Branded Entertainment in Mexico continues to progressively develop because televisions networks welcome new forms of advertising that go beyond the 60-second spots. Although Mexicans still consume more television and radio than any other medium, Internet consumption leads for young adults. Aside from young consumers been technological savvy, and socially active, they are tuning out brand messages en masse. So big advertising like Coca-Cola, world renowned for being storyteller marketers, have been turning to innovative content that’s social at the heart to better engage and change consumer behaviour in the youth market.With summer approaching when water consumption is at the highest and to effectively target young adults, the Ciel bottle water campaign, The Castaway Diary, began on social sites. It then took form on television and broadly spread across owned, earned and paid platforms.

Ciel made recycling fun and sexy with a content campaign consisting of dramatic tv capsules instead of spots that told the story of the Castaway diary. The sexy Mexican film star, Ana Claudia Talacon is stranded on a deserted island with Teo, a regular guy, bottles of Ciel and a bottle-recycling dumpster. Teo only wants to stay on the island as long as possible with the beauty but she wants nothing more than take the bottles and send SOS messages for rescue. The conflict ensues as he tries to convince her that the bottles cannot be thrown away and should be recycled.

First a leaked rumor that the star disappeared, then a television news broadcast her disappearance, and finally an TV investigation on TV sets out to find her. All this content across owned, earned and paid TV made this one of the most successful campaing in Mexico ever seen.

As a result of this extremely successful campaign, sales of Ciel grew 21% and its favourite brand status increased 9% versus the competition during the time frame. This confirmed that more people were choosing Ciel, and therefore becoming actively involved in helping extend the life of the planet. The video blog of Ciel’s Castaways’ adventures became an instant success, creating a community of active participants who extended the story line with their comments on what the castaways should do next. Mexico’s youth clamoured to see what would happen next, continuously entertained by the antics of Ciel’s beauty and her island companion. More than 337,000 young adults actively logged in and participated in the storyline, posting comments and asking what the castaways would do next.

The entire story was picked up by several TV shows and media outlets, declaring that they were an incredible number of loyal fans from The Castaway Diary, wanting to help Teo stay with Ana Claudia. In essence, this adventure confirmed the power of connecting with consumers through branded entertainment and powerful, simple stories.