Application work on International Marketing

International marketing plan

WipeOut in Colombia

Maria Alejandra Moreno Quinche

EICEA
International Marketing
Class #3403
May 18th, 2018
WipeOut

Executive summary

The product is an action-packed family entertainment show that has won the world over with some of the
zaniest crashes, smashes and hilarious mud splashes ever seen on television in summary, is a TV show
created in 2008 that was one of the many successful series that was produced in one of the production
hubs that were established in Buenos Aires, Argentina as a form to record episodes at less costs (the only
exception was the set located in the U.S) and that has received more than 5,000 contestant from all over
the world to test them in the biggest obstacle course ever created.

Through the years, many countries have developed the format for the TV show, however, even if the plot
seems to be the same, there are certain differences among cultures that poke now and then, the Anglo
version of the show, for example, follows the basic group of X number of contestants that go between the
obstacles and follow to the next round; compared to the Soviet format, the show is practically the same,
but Russian audience consider more attractive seeing celebrities go through the course more than
common people; the Spanish version, which carries a sexual charge that is not completely tangible in other
versions; or the Battle of Ukrainian Cities, a tournament designed for teams to represent their province
rather than individually.

We are going to promote the show with the name of ¡Hombre al agua!

The show is directed to a wide range of ages (15 to 64 years) it can be enjoyed by individuals who are
found in Nuclear and Wide family homes and on Non-relative without nucleus homes located in urban
areas who have access to National TV and with a level of education that can vary from Secondary to
University or Technical studies.

Most of them have free time at nights on weekdays, after arriving from school or work, their personalities
influence them greatly, they enjoy watching TV programs as a form of sharing time between its members
or as a regular pastime, ¡Hombre al agua!

Is designed based on humor and challenges to create expectations and connections with the consumers,
making them great fans of the show and with the constant need of following the story episode by episode.
We could determine that the chain and the concept of the show can fit perfectly into what is competitive
and popular on terms of Colombian TV productions, ¡Hombre al agua! has great chances to establish itself
as a profitable TV service that has the opportunity to have great impact on society’s preferences.

Our recognition (Salience) is established on the perceptions that consumers get as a first insight of what
is exactly our product, which is focused on both the experience for contestants and the audience and the
origin of the concept. The reliability and effectiveness (Performance) shows how the product can be
relevant for consumers, we evaluated the presence and achievements that create positive thoughts of the
show, like the fact that it has been a successful concept through diverse cultures and the adaptability it
has to other platforms such as video games. The experiences (Image) is the way we want to be seen by
consumers; our kind of TV show is directed, for example, to satisfy feelings of excitement and amusement.
Relevancy (Judgement) expresses the quality we offer to our consumers and our primal differences with
our competitors; we, as a comparison have international experience and preference, knowing exactly how
to reach many types of consumers, our focus (Feelings) that derive from the judgement are curiosity,
satisfaction, fanatism, adrenaline and frustration. Finally, to strengthen our presence (Resonance) we
keep enduring our brand loyalty and user status by having a special connection to our consumers, making
them an active part of how the show can develop.

¡Hombre al agua! Has a positioning statement that measures the unique value that the show gives to our
consumers in comparison with what our competition does, taking into account the previous analysis, what
we offer is a strong connection and unique entertainment to our consumers, who play a key role in all the
concept we have built for our show, the way we want our consumers to look at our final product can be
given by answering three main questions: who is our target? What unique value ¡Hombre al agua! Provides
to them? And why should they believe in our product?

This is the following Positioning statement: ¡Hombre al agua! Is directed to those individuals who look for
a unique type of entertainment, those who like excitement and are curious enough to experience the
adrenaline and fanatism we offer, which is backed-up by a strong concept, quality and production that’s
has been successful into a vast diversity of markets around the globe, meaning that we have the cultural
and entertainment factor that are preferred by all types of individuals Some of the most important parts
of our production is the place we have located to perform it and of course the unique obstacle courses
that are shown thorough the whole show, the final desired image is then expressed by feelings like fun,
excitement, satisfaction & challenge.

The style and how everything on the course is cautiously placed in the right spots is going to communicate
our efforts to develop the show in the best way possible; the color of the course is dynamic and bright,
communicating something fun and the size and complexity of the obstacles represent the challenge
contestant are about to experience; the mix of these feelings is what we want to achieve and communicate
in a way that results captivating for consumers.

