In a world where branded content has grown stale and product integration remains uninspiring, Lincoln was on the hunt for a new way to connect with the Hispanic consumer base in an unexpected and impactful way. This innovative solution needed to go beyond what the competition was doing in the audio space and communicate Lincoln’s brand messaging, line-up of vehicles, and benefits to this audience in a way that both surprised and delighted.
Additionally, in their goal of better connecting U.S. Hispanic audiences, Lincoln wanted to support more diverse voices and creators by being the brand that pioneered new content specifically for the U.S. Hispanic audiences.
With a first of a kind solution, iHeartMedia Built A breakout Hit – A Bi-Lingual Modern Audio Telenovela Podcast Series With Lincoln At The Center––making sure to accomplish all of their original goals.
First, we start with the container––Princess of South Beach. POSB is a classic telenovela told in a radio-play style, which includes some of the favorited, well-known A-list Latinx talents like Rachel Zegler, Danny Pino, Gina Torres, and more. To date has garnered north of 1.6MM+ total downloads in less than 90 days since launch. The number exceeds iHeart’s big bet of reaching 1MM listeners or downloads for Q4 2021.
But how did we marry the original podcast and Lincoln's brand messaging?
In partnership with Lincoln, iHeartMedia, and our production partner, Sonoro, co-developed a genuinely original idea. We took a historically successful format––the daytime talk show, a relevant and familiar cultural touchpoint for millions of Hispanic audiences––and brought it to life in the audio medium, and pioneered a new level of brand storytelling by surrounding Lincoln with the characters and universe of the original telenovela podcast, The Princess of South Beach. Together, we built brand credibility and consideration with the Hispanic audience.
These original midroll spots were called Tea with Tatianna, a space where characters, storylines, and a unique tone of voice live together, entertaining and informing listeners along the way. Tea with Tatiana introduces the audience to a resident gossip queen who gives episodic breakdowns and seamlessly ties Lincoln into the POSB storyline.
The pre, mid, and post-roll spots offered endless opportunities for Lincoln to be stitched into the fabric of the PSOB world. Strategically, the pre and post-roll focused on the Lincoln brand messaging, while the mid-roll featured both the brand and a product highlight. We focused on integrated and cohesive storytelling within the spots, with multiple moments to seed the brand and product messaging building to an endorsement from “show host."
And to avoid redundancy and listener fatigue, messaging was adapted across the weekly flight. They are so effortlessly woven into the podcast that it left listeners wondering "if they were a part of the episode or a stand-alone asset"?
And all of this was supported at a massive scale, capitalizing on multi-use content avenues to drive a more significant impact for Lincoln.
This supporting media plan included the following:
And the visual podcasting extensions garnered over 78.2MM social impressions.
The original podcast was a hit. Listed as one of Spotify's "best new podcasts of 2021," The Princess of South Beach received more reviews than 95% of all podcasts on apple and has a 4.6 star rating. The podcast was the perfect vehicle to achieve Lincoln's objectives while proving Latinx listeners connect with custom content-driven media.
Additional Results
• Leveraging Spanish-dedicated content proved to tap into a large piece of the Latinx podcast audience (38% of the POSB downloads) in their desired language.
• The Podvela format resonated strongly with the Latinx audience, and Lincoln pioneered this never-before-done show style!
• Social videos have shown to be a great way to recap the progression of the storyline and enlist new listeners.
