Inspired on a comic book with a very restricted fanbase, The Umbrella Academy is a show about a "dysfunctional family of superheroes" in which each sibling is called by a number and has a specific ability. Our challenge was to introduce this family to the mass audience, generating a big local impact to connect it to the Brazilian culture. Since in Brazil there was already a conversation about the Women's World Cup 2019 — and also the brazilian player Marta, the greatest of all time, was drawing media attention — there was a huge opportunity to join this conversation to leverage the show.

As in The Umbrella Academy each sibling is known by a number and a super ability — just like Marta, the super skillful number 10 of football — we matched these two super stories to create a huge buzz on the news and an original content to reach the mass audience of Brazil.

Everything started with a single post a few months from the World Cup — Marta announced that she would focus on family. Fans and media all over the world started to speculate about a retirement. On the following day, Marta revealed through a film which family she was talking about: the family of The Umbrella Academy. In the film, she interacts with the characters as if she were inside the series.

"Dysfunctional family" was Netflix' recommendation as key message to introduce The Umbrella Academy to the masses. So we tied this message to Marta's mysterious announcement on her social networks a few months from the World Cup: "Now I'll focus on family". With media and fans all over the world speculating about a retirement, Marta and her staff were instructed to avoid any journalist or interview — raising the mystery around her post. On the following day, along with Marta's 1-minute film that revealed which family she was talking about — the family of The Umbrella Academy — we distributed some extra assets to major media outlets for the 2nd wave of news reports. To ensure that nothing could harm Netflix image, the PR team monitored closely all media outcomes and no negative news were tracked.

It all started with a mysterious post on Marta's social networks: "This year, I will focus on family". So media and fans started to speculate:

"A mysterious message from the World's best player" (FOX)

"A shock in the soccer world: Marta announces retirement" (MundoDeportivo - Spain)

"Marta, whether you retire or not, the entire country loves you as family."

(Pelé — Football legend)

On the following day, a 1-minute film on Marta's profiles revealed which family she was talking about: The Family of The Umbrella Academy. "I said I would focus on family, not that I would give up football. #TheUmbrellaAcademy, the number 10 is coming!"

Extra assets on Instagram (stories and feed) and Facebook drove the audience to watch our original content, reaching 4,5M+ organic views in only one day. Plus, 225+ news reports worldwide.

By creating a huge buzz on the news/social and an original content with the legendary player Marta to promote The Umbrella Academy, we introduced an unknown show to the masses.

Fans liked it so much that they started asking for a major role for Marta on next season.

Some results:

- 4,5M+ organic views in only one day.

- 225+ news reports worldwide.

- 733% more searches in Brazil than any other Netflix' release at the same month.

- 99,4% of approval on social.

- Even Gabriel Bá, one of the creators of the series, illustrated Marta as a superhero of The Umbrella Academy.