Table of contents
1.0 Introduction....................................................................................................................................... 6
2.0 Historical summary ........................................................................................................................... 7
2.1 Mission and Vision statements ........................................................................................................... 7
2.1.1 Mission ......................................................................................................................................... 7
2.1.2 Vision............................................................................................................................................ 8
2.2 Corporate objectives ........................................................................................................................... 8
3.0 STPD ................................................................................................................................................ 10
3.1 Segmentation .................................................................................................................................... 10
3.1.1 Geographic segmentation .......................................................................................................... 10
3.1.2 Demographic segmentation....................................................................................................... 11
3.1.3 Psychographic segmentation ..................................................................................................... 13
3.1.4 Behavioral segmentation ........................................................................................................... 13
3.2 Targeting ........................................................................................................................................... 15
3.2.1 Customer profile ........................................................................................................................ 15
3.3 Differentiation................................................................................................................................... 17
3.4 Positioning statement ....................................................................................................................... 18
4.0 Internal/External ................................................................................................................................... 19
4.1 External ............................................................................................................................................. 19
4.1.1 Economic environment .............................................................................................................. 19
4.1.2 Social environment .................................................................................................................... 20
4.1.3 Technical environment .............................................................................................................. 22
4.1.4 Industry environment ................................................................................................................ 24
 4.1.5 Political environment ................................................................................................................. 26
4.2 Internal .............................................................................................................................................. 27
4.2.1 Marketing intermediaries........................................................................................................... 27
4.2.2 Publics......................................................................................................................................... 28
4.2.3 Competitive environment .......................................................................................................... 29
5.0 Marketing mix ....................................................................................................................................... 34
5.1 Product strategy ................................................................................................................................ 34
5.1.1 Product description .................................................................................................................... 34
5.1.2 Core customer product/Actual product/Augmented product ................................................... 35
5.1.3 Product attributes ...................................................................................................................... 36
5.1.4 Product classification.................................................................................................................. 37
5.2 Price strategy ..................................................................................................................................... 37
5.2.1 Description of the pricing strategy ............................................................................................. 37
5.3 Place strategy .................................................................................................................................... 38
5.4 Promotion strategy............................................................................................................................ 39
5.4.1 Advertising.................................................................................................................................. 40
5.4.2 Sales promotion ......................................................................................................................... 41
5.4.3 Personal selling ........................................................................................................................... 42
5.4.4 Public relations ........................................................................................................................... 42
5.4.5 Direct and digital marketing ....................................................................................................... 43
5.5 People strategy.................................................................................................................................. 44
5.5.1 The crew ..................................................................................................................................... 44
5.5.2 The contestants .......................................................................................................................... 45
5.5.3 The audience .............................................................................................................................. 46
5.6 Process strategy ................................................................................................................................ 46
5.7 Physical evidence .............................................................................................................................. 48
6.0 Implementation ..................................................................................................................................... 49
6.1 Contingency plans and risk management ......................................................................................... 49
Annex........................................................................................................................................................... 51
Annex 1. Budget ...................................................................................................................................... 51
Annex 2. Creative brief ............................................................................................................................ 53
References ................................................................................................................................................... 55
Figure 1: Population distribution ................................................................................................................ 11
Figure 2: Behavioral segmentation ............................................................................................................. 14
Figure 3: ¡Hombre al agua! Consumer profile ............................................................................................ 16
Figure 4: ¡Hombre al agua! CBBE Pyramid.................................................................................................. 17
Figure 5: Annual effective interest rate/GDP variation .............................................................................. 20
Figure 6: Population distribution ................................................................................................................ 21
Figure 7: EF EPI TENDENCIES (COLOMBIA) ................................................................................................. 22
Figure 8: America GII results ....................................................................................................................... 23
Figure 9: Colombia score by pillars (GCI) .................................................................................................... 24
Figure 10: Competitive Profile Matrix......................................................................................................... 29
Figure 11: CaracolTV BCG Matrix ................................................................................................................ 30
Figure 12: SWOT analysis ............................................................................................................................ 32
Figure 13: AISAS model ............................................................................................................................... 40
Figure 14: SUCCESs model .......................................................................................................................... 41

1.0 Introduction

The overall objective for this project is to define the marketing plan and the strategies needed to promote
and implement a foreign TV show on Colombia, a marketing plan is a useful tool for businesses in the way
that it expresses the specific target customer the product is going to reach to, the way it is going to be
promoted into the market and how that will attract consumers, therefore, this project contains everything
related to the environment situation, the competence that exists within the industry and the way we are
going to deliver the final production to the target segment with the purpose of establishing a strong fan
base on the Colombian market and the correct adaptation of the show between the current
telecommunication entertainment industry
2.0 Historical summary

The Endemol production powerhouse is the result of the merge of Endemol, Shine Group and Core Media,
is a producer and distributor of content that ‘enthralls and inspire’ is conformed by over 120 companies
across several major world markets; the group works under a unique local and global axis and it has
produced some of the most popular entertainment brands in the market, and by 2017 they had more than
800 productions, over 78 territories, airing more than 250 channels. (EndemolShineGroup, n.d)

2.1 Mission and Vision statements

Two fundamental questions a business must do is where does it plan to go and what does it plan to
become, these questions can be answered by the mission and vision statements, these can be useful for
countless reasons, it helps determine the direction of the company, what it wants to achieve, which are
its goals and practically determines the whole culture which the organization is going to follow to
accomplish them, in that matter we have evaluated the current Mission and Vision of the Endemol Shine
Group and the designed version of both statements made by us for the TV show, in order to express what
we want our product to be inside the market and how we want to reach it.

