No matter where you are from or what language you speak, fans want to learn/speak the language of Narcos.

Combining the universal language of humor with the raunchy dialect of the show we created “Narcos’ Spanish Lessons”. The characters from the show became the tutors in branded content videos. Each character gave a lesson teaching words in Spanish you don’t exactly learn in grammar school. Pardon our “French” while we demonstrate:

Coma mierda (ko-ma-mee-err-dah): eat shit.

Hijo de puta (ee-ho-day-poo-tah): son of a bitch.

Malditos malparidos (mal-dee-tohs mal-pah-ree-dohs): damn bastards.

The first lessons were shared organically on Narcos’ social channels within conversations about the show, or during contextually relevant times. For example, on a Friday afternoon we posted “what to say when your friend bails on your weekend plans”: ‘Malparido’ (‘bastard’).

After releasing a few videos, we asked fans to request some of their favorite lines... and Narcos obliged. A total of nine Spanish lessons were shared over a period of two months.

The content blew up. Completely organic, it generated 30% of engagement across all content posted for Narcos Season 2, even outpacing the paid promotional content. Reflecting on our original goals:

+ Generate excitement and discussion: Over 1.2 million total engagements.

+ Raise awareness of Season 2: Completely organic, the campaign reached 52 million people and generated over 13.3 million views.

+ Grow followers of Narcos social platforms: Narcos saw a follower increase of over 50%, which can be largely attributed to this content series. For example, the day of and day after posting just one lesson, the Facebook page saw an increase of 15,000 likes.

+ Sales: In Q3 of 2016, Netflix added approximately 3.57 million subscribers worldwide, 55% over their target. Narcos Season 2 was named by the CEO as one of the biggest factors of the company’s success in his shareholder address.