For the past ten years, Cristina Pedroche's New Years' Eve TV star has fueled anticipation around her attire, filling newspapers, gossip programs, and social media with rumors and assumptions.

We surprised almost 6 million viewers during one of the most-watched events in Spain with a media innovation that mixed fiction and reality to covertly hijack the New Year's Eve live broadcast: We stole a jewel from Cristina Pedroche forehead to then reveal the culprit of the robbery in the first ad block of the year (Berlin from MoneyHeist).

A big guerrilla stunt on live TV that went completely viral.

This stunt aimed to announce the new Money Heist spin-off focusing on the backstory of the famous Netflix thief Berlin. Given his prominence, we knew that a grand gesture was necessary for promotion: a high-profile theft. That's why we decided to hijack one of Spain's most significant cultural events: the New Year’s Eve ‘Count Down’.

Every December 31st, Spaniards tune in to watch the countdown on TV, making it one of the most-watched events in the country. While many channels broadcast the event live from the ‘Puerta del Sol’ clock in Madrid, one hostess consistently steals the spotlight with her tradition of surprising everyone with her outfits. Her name is Cristina Pedroche, and for the past ten years, she has fueled anticipation around her New Year’s Eve attire, filling newspapers, gossip programs, and social media with rumors and assumptions.

We faced a major challenge: to capture the attention of 5.6 million viewers on one of the most advertising-heavy nights of the year. We chose to innovate by mixing fiction and reality: hijacking the live broadcast by stealing the necklace as the camera shifted away from the hosts and making it impossible for viewers to look away as Cristina found out and panicked during Estrella Galicia’s sponsored toast. The transition to a conventional TV spot revealed the heist's mastermind, with Berlin escaping with the hostess's necklace, filmed on the same set as the live event. Merging the sponsored segment during the chimes and the advertisement during the year's first advertising block.

SITUATION

Every December 31st, Spaniards watch the countdown on live TV, making it one of the most-watched events in the country.

BRIEF

Netflix was releasing Berlin, the spin-off about the famous white-collar thief from Money Heist, one of its most popular non-English shows worldwide. We needed to communicate it in a big way coming up with an original and cultural idea to surprise Spaniards with Berlin's come back during Christmas time.

OBJECTIVES

Take advantage of the collaboration between Estrella Galicia and Netflix to make something different, something never done before that would let people, influencers (and the press) talking about it for weeks to help us build awareness about the show Berlin, but also help Estrella Galicia present their limited edition bottle designed for the occasion.

In a mix of fiction and reality, coinciding with the premiere of Berlin, the series about the famous Netflix thief, we made almost 6 million Spaniards believe that the necklace of the most followed TV hostess of the New Year's Eve countdown was stolen live on air. While everybody could not believe what was happening and as social media exploded, a spot in the first ad block of the year revealed who was the mastermind behind the robbery: Berlin, who we could see escaping from the set of the chimes, disguised as a waiter, with the necklace that seconds before had disappeared live from the hostess's forehead hidden on an ice bucket filled with Estrella Galicia beer (sponsor of the series and also sponsor of the New Years Eve event)

INSIGHT

Some thefts are irresistible.

KEY MESSAGE

Netflix's most famous thief steals a jewel from the most followed TV hostess live during the most-watched TV moment of the year.

TARGET AUDIENCE

Mainstream audiences.

Men and Women 18 to 54 years old.

Money Heist fans (as Berlin is a spin-off of the successful Netflix show)

CREATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF ASSETS

In this stunt, we merged:

- Non-paid live TV

- A sponsored live segment -that we took advantage to create the stunt in front of everyone-

- A TV spot -that revealed the plan-

-A phased PR strategy:

December 31 (day)- Cristina first press release to lifestyle media

January 1- Influencer amplification of the Stunt in X (Twitter)

January 1- Cristina second press release

January 1- Estrella Galicia press release explaining the action

January 1 - Tik tok user amplification

To maximize the PR potential of Cristina Pedroche's anticipated New Year's Eve appearance, we devised a multi-phased strategy leveraging her social media presence. The campaign kicked off with teasers about her outfit, sparking media frenzy. Following a staged "theft" of her dress and jewelry, we released detailed press statements to sustain interest. Estrella Galicia then cleverly claimed responsibility, enhancing the narrative. Influencers and content creators on platforms like Twitter and TikTok further amplified our message, focusing on gossip and marketing angles.

Key milestones included pre-event hints, the live TV stunt, and subsequent influencer engagement, culminating in widespread media coverage and social interactions. Notable figures like Itziar Oltra and Ceciarmy played significant roles in extending our reach, resulting in millions of impressions and engagements. This orchestrated effort not only captivated the public but also solidified our campaign's success through strategic planning and influential collaborations.

We managed to combine New Year's Eve sponsored live segment with a TV spot into a cohesive storytelling that merged a non-paid live TV broadcast, a sponsored live segment and a traditional TV spot in one big guerrilla stunt that broke the limits of a until now- traditional media format and its success was reflected in the results:

More than 21 MILLION PEOPLE watched our spot in a week,

with more than 42 MILLION IMPACTS on TV and social media,

and more than 1.7 MILLION third-party interactions.

The positive brand recognition grew up to +56% .

and Berlín became TOP #1 GLOBALLY non-english TV show.