2.1.1 Mission

Endemol’s aim is to be the best global production powerhouse creating world-class content across all
platforms (EndemolShineGroup, n.d) a very concrete statement for a group of that proportion, based on
that and the market we are trying to serve, we designed a market-oriented mission for the show ‘WipeOut’
which is as it follows:

Our mission is to provide a new form of entertainment that is based on the combination of several types
of existing tastes of the Colombian population in terms of reality and amusing TV shows through one of
the most known platforms that offer telecommunication services across the country, delivering a
production that we strongly believe that will improve the way Colombian society enjoys television.
2.1.2 Vision

Endemol aspires to be THE home of creative innovation and excellence, the "go to" house for "must have"
content that enthralls and inspires (as stated before on the company review) audiences and customers
alike. (EndemolShineGroup, n.d) this vision specifies who the company is aiming to serve and the
recognition it wants to obtain from customers, that are loyal and preferred over other media services in
the market; as our base target is found on the Colombian market, we have defined a long-term vision that
expresses what we want the show to become in the future on Colombia media industry:

Our vision is to become one of the best rated TV shows displayed in the Colombian market and to have a
long-term relationship with its entertainment industry, to produce the show during time in the forms of
sequels that can be adapted to the changing environment and forecasting the future preferences of our
target audience, creating expectation and experiences within the community and therefore, become one
of the most requested shows every year.

2.2 Corporate objectives

Like the Mission and Vision are the statements that help a company to determine where to go, objectives
are necessary to determine how to accomplish those goals give responsibilities between the work force.
Our objectives focus on first causes, as said by Hoyt (2010) “what if we explored reality shows not simply
in terms of what we saw on our own TV set, but compared that to what viewers in other countries saw on
their screens, and examined what moves them?”

The Endemol group is focused to pursue the excellence through talented people that collaborate with
each other, pushing the boundaries of how they develop their content and brands, creating environments
to inspire their teams, following the pillars of belief, respect and trust; ruled by principles and values that
communicate and determine the image which it wants to be seen by others and they are divided into 5
identifiers: (EndemolShineGroup, n.d)

- We have creativity at our hearts

- Our differences make us who we are
- We are brave
- We have fun
 - We treat others as we expect to be treated

What we want to achieve is the successful presentation of TV shows that offer value through “a series of
repeatable elements that were integral to a show’s success in one territory and that can be exported and
developed into another territory” (Hoyt, 2010), media that has the possibility to create emotions and new
experiences and at the same time grow the business into a much more range of markets but also,
respecting the license and format obligation which TV shows are strongly engaged to.
3.0 STPD

Not all products or services are aimed at the same type of consumers, mainly because each individual
values them in different terms, such as price, design or utility, this is the reason why companies apply the
STPD framework in a market, to determine the most accurate group of individuals that share common
interests, so they can reach it in the best way, and ensure the positioning of their products, since the
moment of segmentation, companies direct all of their promotion strategies to offer their specific
segments a differentiated product, because of this we also have decided to segment our market and
determine a customer profile of potential viewers for our show so we can implement effective strategies
to promote the product within the country.

3.1 Segmentation

The first step to reach consumers is segmentation, which is the process used to divide large markets into
smaller ones, that share common characteristics, so they can be reached in the most efficient and effective
way by businesses, with services that can match their specific needs and wants, it is the best way a
business can focus its products to certain part of the population to ensure that it will be accepted and
embraced in a better way. For this purpose, the next dimensions are going to be considered:

3.1.1 Geographic segmentation

Colombia is a wide market which is differentiated by its traditions, culture, languages among other
significative characteristics, because our coverage area to emit the TV show is the whole country, we must
segment the country to get a better insight on which areas or regions are more optimal to direct the
promotion strategies to launch the show since, by regions, cultural aspects play an important role on
people preferences.

In this way, the most efficient way to segment the Colombia market would be by regions, at present, there
can be found five principal regions that are divided in Caribbean, Andina, Pacific, Orinoquia and Amazonas,
Figure 1 represents the population distribution by departments that exists in the country.
 Figure 1: Population distribution
Datos Abiertos (2017) & authors work

As seen in Figure 1 most of the overall population is located on the Andina and Caribbean regions, however
we have decided to segment again the same regions into the 32 national departments with the purpose
of having more accurate insights of the market, because even within regions cultural differences tend to
be notorious, in accordance to the information form Datos Abiertos (2017) the department with the most
population is Cundinamarca, that represents an approximate 21% of the total population, in fact, the
country’s capital Bogota D.C alone is a 16% of that percentage, followed by Antioquia, with a 13% and
Valle del Cauca with a 9%; these four locations stand for a 45% of Colombia’s population, not even a
quarter of the total number of departments.

3.1.2 Demographic segmentation

Now that we have narrowed the population by geographical units, the next step is to divide the market
based on individual’s characteristics that the company can find useful when implementing the show, to
what kind of consumers is it directed, what kind of people would like to watch other people getting hit in
the face with a wall full of punching gloves. To answer these questions, we must define the type of society
that is normally seen in Colombia and how it is structured, according to the next standards.

