Direct > Culture & Context

THE CRUISE HEIST

404, Sao Paulo / NETFLIX / 2024

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Overview

Credits

Overview

Why is this work relevant for Direct?

The Cruise Heist was all about hacking pop culture, using audience insights to drive Brazilians to watch the show. We created an unprecedented prank that provoked an immediate response (98% positive sentiment) and catapulted Berlin to the top on Netflix Brazil. This created a peak in Google searches for the show, surpassing Brazil's top open TV soap opera.

Please provide any cultural context that would help the Jury understand any cultural, national or regional nuances applicable to this work.

Often, the most desired jewels aren't found in museums, stores, or safes, but are worn by MCs. In this piece, we capitalized on Brazil's biggest event of the year: Neymar's Cruise.

This event invited all the prominent MCs (artists adept at attracting press coverage and public attention) and of course, all their jewelry would be together - Just as it occurs in Berlin's plan in season 01.

Background

Netflix was launching "Berlin S01" in Brazil during the busiest media context - between Christmas and New Year's Eve. When attention is divided into parties, fireworks, travels and more. We needed to capture year-end attention to encourage people to watch the show.

Describe the creative idea

We teamed up with famous MCs for a prank at Neymar's Cruise event. The MCs 'lost' their jewelry, sparking fan theories about a heist, which trended online. Later, the 'stolen' jewelry appeared in Berlin's key arts (Outdoor, Social, Online Displays), provoking immediate reactions from fans and breaking the internet.

Describe the strategy

Aiming to drive high awareness and engagement, we needed to burst the "La Casa de Papel" fan bubble and broaden our reach to Brazilian mainstream audiences.

To do so, we associated Berlin's mastermind thief with authentic elements of local culture, by sneaking into the cultural agenda and becoming relevant.

In Brazil, where jewelry intertwines with hip-hop culture, the most treasured pieces dominate social media, media outlets and even TV, accumulating over 7 billion TikTok views.

At the same time, these not-so-hidden-gems would be together in one place: Neymar's cruise.

Apex of celebrity gatherings, the three-day party in the high sea is hosted by the football icon, who alone has 220 million followers on Instagram.

The perfect stage for a fake heist, we thought - don't you?

Describe the execution

A national prank featuring beloved MCs, designed to announce the launch of "Berlin" in Brazil.

We teamed up with local relevant MCs to stage a nationwide heist, faking the theft of their jewels.

Everything began in late December. Rumors about the disappearance of the artists' jewels were sparked through their social media posts.

The heist took place during a night when Brazil's most valuable jewelry would be gathered in one place: Neymar's Cruise. A high-profile media event featuring the football icon and his friends, providing the perfect setting for our mystery.

Then, as news spread quickly and engagement peaked (trending topics, baby!) on social media and media outlets, it was time to unveil the truth. The 'stolen' jewelry appeared in Berlin's key arts, replacing traditional ads from the show with new ones featuring Berlin adorning the missing jewelry.

List the results

1.8 Billion organic impressions

4x benchmark for organic impressions.

2.3MM interactions (98% positive sentiment)

6x benchmark for social networks

$2.4MM in earned media.

Trending Topic on X

8MM new followers for the MCS

#1 Trending on Netflix Brazil (Berlin launched right at the top on Netflix)

Please tell us about the humour insight that inspired the work.

As Berlin often says, "A good plan should always include a dash of fun."

We discovered that the most famous jewels of Brazil would be on a highly-discussed cruise (Neymar's Cruise), which, coincidentally or not, was happening on the same day as the series release. The perfect stage for a fake heist, we thought - don't you?

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