Grupo Globo knows today’s media companies are under extreme pressure to create digital media content that not only resonates with audiences, but is also transparent and open during times of cultural upheaval.
The Brazilian media company, known around the country primarily for its soap operas and reality shows like Big Brother Brazil, believes it has a responsibility to join social, political, and cultural conversations through its digital and linear content.
Globo’s Vanessa Oliveira, Director of VIU Hub at Globo, chatted with us in a recent webinar about how the company approaches evolution in the media landscape, how it orchestrates successful brand and sponsor campaigns, and how it uses digital video for social change.
These were three of the main takeaways:
1. Embrace change and be okay with making mistakes.
Society as a whole is still learning how to be online, so assuming you can get a solid grasp on the digital landscape is dangerous. As such, lowering your barriers and expectations can help you be more open and transparent even when you make uncomfortable mistakes.
For example, one of Globo’s news segments recently had to handle a problematic oversight when its journalists invited six white men to speak as experts in a segment about racism after George Floyd’s murder in the U.S. As expected, viewers complained on social media.
“The next day, the [news team] talked about the message they’d received live on air and agreed with the viewers that it was a mistake,” Oliveira said, noting that the news program invited six new experts, all of them black. “We are admitting this publicly; we are listening to the audience and we are talking to each other and we are learning.”
2. Find sponsors and brand partners willing to engage in conversations with their audiences.
If a brand is open to new things, you can blaze new paths together. This is because media is no longer a one-way street (like broadcast TV); social video is now a way to get instant feedback, as the audience has become the media.
Globo experienced this first-hand with insurance company Caixa Seguradora, who helped sponsor Globo’s De Bens com a Vida financial advice show. The multi-platform marketing campaign saw a 98% positive response rate because the brand trusted Globo’s vision despite having never officially worked together before.
“We created the brand to give people information and then use this audience base already interested in the subject to do marketing w/ Caixa’s insurance products,” explained Oliveira.
3. Use digital video efforts to empower social change.
There’s a communication revolution happening across digital, where everyone needs to learn how to listen as well as speak. Video provides a massive opportunity and responsibility for enabling this movement and telling these stories.
A good example of this is how Globo started an anti-sexism social campaign because a woman won its Looking for a Caster show seeking an announcer for Counter-Strike esports. Unfortunately, Globo received hate messages saying “she won just because she’s a woman.”
In addition to brands coming on board and influencers talking about sexsim, Globo even created the brand “Because She’s a Woman” with a Twitter account and Instagram profile. “This case can show us how we can use television and digital platforms to open discussions,” Oliveira said.
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