An important criterion to analyze is age, preferences on TV shows or entertainment vary greatly between
ages, different types of content is directed to certain consumers or age ranges, for example, kids do not
watch the same shows as adults, and they are more likely to find it boring; having this clear, the Colombian
distribution by ages is classified in the next way (Central Intelligence Agency, 2017):

- 0-14 years: 24.22% (male 5,917,425/female 5,634,516)

- 15-24 years: 17.25% (male 4,191,033/female 4,038,314)
- 25-54 years: 41.91% (male 9,918,698/female 10,071,419)
- 55-64 years: 9.18% (male 2,059,712/female 2,318,320)
- 65 years and over: 7.44% (male 1,480,966/female 2,068,121)

More than age, education is another important factor to determine priorities and trends in the use of free
time, in Colombia the average years of school life add up to an approximate of 12-13 years, which are
divided in: no education, pre-school, primary and secondary education, university or technical studies and
lastly specializations, doctorates and masters (although not all individuals go through the last 3 and enter
immediately to the labor market)

People also influence on individual’s interests, the first and stronger influence comes from family, because
is the main interaction a human has in its life, from the family nucleus people determine their wants and
needs and develop a certain type of behavior that it has with ‘external’ people, in Colombia, family is a
strong concept and plays a key role on decisions, within the country exists the following familiar typologies
(DNP, 2015)

- Family homes: Nuclear (Married with kids, married with no kids, Single parents) & Wide (Married
with kids and grandparents, Brothers)
- Non-family homes: Unipersonal (Singles) & No relatives without nucleus (Roomies)
3.1.3 Psychographic segmentation

To continue, we now must evaluate differentiated attitudes that determine the type of mindset that
individuals possess and how, based on that information, is carried out the decision process; is the
segmentation based on criteria that looks individuals from shared social perspectives and how they
develop in that environment.

In Colombia, social class defines the socioeconomic conditions in which individuals can be found, there
exists six basic stratifications in the country that are classified from a scale of 1 to 6 in the following way:
- Lower class: 1 (Low-low)
- Working class: 2
- Middle class: 3 (Lower-middle) & 4 (Upper-middle)
- Upper class: 5 (Lower upper) & 6 (Upper-upper)

There exist several types of lifestyles, they are important to understand the way consumers behave and
what activities they tend (and desire) to do the most, they indicate consumption patterns of products or
services that result appealing to individuals, for example, the average Colombian is very keen to watch TV
at night on midweek and sometimes that activity is complemented with house chores, like iron the clothes
(that, in the case of adults) for other groups of people TV is something you watch when you have free time
and looking for something entertaining to do; lifestyle can be heavily influenced by personality, which is
the group of features that differentiate a person from another, these features develop tastes and
preferences on many things, for our show, we have identified people with Protagonist, Activist,
Adventurous and Lively personalities.

3.1.4 Behavioral segmentation

At last, consumers are segmented regarding their behaviors towards product or services and are evaluated
in four aspects which are: Occasion (continuity of purchase), Benefit sought (advantages with the purchase
of the product) User status (Frequency) and Brand loyalty (attitude towards product) Figure 2 expresses
the general segmentation to define our consumer.
 Figure 2: Behavioral segmentation
Armstrong G. & Kotler, P. (2016) & authors work

Benefit sought: In the case of a TV show we have defined that the benefit that consumers look for is
quality entertainment, a catchy interesting concept and plot; normally individuals decide whether to look
or not at a show based on criteria like this, that, when is fulfilled, appeals to their needs or wants,
consumers look for something which can compensate the time they can be doing anything else by
watching interesting TV programs, that can create vast fan bases and are good options to share time with
family and friends.

Occasion: TV is for all times and almost for every occasion, it creates the perfect environment for several
social events, the content viewed tends to be funny or in general enjoyable for different types of
consumers.

User status: Is the frequency of usage of a product or service, there exist several degrees of user status,
however we have defined a profile of regular user for TV shows, normally is influenced by individuals,
when have good or bad opinions about the programs offered by several channels, when they like it, they
keep watching it, and that creates an expectation which leads to a continuous need to know more about
it.
Brand loyalty: User status entails then, a loyalty in consumers, that increases or decreases overtime, the
degrees of loyalty are Recognition (when products are considered among others but with no much level
of significance) Preference (when is preferred and it has more possibilities of purchase if available) and
Insistence (is the only relevant product that exists, and substitutes are irrelevant) Armstrong G. & Kotler,
P. (2016). In the case of TV shows we have defined a latent loyalty for shows which are more attractive
for consumers and that have a preference above others offered.

3.2 Targeting

Now that we have defined all the possible segments for our service, we now must choose the one we
consider the most optimal to focus and invest effort in and discard the ones that represent no advantage
for the business. Our strategy for the target market is based in a differentiated perspective, this means
that we have decided to target several market segments but the promotional strategies for each one of
them are different (Armstrong G. & Kotler, P. 2016) with a clear strategy, we need to understand exactly
what kind of consumers we are serving, and perform a customer profile

3.2.1 Customer profile

We are going to promote the show with the name of ¡Hombre al agua! The show is directed to a wide
range of ages (15 to 64 years) it can be enjoyed by individuals who are found in Nuclear and Wide family
homes and on Non-relative without nucleus homes located in urban areas who have access to National
TV and with a level of education that can vary from Secondary to University or Technical studies.

