In Puerto Rico, the main media outlets are still rooted in traditional advertising methods. Brand messages are mostly limited to commercial breaks between programming segments and formatted around standardized time slots.

Local programming executives are used to this system and have not yet developed a model flexible enough to accommodate engaging original content that integrates naturally into their programs, especially when the content deviates from the traditional 30-second spot.

To make matters more complicated, the largest local stations are owned by US Hispanic networks, so programming is often retransmitted from other markets. This makes locally produced network content increasingly scarce.

Therefore, brand ideas that require unconventional but seamless integration into existing formats often suffer or get killed due to local media outlet’s old habits and restrictions.

And even those brands that bypass integrations and decide to create original content from scratch still face restrictions if they wish to air it through mass media. It is often very expensive, requiring the purchase of entire commercial breaks.

As budgets for creating relevant, original content are scarce, brands often have to find clever ways to adopt or modify existing platforms to deliver their message in refreshing and unexpected ways.

In an unprecedented partnership, the Puerto Rico Tourism Company teamed up with TripAdvisor, the world’s most trusted and visited travel site, to create a new kind of content that combined truthful traveler stories with beautiful production.

We transformed real 5-star traveler reviews about Puerto Rico into the scripts of stunning short films that portrayed exactly what the traveler wrote.

The resulting movies were then placed back on TripAdvisor as part of the original posts that inspired them, giving the site a new user experience. Now, more than just being able to read a review, visitors can now truly see and experience the story behind its words in the medium of film.

The reviews became as beautiful as TV ads but this time they were based on real facts and traveler trust, not marketing hype. They proved it was possible to combine great production with social content, turning tourists into screenwriters.

The films were such a hit, that in 2013 Puerto Rico was among Mashable’s Top 10 Most Searched Travel Destinations.

Since their release in November, the films have been viewed more than 3 million times.

From the moment the campaign was launched, Puerto Rico has been featured by numerous travel and non-travel publications in many 'top 10' lists.

In the end, Puerto Rico combined the powers of both social media and cinematic production, turning everyday travelers into screenwriters.

Most of all, it proved that it’s not what you say about yourself that matters. It’s about what others say about you.