After plenty of buzz and anticipation, the last season of the Spanish TV series La Casa de Papel, or Money Heist as it’s known globally, aired last week.
But not many would know that the series was a flop when it aired in Spain as a two-part mini-series in early 2017. Viewership on Antena 3 (a television channel in Spain) dipped majorly for the second part of the series which aired later in the year.
Yet, Netflix picked up the show at the end of 2017, and cut the episodes into shorter ones spanned across two seasons and asked the creators for a third and fourth season.
In this piece, we explain what content creators and media houses can learn.
Table of Contents
Packaging
While Antena 3 didn’t believe in the show, the Netflix version has been a hit. Why?
Because it has been repackaged. Netflix ordered the creators to create parts three and four right after acquiring the rights to it.
And then with the tremendous success came season five which has been rolled out in two different parts.
So, yes, the content has been the reason why Money Heist has been a success, but it’s packaging has contributed significantly too. Understanding the needs of your audience plays a key role in packaging your content.
Languages
While the show was originally shot in Spain, the show has been dubbed in English. And then after the success of the show, the show has been dubbed in many other languages too so that it can attract an even wider audience. No wonder, it has become the most-watched foreign original series ever.
So, you need to monitor where your views are coming from. If you see a spike in views from a particular market, it might make sense to create a language dub to further increase the fan base and build loyalty.
Think local, build global
The show is Spanish and consists of heists mainly in Spain with everything around the series showing Spanish culture. But after the show got global recognition, subsequent seasons showed shots from different parts of the world (Denmark, Philippines, etc.) So, it’s a great mixture of local and global culture to have people from different parts of the world interested and hooked on.
Also, while the show didn’t quite succeed in Spain, the international release is a major success! So, if you truly believe in your content, even if it doesn’t work in your local market, use the power of digital and OTT and go global, and you never know!
Rake in the dollars
While the show has been immensely popular, it’s not only the views that are bringing in the money. The merchandising department has been extremely busy too, creating deals with local vendors in different markets to sell licensed products. And the repeated use of the masks within the storyline (in a non-intrusive way) just helps the popularity rise, which means more sales of the product and more money!
End at a high
This is not just a lesson for content creators or media houses, but it’s a life lesson.
We all know that the fifth season of the series will be the last one. With the popularity The Professor and his crew are enjoying, the creators may have been tempted to keep the series going. But no, and I believe rightly so, the series is coming to an end in December this year, which means the show is ending at a high.
Do you believe you have the right content for the next global series but don’t know how to go about it? Come, speak with our team at Enveu, who will help you not just develop the app, but also provide other tech solutions to make sure you need to only concentrate on the next award-winning bit of content!
Let’s talk!