Most of them have free time at nights on weekdays, after arriving from school or work, their personalities
influence them greatly, they enjoy watching TV programs as a form of sharing time between its members
or as a regular pastime, ¡Hombre al agua! Is designed based on humor and challenges to create
expectations and connections with the consumers, making them great fans of the show and with the
constant need of following the story episode by episode.

Figure 3 represents the customer profile that we have designed for this business with the purpose of
narrowing the final but extensive target market into one specific, regular user, loyal spectator of the show,
that is to be transmitted at night hour on weekdays.
 Figure 3: ¡Hombre al agua! Consumer profile
Authors work (2018)

He is the type of person who does not like to stay at home during day and that know a lot of people in the
neighborhood, which creates an ideal scenario where he shares his interests with others and that operates
as an influencer among the people he is acquaintance with, this, added to the fact that the show can also
be enjoyed by teenagers, it has more possibilities of being shared with a wider range of individuals, at the
end this finally creates a buzz marketing chain that goes from adult to families and to teenagers to friends
and social media.
3.3 Differentiation

The general objective is to create and offer consumers something where they can find value, and where
they can define the important attributes of a product, so it can finally be placed into their minds rather
than competing products, more than specific characteristics, consumers show certain perceptions of
brands that are a vital differentiator, with that in mind, we have performed a CBBE pyramid of our show
(Figure 4), with the purpose of highlighting the type of experience we want to give consumers around the
concept of the show, improving loyalty from them, and gaining a competitive advantage in the market
compared to our competitors.

Figure 4: ¡Hombre al agua! CBBE Pyramid

Authors work (2018)
Our recognition (Salience) is established on the perceptions that consumers get as a first insight of what
is exactly our product, which is focused on both the experience for contestants and the audience and the
origin of the concept. The reliability and effectiveness (Performance) shows how the product can be
relevant for consumers, we evaluated the presence and achievements that create positive thoughts of the
show, like the fact that it has been a successful concept through diverse cultures and the adaptability it
has to other platforms such as video games. The experiences (Image) is the way we want to be seen by
consumers; our kind of TV show is directed, for example, to satisfy feelings of excitement and amusement.
Relevancy (Judgement) expresses the quality we offer to our consumers and our primal differences with
our competitors; we, as a comparison have international experience and preference, knowing exactly how
to reach many types of consumers, our focus (Feelings) that derive from the judgement are curiosity,
satisfaction, fanatism, adrenaline and frustration. Finally, to strengthen our presence (Resonance) we
keep enduring our brand loyalty and user status by having a special connection to our consumers, making
them an active part of how the show can develop.

3.4 Positioning statement

¡Hombre al agua! Has a positioning statement that measures the unique value that the show gives to our
consumers in comparison with what our competition does, taking into account the previous analysis, what
we offer is a strong connection and unique entertainment to our consumers, who play a key role in all the
concept we have built for our show, the way we want our consumers to look at our final product can be
given by answering three main questions: who is our target? What unique value ¡Hombre al agua!
Provides to them? And why should they believe in our product?

And so, we have come up with the following Positioning statement: ¡Hombre al agua! Is directed to those
individuals who look for a unique type of entertainment, those who like excitement and are curious
enough to experience the adrenaline and fanatism we offer, which is backed-up by a strong concept,
quality and production that’s has been successful into a vast diversity of markets around the globe,
meaning that we have the cultural and entertainment factor that are preferred by all types of individuals
4.0 Internal/External

WipeOut is the kind of TV show that you could adapt to any market to suit consumer’s preferences in
humor in the way they find better, because ‘maybe there is something universally entertaining about men
hitting themselves in the groin while attempting to jump atop a giant banana. And maybe that transcends
all cultural and national boundaries’ (Hoyt, 2010) that is the reason why analyzing the Macro and Micro
Environment is important, to get insights needed to manage correctly those external and internal factors
and how to be competitive in the Colombian market.

4.1 External
4.1.1 Economic environment

The Colombian economy has a rather slow growth level, the OECD (2017) affirms that ‘the 2016 tax
reform, low consumer confidence and the still high unemployment rate weighed on household
consumption’ the projections for this year's GDP were not met and the figure resulted in 1.8%, with a
percentage variation of 2% compared to the 1.6% with which finished 2017, the country faces a stagnation
of employment that is worrisome for the development of the different sectors and the few opportunities
for society, according to the Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadisticas (2018) there is an
unemployment rate of 9.4% in the country, on the other hand The Consumer Price Index (which is the
price variation of the goods) is 0.24%

