NewFront 2013: Univision
Programming
Univision said that Hispanic millennials like to consume “edgy” and “unapologetic” content that resonates with their bicultural experience. To serve this audience, Univision is launching a new website in the fall called Flama, which will feature original one-off videos and web series across a variety of genres, from comedy to documentary. The site will also house editorial content and social features. Web series for Flama are currently in development, but here are the initial concepts:
Salseras: From Univision and VEVO, this scripted series will follow two childhood best friends who become fierce rivals in their college campus salsa dancing competition.
Back Home: A documentary series that takes young Hispanics on a journey back to their ancestral homelands with a small budget and a list of challenges to complete.
UVideos
Univision also announced five new channels on its digital video network, UVideos. These new channels will feature Univision TV programming as well as additional content and how-to information. They are as follows:
La Buena Vida (Lifestyle): Will feature content and information on health and fitness trends and tips to help consumers live a good life.
En La Olla (Cooking): Food-related content covering everything from recipes to restaurants. The channel will feature Despierta America’s Karla Martinez.
Canal Fashion (Beauty and Fashion): This channel will feature Rodner Figueroa from Univision’s Sal y Pimienta, among other things relevant to audiences interested in fashion, style, and beauty.
La Carcajada (Comedy): Raul Gonzalez, co-host of Despierta America, will show up on some of the content on this channel.
Lo Que No Ves (Behind the Scenes): This channel will feature new web-only content hosted by Carlos Calderon, offering a “peek behind the velvet rope” to some of Hispanic America’s top celebrities.
Univision is also enhancing the existing News and Sports channels on UVideos. The News channel will offer new timeline and contextualized commenting features that will allow viewers to follow the chronology of news events as well as participate in the conversation. With UVideos Sports, Univision is launching a “seven-days-a-week sports digital strategy” that includes soccer game highlights, recaps, player analysis, behind-the-scenes content, and live matches. UVideos Sports will also include a new timeline feature, allowing fans to rewind and watch key plays.
Transmedia
Univision also plans to launch multiplatform content experiences, meeting a Hispanic audience that “are at ease jumping between platforms, experiences, and devices.” These transmedia projects include:
LigaMXTra: Exclusive content about the most popular teams in Mexico: Chivas and America. Univision will offer extended Liga MX content across multiple screens/platforms, including TV, radio, online, video, mobile, social, and experiential.
La Boda de sus Suenos (The Wedding of Your Dreams): Designed specifically for Hispanic millennials, Univision will let the audience pick a couple and choose which beloved novella wedding will be re-created for that couple’s big day. The project will feature integrations with Univision’s morning show Despierta America (Wake Up America) and Premios TVyNovelas.
Nuestro Guapo Latino (Our Handsome Latino): A reality competition series in which “everyday guys” are put through weekly challenges, all designed by women, to “show how they embody what US Latinas are looking for in a man.” Twitter-based challenges and in-show voting integrations on Univision TV shows will allow multiple entry points for audiences (and advertisers).
Marketing, Promotions, and Distribution
“Univision is leading the marketplace to the two biggest growth opportunities for advertisers today: Hispanics and digital media,” said Kevin Conroy, President/Digital and Enterprise Development, Univision Communications. “We are focused on super-serving our core audience and reaching new ones through original digital content and formats targeting the next generation of US Hispanics on every platform and connected device.”
On Flama, marketers will be able to integrate with the videos and programming on the site. As the two shows unveiled yesterday are still series concepts at the moment, it gives brands the opportunity to get involved early on in the development process.
