There’s a fine line between good and evil, and crossing that line corrupts. Even though the characters of Shades of Blue know that, they choose to do it anyway.

The Universal Television-produced American series debuts across Latin America on Thursday, April 7 at 9 p.m. on Universal Channel and at 10 p.m. on Universal Channel Brazil. The pan-LATAM channel, owned by Universal Networks International, targets adults aged 18 to 49, with more than 56 million subscribers in Latin America and nearly 17 million of those in Brazil alone.

When launching an American series in the Latin American market, Karen Barroeta, senior vice president of programming on-air, NBCUniversal International Networks LATAM, says “while there is a challenge, we believe the strength of our brand and of our channel lies in the relevance of our characters, which, in one way or another, exist in all the Latin American countries.”

Starting from the channel’s tagline “100% characters,” “our campaigns are always aligned with this concept,” she says, adding that, “the struggle between good and evil exists in all societies. That’s the key to our efforts.”

The pre-launch campaign focused on how the series’ protagonists, played by Jennifer Lopez and Ray Liotta, constantly face this dichotomy of opportunities and choice.

“We raised questions about [the main characters’] actions, leaving it up to the audience to define its position” and to become an accomplice “to their difficult moral decisions,” continues Barroeta.

Distinguishing between right and wrong might feel to the viewer like too much responsibility, but the campaign provides an assist: it’s all in the eye of the beholder. The characters “are constantly caught between a rock and a hard place,” says Barroeta “and you can only judge them after knowing the background of their stories and the reality in which they live.”

To create this “eye of the beholder” effect, promotions were developed in three stages.

The first, called Expectativa (Expectation), focused on defining that aforementioned fine line between good and evil. The marketing team created an intriguing and dramatic tone by developing graphic pieces of gradient colors, symbolizing “the nuances that make up the characters’ personalities,” says Barroeta.

To demonstrate the characters’ ambiguities, the team used a line that split the screen into two parts (see spot above). And that line “is not solid, but rather changing and can suddenly disappear,” says Barroeta.

The second stage, called Historia-Personajes (Story-Characters), focused on the presentation of the plot and the position in which each main character finds themselves in versus their family members.

Jennifer Lopez is the star of this stage, with her presence “one of the [series’] most relevant selling points, given the popularity and reach of this renowned singer and actress in Latin America.”

This stage also included short pieces featuring Lopez and Liotta uttering phrases that again express the ambivalence of being good or bad “depending on how you look at it,” continues Barroeta.

The final stage of the campaign, Culminante (Culmination), referred to themes that will shake the audience: corruption, murder, regret, danger, greed and love.

The three phases comprised a total of 13 promos aimed to “bring up the conflict the protagonists are trapped in as a result of overstepping certain boundaries,” says Barroeta.

Since January 11, the promos have aired on all of Universal Channel’s networks across Latin America, from Mexico to Argentina, as well as on digital and social platforms and on the channels in Universal Channel’s portfolio: Telemundo Internacional, E!, Syfy and Universal Studio. In the case of Brazil, which presents part of the campaign independently, the promotion also airs on Globosat’s channels.

“We tend to share promos, but sometimes there are cultural differences,” says Ana Cristina Paixão, head of promotions on-air, NBCUniversal International Networks Brazil. “Our approach tends to be a little softer than in other Latin American countries because our audience likes more conversational promos.”

The plot of Shades of Blue revolves around the topic of corrupt cops, which “was something that could create controversy among Brazilian viewers,” says Paixão. That’s why in Brazil a separate concept was developed showing that “the time for corrupt policemen is over.”

Through a collaborative work between the creative team at NBCU and the branding area of Globosat, the in-house agency, three teasers were developed focusing on betrayals of a single policeman who, despite not being López or Liotta, “I firmly believe helped to convey the concept of the new program for the Brazilian public,” adds Paixão.

In the pieces, items such as handcuffs and batons are used to expose a police officer who is “in the shadow of the law,” an idea which turns into an explicit phrase in the final logo.

All the pieces include the moody theme song Catch Me by Rupert Pope, which is in line with the music NBC used in other promos.

“With these pieces we wanted to create a simple concept of what is good and bad,” says Leandro Rial, Globosat creative coordinator. “After researching, I realized that using black and white was perfect, they are the simplest colors to express this idea,” he continues. “They are the ends of the shade, so I tried to demonstrate this transition of the main character, without revealing too much about the series.”

It’s a transition that splits the screen into two clear sides, between which the police officer must walk: purity and darkness; loyalty and corruption.

To read this story in Spanish, click here.

In-House Credits:

Universal Channel LATAM:

Creative Management: Veronica Pizzorno

Creation and Editing: Damian Furst

Production Coordination: Carolina Wilhelm

Production Management: Wada Licht

Art Design: Alan Traverso and Leonardo Soler

Editing: Marcelo Gómez

Sound Design: Andrés El Jaber

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