Talking about statistics, it is important to highlight the current state of the Interest rate, according to the
Central bank of Colombia (Banco de la República, n.d) ‘the Interest rate is the price of money in the
financial market’ and if its percentage value is low then there is more capital flow in the country, as can
be seen in the following graph we can observe that the effective interest rate annual has been decreasing
in percentage values for about 2 years, which means that there is more demand for credits and therefore,
less savings.
 Figure 5: Annual effective interest rate/GDP variation
Banco de la Republica, (2018) & authors work

Colombian economy has slow improvement as we can see from Figure 5, the report from the OECD (2017)
states that for the upcoming years ‘economic growth is projected to rise to around 3%’. Also, the country
has opportunities in diverse areas such as taxation, financing conditions and infrastructure and because
of certain events like the peace agreement that make investments to the country attractive. The labor
market will also find itself stronger, but inequalities and informality will remain key social challenges.
(OECD, 2017)

4.1.2 Social environment

Currently the total population of Colombia is around 49.741.400 people, the median age is between 30
years and it has a life expectancy at birth of 75.9 years between males and females, the dominant religion
is the Roman Catholic (79%) followed by the Protestant (14%) and its ethnic groups are divided into
Mestizo and White (84,2%) and Afro-Colombian (10.4%) (Central Intelligence Agency, 2017) the
population distribution data is shown on Figure 6:
 Figure 6: Population distribution
Central Intelligence Agency, (2017) & author’s work

Most of the population is on the range of 25 to 54 years (42%) therefore we can conclude that most of the
population belongs to the X and Y generations, or in more specific terms, they can be considered as
Millennials.

The main language spoken in the country is Spanish and in accordance to the EF English Proficiency Index
(2017) the country is currently on the position #51 out of 80 countries that are evaluated in level of
knowledge of English, also, according to the EF EPI information the city with the best level of English in the
country is Barranquilla (53.14) followed by Cali (51.80) Bogota (51.41) Bucaramanga (50.99) and Medellin
(50.84). (Education First, 2017)

The managed ranks for this index consist of the following:

- Very high
- High
- Medium
- Low
- Very low
Through the years Colombia has had a low positioning in this index, the trends of English as a second
language on the country are either low or very low, as presented in Figure 7 that expresses the overall
rank where Colombia has been positioned since 2011.

Figure 7: EF EPI TENDENCIES (COLOMBIA)

Education First, (2017) & author’s work

4.1.3 Technical environment

First, we must analyze the competitiveness that the country has in comparison to other countries, for this
matter we are going to evaluate it in two indicators, the GII (Global Innovation Index) and the GCI (Global
Competitiveness Index) through these indicators we can determine in which kind of competitive profile
the country is in and what are the possible opportunities that it must improve in the several terms that
are evaluated.

GII: The Global Innovation index evaluates inputs and results. Inputs evaluated the institutions, human
capital and research, infrastructure, market sophistication and business sophistication, and the results are
analyzed in terms of production of knowledge and technology, and creative production. The relationship
between these two indices is called the efficiency ratio, which expresses how efficient a country is in
generating innovation, considering the quality and quantity of the evaluated elements. (SNCCTI, 2017)
 Figure 8: America GII results
SNCCTI, (2017) & author’s work

As seen in Figure 8, Colombia is the fifth most innovative country in Latin America, although in any case
the region in general is not among the most competitive within this scope, since the majority of Latin
countries that have been considered for the analysis are by below 50th place (except Chile) In this way
although it is in a good position within the region, worldwide, Colombia still leaves much to be expected
in terms of the level of technology and the application of these to develop more competitive products
within the market.

GCI: According to Schwab (2017) The Global Competitive Index measures the capacity of a nation to
achieve a long-term growth and prosperity and develop economic growth strategies to overcome the
challenges and boost the strengths that each nation has, its evaluated in 12 pillars to determine the
ranking and score.

Considering the general and specific results, Colombia is also the fifth most competitive nation in Latin
America but fell 5 places lower than what was found according to the last report, Schwab (2017) states
that it is due to the increase in the budget deficit and the inflation, and the fall of the efficiency of the
labor market. Figure 9 expresses the Colombian results by pillar.
 Figure 9: Colombia score by pillars (GCI)
Schwab, (2017) & author’s work

Based on Figure 9 it is easy to interpret which fields Colombia has the most strength in and which are its
weaknesses, in comparison to the GII index innovation is the pillar with the lower score and this may be
because the country has little capacity for innovation or human talent that generates it, this is a very
particular case because some of the pillars with the best scores are education, training and business
sophistication, also technology does not have bad growth, the problem then may be originated from the
institutions which are the third lower value and these also include political agents that affect the
practically the whole Colombian System.

4.1.4 Industry environment

Let’s get in context: during the last decade, the telecommunications sector has been increasingly
influenced by the growing importance of the Internet and with this, the Information and Communications
Technologies, providing better competitiveness, knowledge and productivity. These trends can be
evidenced widely in more and more markets, increasing both the demand and the supply of content across
different platforms, this expansion and the increasing generation and dissemination of content via the
Internet has generated new parameters of audiovisual consumption and new models of business
With the arrival of social media and the continuous improvement of telecommunication services, Internet
has become an influent marketplace, where consumers share their opinions and engage with brands, it is
a successful way to reach customers and, in this way, assure brand loyalty and reach more people.

