In 2023, RECORD, the 2nd biggest TV broadcaster in Brazil, debuted the 15th season of the reality TV show A Fazenda (The Farm), with a novelty: an exclusive partnership with Kwai, a global social network of short videos. Beyond just exposing the brand, the app became the official network for short videos about the show, with plenty of exclusive content during the season.
The partnership contributed to renovate and expand exponentially the audience of both the TV show and Kwai. In an innovative way, the project connected users of the social network with fans of the show, which has turned in millions of viewers for years.
The exclusive content on the app started even before the show premiered. On the day that the contestants were revealed to the public, we did a live transmission on Kwai with journalists commenting on each of them and their expectations. At the end, another contestant was revealed exclusively on the platform.
Also before the official premiere, ten contestants were confined in an area called Paiol, a loft adjacent to the actual area where the show takes place. In there, previous contestants of the show and influencers from Kwai competed for the final four spots. The choice was made by a public voting on the official website. While the contestants were there, they were broadcasted 24/7.
The main novelty was a special customized space by Kwai inside the mansion that the contestants stayed in, where they had the chance to share with the audience their opinions about the game and each other. Those moments turned into videos that would be then published on the official account of the show, also exclusively on the app.
In addition, every Wednesday, the audience had a chance to chat with the “Fazendeiro” of the week (the person in charge of the mansion during that time) on Kwai. Right after the show ended on TV, a live transmission would start on the app, where the Fazendeiro answered questions from the public, creating a space that made the audience feel closer to the contestants.
The audience also had a say on some aspects of the game during the show that were tied directly to Kwai. Every week, the public could go to the app to vote for one of two options that would change one of the rules of the game, meaning it provided the power to influence the outcome of the show.
The app and its exclusive content were also constantly featured on TV, through advertisements and sponsorship of challenges, parties and other events that the contestants took place in.
The partnership proved to be a success for both the app and the TV show. The official account of the reality show on Kwai, created shortly before its premiere, has over 1.6 million followers. In just over three months, more than 2,200 native posts have been made on the profile. And the content has amassed more than 8 million views and more than a million interactions with likes, comments and shares, generating a whopping 76 million times that a user in the app was impacted by content from the show. Adding those numbers to the ones from TV, there were almost half a billion times that someone was impacted by the show.
The data proves that the partnership between RECORD and Kwai was beneficial for everyone involved, and helped to solidify a format of cross-media content that expands the traditional borders of television and shortens the gap between media and audiences.
