Colombia has experienced a concerning trend in cultural consumption, with theater attendance declining by 8.5 points between 2010 and 2020. Against this backdrop, the objective of our campaign was to reverse this trend and achieve a 6% growth in attendance compared to 2022.

Context:

Colombian theaters suffer from low attendance, with fewer than 10% of Colombians attending in the last year, leading to numerous closures over the past decade. Conversely, social media, particularly WhatsApp, commands a significant portion of Colombians' attention.

Idea:

Introducing WhatsActs—a groundbreaking initiative transforming Colombian smartphones into theater stages via WhatsApp. This innovative approach allows Colombians to experience theater anywhere, casting them as protagonists alongside four professional actors.

To connect Colombians with theater in an innovative way and challenge the perception of it being a niche or outdated form of entertainment, we decided to leverage WhatsApp, the most popular social network in Colombia, with a usage rate of 92.4%, surpassing that of TikTok and Instagram.

To execute this strategy, we launched announcements through radio, our own social media platforms, as well as those of the actors involved in WhatsActs and other festival-related channels. However, the most effective way to spread our message was through acting itself. By embodying the spirit of theater and engaging directly with our audience, we were able to generate organic interest and excitement about the campaign.

We crafted four theater plays to be delivered via WhatsApp audios, performed by two actors. We enlisted the talents of four professional actors, including Fabio Rubiano, assigning each to portray a character while leaving space for user participation. Additionally, we developed a WhatsApp bot to facilitate interaction between users and actors across the four plays.

Once the immersive experience concluded, the bot compiled the full play into a single audio file, seamlessly incorporating the festival's opening and closing remarks, along with an invitation to purchase tickets. Each user received their personalized poster bearing their name.

Three weeks prior to the festival, we launched a promotional campaign inviting people to the event. Two weeks before, we selected the standout plays and incorporated them into our radio and digital advertising efforts.

The festival saw significant growth across various metrics:

- Website visits increased by 22,029, with 60% attributed to SEO on Google.

- Instagram recorded 8,113 visits, reaching 57,470 individuals and generating 11,899 interactions with the content.

- Paying ticket sales surged by 67.4%, resulting in an additional 15,017 tickets compared to 2022. This brought the total attendance to 22,425 individuals.