According to the report of the DNP (2016) the broadcast of content is given in 3 large segments; the first
is the television channels, which are responsible for broadcasting the signal between the broadcasters and
the distribution centers; in the second segment there are content producers, which are, as their name
indicates, the creators of audiovisual content, and finally, the third segment is comprised of
Telecommunications Service Providers and Networks, whose operations depend on the use of
radioelectric spectra.

4.1.4.1 Colombian telecommunication industry

The industry in Colombia is regulated by entities such as: Autoridad Nacional de Televisión (ANTV),
Comisión de Regulación de Comunicaciones (CRC), Ministerio de Tecnologías de la Información y las
Comunicaciones (MinTIC), Superintendencia de Industria y Comercio (SIC) and Agencia Nacional del
Espectro (ANE) each one is destined to regulate diverse aspects - like ICT, surveillance, control and
regulation & competition - of the provision of audiovisual content within the country (DNP, 2016)

Television services in Colombia are defined by the type of access to the final user, which are open (mostly
free) or closed (Pay to View). ‘The open services are divided depending on their nature - public or private,
with or without profit motive - and its regional scope - national, regional or local -’. These operators are
organized on five sections:

- Private National Television

- Public National Television
- Public Regional Television
- Local with profit motive
- Local without profit motive

Instead of defining every modality of open services that exists within the country, we are going to focus
on the Private National Television, which offers audiovisual content across the country and that gain
income through publicity; the two national private operators that currently exist in the country are
CaracolTV & RCN. (DNP, 2016)

Lately, Colombia has been projecting opportunities to implement new systems that are more modernized
and aimed at the generation of interactivity with the user, through applications and information services.
The DPN (2016) defines this activity as followed: 'Interactivity is the ability to offer additional content to
television programs, such as channel programming, participation in contests, voting, purchases of
products or services, and even participation in television programs themselves'. This process gives a huge
control to users, because now the system adapts to their preferences, allowing them a much more
extensive access to new content, with the possibility of influencing television programs.

However, the implementation of these new systems and services in the Colombian territory would imply
high costs and one important problem that is faced is the reach of the entire Colombian population,
because it can be dispersed in places of difficult access, besides the fact that many of the people which
will be offered the system will not possess the necessary economic resources to pay for it. Looking on the
bright side, the correct implementation could improve the industry to new levels and the customer
satisfaction offered by TV, in the same way a geographic study must first be carried out, gather information
of how the system is going to be delivered through the territory without incurring high costs is vital and a
demographic analysis to evaluate the conditions in which the system will be offered to the population.

4.1.5 Political environment

According to the Colombia PESTLE insights (2017) we can determine which are the strongest and weakest
points in the Colombian political system, now, we are going to proceed the explanation of each one of the
factors that affects the general overview in terms of politics:

Colombia has a strong positioning in terms of Free Trade Agreements and has developed several trade
relationships with diverse countries during the last decade, The FTA’s with the US and EU and the process
to enter the OECD are expected to improve the economy, also the relationships with Latin American
nations have been a vital part of this development. (Colombia: In-depth PESTLE insights, 2017)
Corruption is a very well-known subject within the country and other Latin American nations, especially
when it comes to political parties, guerillas and narco-paramilitarism that are in some point involved with
the President and the congress; corruption is one of the main difficulties that decrease the Global
competitiveness of the country, as analyzed before.

Not only corruption is a big obstacle to politics, but also to the judicial system, which does not own its own
independence due to intimidation and bribes, also the system is not efficient at all, processes could take
several years to conclude them, these and more facts deteriorate the credibility and transparency of the
Constitutional Court and more judicial organizations. (Colombia: In-depth PESTLE insights, 2017)

The FARC negotiations have opened new ways to improve social security within the country, after almost
50 years of violence, drug trafficking, kidnapping and murder, the peace agreement is the hope of the
government to reduce illegal activities by guerillas and giving back to the victims, it still exists the worry
that population may not be completely convinced of these new relationships.

Moreover, with the new reforms that the government are planning to implement, eliminating the
presidential re-elections may be the answer to a more stable democratic setup. (Colombia: In-depth
PESTLE insights, 2017)

The main concern that the country faces is the decisions taken by the Colombian society in terms of
presidential elections, and the cause is the reduce trust that it experiments with the government and the
poor improvement of sectors like healthcare, education, security, among others. (Colombia: In-depth
PESTLE insights, 2017)

4.2 Internal
4.2.1 Marketing intermediaries

The marketing intermediaries are those subjects (which can de individuals or firms) that link the producers
or manufacturers to other intermediaries or the final buyer, they help promote and sell a product or
service by several agreements or purchases, according to Hollensen (2014) there are three types of market
coverage: Intensive, Selective & Exclusive and each one of them have different channel length.
Endemol Shine Group uses marketing intermediaries with whom it builds strong partnerships to deliver
several shows into diverse global markets, under the form of licensing, that usually consists of selling a
concept or idea under a license that permits others to exploit it and in return get a percentage of revenue
from products sold under that license, which protects the intellectual property. The company found this
a profitable and useful method “as the world's leading independent production company with offices in
over 30 countries, we control brand licensing rights to some of the highest profile and creative IP in the
world” (EndemolShineGroup, n.d)

Currently they manage an ample portfolio of shows that are under licensing, one example is the show we
are promoting onto the Colombian market WipeOut or as we decide to call it ¡Hombre al agua! Other
remarkable examples are MasterChef, Mr. Bean and the new trending Netflix series of Black mirror.

