How Facebook Uses Data to Create Successful Content
Jordan Kelley, Content Director, BrandStorytelling.tv
Theo Rocha (Director of Creative Shop, LATAM at Facebook) and Diego de Oliveira (LATAM Creative Industry Lead for Creative Shop, Facebook)
When it comes to understanding an audience and working to reach it with great content, nobody does it quite like Facebook. The social network is one of the best at using data to pinpoint the wants and needs of its various users and deliver back great activities and entertainment for them to enjoy. This is exactly how Facebook Creative Shop in Brazil went about innovating a whole new genre of social content for one of its most popular audiences, demonstrating an unprecedented ability to tap a community, understand its entertainment needs, and deliver it back to them successfully.
Brand Storytelling recently hosted Theo Rocha (Director of Creative Shop, LATAM at Facebook) and Diego de Oliveira (LATAM Creative Industry Lead for Creative Shop, Facebook) at the Elevate Summer Session to discuss the process of creating successful, audience-oriented brand-funded content with multiple partners.
The endeavor began with the team at Facebook seeking to explore mobile viewing opportunities, knowing they wanted to create new original content that connected with their millennial audience. Facebook Creative Shop looks at insights and data for opportunities to launch content. Using a combination of individual creativity and data, the team builds a model that they then pitch to brands and agencies to seek involvement and backing.
For this project, the team found opportunity in the form of a Facebook group, LDRV - a popular and powerful Facebook group in Brazil responsible for originating many funny and popular Brazilian memes. Facebook tapped community leaders in the group directly to consult them on the content of the series. In keeping with seeking to create content that would resonate with their target audience, the series would be created in the style of a soap opera, a genre with lots of appeal in Brazil. The result was a modern soap focused on three Brazilian millennials as they tell each other stories, create memes, and compete with one another to create the best content and go viral.
The team at Facebook was then able to involve Endemol, bringing production know-how to the table, and Skol, one of the most popular beer brands in the target demographic, to come into the fold as a featured brand. Its integration into Brazilian youth culture was already there, so the story was orchestrated around Skol’s pre-existing positioning on enjoying life and diversity. The trio came together to hold up different portions of the production, where setting up clear roles, responsibilities, and rules of engagement was paramount. Those roles and responsibilities were clearly assigned so that each entity had charge over a specific area. The creative shop brought together an intricate but effective system to generate their mobile-first long-form content by filtering it through four layers: linear storytelling, non-linear storytelling, on-demand, and the branding. Breaking the project into these layers and assigning roles for each kept all creatives, the brand, and the Facebook team in communication and on task.
Innovation around production of the creative content of the series stemmed from Facebook’s unique positioning in its production. Keying into the data and content generated by their inspirational Facebook group, the show effectively incorporates memes generated in LDRV and featured cameos of group members. To align the viewing experience with their target audience’s viewing habits, the show was shot vertically to reach them where they live – on mobile. The three partners shared a common view of reaching this key audience through action and entertainment. They kept production diverse and sustainable, facts they did not hide as purpose and accountability are highly important to the target audience. All of this was made possible by the data and insights pulled by Facebook Creative Shop.
Using their balanced approach of data and individual creativity, Facebook Creative Shop was able to build a successful piece of millennial branded entertainment from the ground up. In one month of airing, Tour Das Tours reached 63 million people, ultimately garnering 15k mentions, 462k interactions, and 25M views. Viewers and fans participated in events, live watch parties, and purchased branded products like limited edition cans of Skol, all in support of Tour Das Tours. They engaged with each of the four layers of content and made the show a huge success for everyone involved. Facebook Creative Shop demonstrated through the success of Tour Das Tours in Brazil that using data to inform creative for a specific audience creates the potential for that creative to permeate that audience and beyond, satisfying the needs of both the brand and the consumer.
About Jordan Kelley
Jordan Kelley is a versatile creative intent on mapping new media trends and disseminating the most relevant information in the world of branded content. He is a lover of stories and an avid consumer of visual media.
