Government speeches don’t make good TV. They are usually long on words and short on ratings. Although important ideas are presented, nobody tunes in to watch.

The Governor of Puerto Rico wanted to unveil his plan for the advancement of local entrepreneurship. The obvious choice would have been to make it the cornerstone of the next scheduled televised speech on New Year’s Day. But not if he wanted people to listen.

So to communicate his local entrepreneurship plan, the Governor of Puerto Rico decided to transform his traditional New Year’s speech. Instead, he delivered his message using a Hollywood film.

Besides their low ratings, televised government speeches are still very much part of a political administration’s standard protocol. They happen because they’re supposed to happen, and the media covers them because they’re supposed to cover it. The simple fact of breaking with this pattern, of deliberately forgoing a scheduled speech and replacing it with content that was equally relevant to the administration and to the audience, was a refreshing twist to what’s usually associated with the government’s brand. This campaign not only gave unique opportunities to entrepreneurs; it was also an example of actions speaking louder than words.

The Government acquired the rights to Chasing 3,000, a film about Hall-of-Famer Roberto Clemente’s legendary 3,000 hits.

On January 1, the anniversary of Clemente’s death, the Governor used the movie to challenge the country to make a different kind of hit.

We convinced Telemundo to donate a 2-hour primetime slot and air it in place of the speech, without commercials. Instead, the audience saw business pitches of Puerto Rican entrepreneurs. Pitches that viewers could turn into hits.

Over 1 million viewers tuned in to watch the movie between the original airtime and a rerun a week later. The movie was the top-rated program of its time slot.

More than 50,000 voted to select the next hit. Even though a single winner was selected, all four of the participating entrepreneurs received media coverage and reported dramatic increases in their sales, leads, and social media activity.

The country’s LinkedIn page, the government’s communication hub for the entrepreneurial class, acquired over 2,000 new connections after the effort launched.

Overall, the campaign generated over $2 million in earned media.