We decided to challenge ourselves when we developed the campaign for betevé by eliminating the use of the words TV and Barcelona – a game that became a big challenge to strictly communicate the city through the new vision of betevé. A commitment fundamentally transmitted without referring to Barcelona as a brand and instead provide a new dimension and vitality, alongside erasing TV as a technology and faithfully embrace the core of transmedia.
“Me and Albert often felt uncomfortable with the conventional vision of the city: how it’s perceived and communicated. We realised that more than a repositioning campaign, we had the possibility to redefine the mood of Barcelona by showing the other side of the coin, the imperfect one. This campaign allowed us to freely work with an open mind without interference.” Rafa Martínez, COO, Brand Strategist & Partner at Folch
The objective with the announcement of the rebranding was to let the audience become familiar with the new approach and involve the citizen with the new betevé. It had to clarify the main insight of the campaign: The naming of the channel —from BTV to betevé— stands for the shift of paradigm in all senses. By blurring the reference to the television and eliminating the capital letters, the new name encloses the concept of transmedia narratives and cultural proximity.
The campaign would also reach the digital generation, who had never been in contact with betevé in the past. The main aim of the La Mirada Imperfecta campaign was to eventually extend to new territories, creating strategic communication through creative content and expanding its reach through a transmedia approach.
From BTV to betevé: in one shot, we got rid of the reference to the old television format and the overbold capital letter, enhancing the new transmedia approach and cultural proximity.
The dynamic slogan “is betevé” establishes a connection between our new and fragmented image of the city and relevant elements of Barcelona: spaces, characters, events, programs and concepts of the new brand. Not only the territory, but everything related to it: Barcelona is not longer a physical space, but a concept. By casting different light of perception on the neighbourhoods, monuments, and city sights, we offer the audience a new notion to discover and a fresh way to interact with their immediate environment. Creating emotional bond with the city to a broader level: betevé is the new reference for all those who share a connection to Barcelona.
“I believe that all the aspects of the new universe created around betevé will make us more inclusive and will allow more people to identify with us.” Sergi Vicente, Director of betevé
By targeting the users of digital platforms, betevé produces high quality formats, designed to be aired on social networks only. To attract target users, people between 18 and 34, betevé now engages an extensive digital campaign and counts on internationally renowned filmmakers. Exploring new audiovisual formats, far from the traditional television products, together with the creation of this new universe of references, positions betevé as a transmedia channel.
The easy way would have been to cherry pick influential people of the city as the face of the reinvented brand, but they would be linked unavoidably to the past. Instead, betevé creates a brand new benchmark, interpreting the digital generation and the present times. A format that allowed us to promote content outside the television screen and instead within a digital social environment. betevé is a pioneer, enhancing talent and outsiders, creating a new image of the city through the people that are making Barcelona lively and inspiring.
Executive producers: Albert Folch, Rafa Martínez, Pol González / Directed by Pol Gonzalez / Cinematography: Julietta Lutti / Sound design: Blai Barba / Production: Maloles Rodríguez / Editing: Paula Giménez / Stills: Leonardo García / MakeUp & Stylist: Pili Víla / Content advisor: Vincenzo Angileri
“We wanted to move away from the typical reportage. We found it more interesting to find different frames, environments and style to realise an influential audiovisual piece featuring Rosalía – not only as an emerging artist, but also as a citizen.” Pol González, Filmmaker at White Horse
Rosalía Vila is a rising star in the music landscape. With her success she embodies a new reference of a free and uncategorised artist among the digital audience. Reinterpreting the rules of the game and breaking the conventions in one of the most recognised genres —flamenco, Rosalía was the natural choice of personality for the campaign. In parallel with the shooting for the betevé newspaper, we directed some audiovisual pieces produced by White Horse –creative production and activation company by Folch.
We had to create new references and talk with the young generation, the highest consumer of contents on digital devices.
The audiovisual pieces was realised during three days around different locations in Barcelona. Finally the whole production added up to one short film of 4 minutes, five short content videos and another ten short takes of 10–20 seconds to accompany the campaign across different platforms and formats. All the pieces was filmed with the camera Red Scarlet W and with Zeies Milvus lenses from Aclam Foto. Rosalías Barcelona takes different turns of locations, from the lively local market Encants, the museum of contemporary art Fundació Can Framis located in Poble Nou, La Canica Cuadrada – the flamenco school of Barcelona where Rosalía first started her education in the genre and finally to the lounge of Sala Apolo. All locations are carefully selected to capture the essence of the character, where she moves and her natural environment in city she calls home.
Besides production, White Horse promotes and provides guidance to the campaigns produced, follows the results, scans and analyses the message and its reach as a part of the activation plan. Communicating and activating the campaign for Rosalía és betevé required an understanding of the transmedia platforms and each channels unique audience. Rosalía as the first character was not a decision made by chance. We knew she had a big audience on the platforms where we wanted to have visibility. She was releasing her first full length album by the beginning of February, we decided to activate the audiovisual piece at the same time. To reach maximum visibility for the piece, everything had to clash. Nothing happens by chance.
The small details hidden in the city are aroused in the form of snapshots that gives strength to betevé as a medium that does not depend on the Barcelona brand to confirm its credibility. The aim with the campaign haven’t only been to build traffic, but rather to gain influence. Communicating on different levels through a wide range of media gave us the possibility to target the audience, niche the content and spot on meet the citizens.
The poster design is systemised with its rigid configuration items, flexible in the composition and the position of the different brand messages which can vary according to the nature of photography and the media. The idea behind the huge scale of production was to simulate an overview, close to an Instagram feed. Posters that could work both individually and as a full series following the same mood.
“Converting betevé into a transmedia channel is not about turning our nose up at traditional media. Every medium has diverse users, features, and circulation: printing a newspaper is a claim of this new understanding of communication.” Vincenzo Angileri, Editorial Director at Folch
Distributed on a street level and free of charge, the newspaper reaches a large number of potential new viewers and projects the portal to a new world of content. The aim of the first issue “Proximitat Cultural” is to give depth to the campaign and provide a new level of reading through the relevant issues. We needed a media that would fill the gap between television and social media, tackling long term topics through insights, visual essays and portraits. The graphic treatment of the publication is a hybrid: rotary printed, but designed from a an editorial view of combining visual double pages with more extensive content.