Walking the Walk: Agency as Content Providers.

When Freydell + Torres Diversity decided to explore the stormy seas of online content development, our guiding principle was ‘if we cannot succeed in a project of our very own, how could we expect a client to hire and pay us to do it for them’?

We had invested time and treasury (in advertising speak: man hours and money) in developing a project that would allow us to channel our creativity, bring in some revenue and have an impact. And, in the process, develop audiences and establish partnerships that could serve as added value for existing and potential clients.

Research, insights, intuition aka plain gut feelings convinced us that a) The web thrives on novelty; b) Video is cool; c) Interactive is the name of the game; d) Love and music are universal. The presence of all of the above can create an explosive mix with serious viral potential.

Serenata4u.com

Unrepentant romantics that we are, we came up with the idea of offering a service for lovers, friends and family to send serenatas-Cielito Lindo, Las Mañanitas, Malagueña, Volver, Volver, El Rey-the songs people have enjoyed for decades, if not centuries, especially when love and longing linger, lubricated by a generous dose of tequila, mojitos and beer.

But we decided to take it one step further, by allowing our users to personalize the experience. So we worked on developing a technology that did precisely that: Allow the sender to customize his or her serenata with user-uploaded photos and a private message.

It would be a greeting card of sorts, taking the songs everyone in the Latin world knows to a completely new level, where a top quality execution with high production values would get the extra punch of surprise. In collaboration with leading developers we created the technology and produced 10 serenatas. Such was the genesis of www.serenata4u.com

In essence, it is a highly interactive platform that combines novelty, while leveraging love and music, all essential ingredients of viral video content.

Looking for a relevant launch date: Valentine’s Day 2010

We wanted an impactful launch (who doesn’t) but had no idea how quickly it would pick up, how widely across geographies it would spread or how much press coverage we would receive by the Spanish-speaking media.

A PR Newswire release in a matter of hours led to interviews in the wire services, which in turn interested major newspapers and radio stations, TV stations, blog discussions all over the Spanish-speaking world. In those initial weeks, when we juggled to fit into our schedules radio or newspaper interviews in various nations in different time zones, we came to understand, first hand, and as clearly as possible, the smallness of the world due to today’s technology.

To our surprise, our project caught the interest of former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe who very graciously gave us a presidential mention.

Six months loaded with lessons

Overall, www.serenata4u.com has been a very rewarding experience, both personally and professionally: with over 20,000 serenates sent, a growing facebook fan pages at around 1,200, and ongoing activity.

As we mentioned earlier, it has shown us that opportunities lie beyond the US border. As a people, united by common language and traditions, we are bigger than our differences and, depending on product or service, customers can be found anywhere. And everywhere.

Other lessons we’d like to point out here:

– A Content Management System is a must. It should be easily accessible and updated on a daily basis. Both for Search Engine Optimization (as bots prefer to crawl those sites where they notice ongoing activity to the detriment of static sites) and to allow you to make small changes without needing a web programmer. By having control at your fingertips, you will not depend on a supplier who may be too busy to solve your problem slower than you’d like.

– Many Latinos are still skeptical about Internet credit card usage. Scores of transactions have been cut short because buyer either lacked a credit card or simply did not feel confident enough to give out their number. (Paypal is just one of many options.)

– Navigation must be clear, clear and clearer. Even when you think it’s child’s play, many people can still get confused.

– Advertising is key. And advertising in social media is a high-efficiency, low-cost proposition.

Serenata4u.com: and beyond

As we develop, nurture and understand a customer base we are hard at work figuring out what other products/partnerships can be developed to meet their current needs and those down the line.

In our offering tray we have, a bilingual news blog covering a range of topics, www.elmolinoonline.com; expansion of the Serenata4u musical selection to other genres, and we are also continuing to explore web-based production.

And, putting our money where our mouths are, we tell potential clients, ‘Since we’ve done it for ourselves, think about what we can do for you’.

Stay tuned!

By Carlos F. Torres and Humberto Freydell