Netflix ‘Speak like El Patron’ Entertainment Netflix Italy
The Brief
When Netflix launched one of its most iconic ever series, Narcos, it caused a frenzy around the world. Viewers were immediately hooked by Escobar’s exploits and fascinated by the culture of Colombia. But there was also a more unexpected area that was piquing fans’ interest – the language predominantly used in the series, Spanish.
To launch the second season, we needed to grab our audience’s attention.
OUR INSIGHT
During and after Narcos’ hit first season, social media monitoring showed us that quotes, memes and comments in Spanish had started appearing online, inspired by the show’s plotlines. But the most interesting discovery was that people weren’t just quoting the series – they were actually learning the Spanish language from it.
The IDEA
We saw an opportunity to tap into this behaviour and help Narcos fans take their enthusiasm for Spanish even further. Netflix partnered with leading language app Babbel to create an entire Spanish lesson inspired by the world of Narcos, for both mobile and desktop.
Listening, reading and writing exercises were created, all based on the series. Available in six languages – French, English, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Swedish – people everywhere were all able to start learning Spanish, Patron-style.
RESULTS
Engaging the audience
The Babbel app was downloaded 100,000 times on launch day.
Smashing all KPIs
The campaign reached almost 33 million people around the world.
Earning Media
The campaign earned the equivalent of $1 billion dollars in media coverage.
AS SEEN IN THE MEDIA
The Drum, 5 Sep 2016
Netflix teams up with Babbel to launch Narcos-based Spanish lessons
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The Next Web, 5 Sep 2016
Babbel and Netflix want to teach you to speak Spanish like a Colombian drug kingpin
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GQ, 5 Sep 2016
Netflix e Babbel ti insegnano lo spagnolo con le voci di Narcos
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CNN, 5 Sep 2016
Lanzan herramienta para aprender a hablar español como ‘el Patrón’ Pablo Escobar de ‘Narcos’
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