car-racing series. The campaign was so well received by viewers that the network created eight half-hour programs to broadcast what was happening on the track and behind the scenes during the racing.

As a result, in September Na Corrida became the most-viewed original production in the channel’s history.

According to César Coletti, SVP consumer marketing at A+E Networks Latin America, “context” is what adds value in digital campaigns. Once users have a relationship with a network or a brand, pure linear and programming-related content is “not enough for them,” he says. “There is an umbrella concept that relates to users’ expectations towards brand delivery” and to what brands represent.

An example of this is the campaign designed for the premiere of the miniseries Roots — History’s reboot of the ‘70s series.

“Our work was to go deeper into it and present a picture of what Roots really means,” says Coletti.

Different scenarios—including a reflective essay on the existence of slavery from ancient times to the present day—were captured in short videos, animations and images posted across social networks. Also, network personalities chimed in to promote hashtags #NoALaTrata (#SayNoToHumanTrafficking) and #NoEsclavitudModerna (#SayNoToModernSlavery).

In addition, History created an app encouraging users to “Say No To Human Trafficking.”

Another example of this contextual approach is A&E’s campaign for miniseries 60 Days In, a reality series about a group of innocent men and women who volunteer to be incarcerated for 60 days.

To promote the series, viewers in Mexico City were invited to be part of a virtual-reality experience that recreated what it’s like to live in a Latin American jail, including the cries and shouts of fellow prisoners. History reached out to the public to participate in the experience through its social networks.

One of the ways Fox Latin America differentiates itself in the region is via its initiative, Social TV.

Diego Montenegro, digital marketing executive director at Fox Networks Group Latin America, says Social TV is “the integration of digital and television platforms with the social community, all of which interact while the show is broadcast.”

Incorporating community takes advantage of one of the region’s most important values.

In Latin America, “the relationship within communities is deeper and warmer, resulting in greater loyalty,” says Montenegro. He also points to Brazil as a unique case within the region “because of its digital maturity” that has to do with its mass of people and its cultural identity.

When Fox Latin America debuted popular American mini-series American Crime Story: the People vs. OJ Simpson in the region, it had to think carefully about how to engage viewers with a case for which the outcome had long been known.

Through promos on TV and on social networks, Fox Latin America encouraged users to give their verdict during the last episode, “playing with two hashtags: #Culpable (#Guilty) and #Inocente (#Innocent),” says Montenegro.

The network also randomly selected 1000 of the show’s Twitter followers to receive a personalized invitation to attend “court.”

“During the last episode broadcast there was 670 percent growth in the number of followers compared to the previous per-day average and there were 25,000 users talking about it,” says Montenegro. This meant “a breaking point, a sample of absolute loyalty to the brand, since we gave extra value to the interaction with this community by listening to them.”

Another example of using digital engagement to drive linear viewership is when Canal Fox in Argentina took advantage of rival network Telefe taking a break from airing The Simpsons. On that Sunday, Canal Fox took the opportunity to air a 24-hour marathon of the animated series. The network’s marketing team used the campaign #LazySunday to encourage viewers to tune in.

Users were prompted to use the hashtag #DomingoDeFlojera (#LazySunday) and to upload photos showing their lazy Sunday activities. The best pictures were posted on a special section within the Fox Play site and some appeared on TV.

Finally, Telemundo International creates digital experiences for its audience through content, “taking advantage of the flexibility offered by social platforms [as well as] giving our followers the experience of entering the characters’ world,” says Ana Cecilia Cuevas, business digital director at NBC Universal International Television Distribution.

In 2016, the network debuted the first season of The Lord of the Skies, a so-called “super” series which had already been broadcast in other regions where it broke ratings records.

“The challenge was to communicate [about] the premiere based on its success, its characters’ strength and its story,” says Cuevas. To that end, the below promo was shared widely across social networks.

Cuevas says the results were “exceptional” and that engagement increased thanks to marketing assets such as a Facebook Live session with actress Fernanda Castillo, who plays series’ lead character Monica Robles.

Overall, Latin America is quickly narrowing the digital gap with the American market, in a global context in which there is more television production and consumption on all platforms than ever before.

RELATED: Líderes en Marketing para TV integran digital y lineal para atrapar a la audiencia en Latinoamérica

[Translation from Spanish courtesy of Mariangeles Attademo]

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