4.2.2 Publics

Publics are communities that are conformed by many individuals that affect in an indirect way an
organization’s performance, and their opinions, needs and wants cannot be ignored. Public relations try
to give the company the image it wants their customers and other interest groups to perceive, for this
reason, communication is a key aspect on creating a good image and favorable reactions to the firm.

Employees are vital for Endemol, especially to ensure the correct partnerships when a license is given to
produce a show; ‘The global licensing team operates internationally, supported by local offices in key
regions. We value local and pan-regional partnerships, building long term brand values and success’
(EndemolShineGroup, n.d) as mentioned in the corporate objectives, the company also provides its
employees with a dynamic and comfortable environment to work, motivating their teams to cooperate
with each other and keep the company growing.

Media is incredibly important, because is precisely the industry where it operates and where it offers all
the content it produces, that’s why having such a good reputation in social media becomes a key success
factor for the company, other vital factor is the popularity of the shows its produces or licenses, to gain
preference between consumers and reputation between communities.
4.2.3 Competitive environment

As defined before, the focus for our production is going to be concentrated in National Private Television,
now we must proceed to evaluate the competition that is given in the marketplace, we are going to take
the Colombian industry approach (as is the market we are going to enter) and for that purpose we are
going to elaborate a Competitive profile between the principal influencers mentioned before (CaracolTV
and RCN) Figure 10 compiles the subjective scores in several Success Factors evaluated in each one of
them and the overall result of which one is the most competitive or has more distinction in the market.

Figure 10: Competitive Profile Matrix

Author’s work (2018)

As seen in Figure 10, we evaluated the two TV stations in nine Success factors that best align with the type
of products they offer and the industry they are located, the more weight a factor has the more critical it
is, the rating is given in a subjective way, and each represents either a weakness or a strength, the highest
final score is the one that has the more advantage, in this case CaracolTV is the one that seems to have
the best profile, preference and reputation between the two in the country, if the show is planned to be
broadcasted through the most popular, this can have both positive and negative impacts, for example, it
will probably get more views but it is also in a very competitive market, to evaluate these factors, we
decided to create a SWOT and then analyze if the concept is strong enough to be competitive between
the market.
Now that we have selected the proper chain where our production is going to be broadcasted, is useful to
also evaluate the types of productions that are currently offered by CaracolTV and how profitable they
can be, for that purpose we have performed a BCG to evaluate precisely which types of TV shows have
the best opportunity of growth over time, and in that way, help with the strategic planning and deciding
whether is a good business plan or not.

Figure 11: CaracolTV BCG Matrix

CaracolTV (n.d) & authors work

As seen in Figure 11 we have identified several types of shows that are more commonly emitted by
CaracolTV though the years, if we evaluate the matrix we can classify each type of show into four different
sections (Stars-Question Marks-Cash Cows-Dogs) the classification is made considering the relative market
share that each one has and the market growth rate. Starting off with Dogs (Low-low) which are
productions that represent more of a waste of resources than profit, we have identified Novels in this
space because nowadays there is little productions and also very little audience, also if we consider that
CaracolTV transmits these types of shows on weekdays in the afternoon is very hard to gain a fixed
audience to watch them, also the thematic may not be of much interest to Colombian population, mainly
because the latest releases are from foreign Asiatic countries.
Question Marks (Low-high) are very peculiar, they require investment to turn them into Stars or otherwise
they will become dogs, in this quadrant we have ubicated Web series and Informative shows, the main
reason why Web series are here is because even though the market grows at a rapid pace, CaracolTV
offerings are not that known between consumers; however Informative shows are very close to become
Stars, because they tend to be preferred by Colombian society the only constrain that exists for them is
that not only RCN but all the other telecommunication services in the country specialize on broadcasting
news or interest programs, that is the main reason why we ubicate them here.

Stars (High-high) are the leader shows for CaracolTV, from them they get a good level of revenue but
sometimes they require strong investment to maintain there; between them we have located
Entertainment and Realities & Game shows, most of this programs are precisely transmitted at the Prime
Time hour on CaracolTV which marks several points of rating compared to others, this types of shows are
the most seen in the Colombian society and they also prefer them over others; even when they are in a
market that grows rapidly (considering the amount of these types of shows offered by international
channels) it is a very profitable market in the country.

Lastly there are Cash Cows (High-low) which have a previous good experience on the market are the ones
that have a high degree of preference and they do not have many competition on international markets,
we have located TV series and Sports on this quadrant for several reasons, TV series are made with the
purpose of entertaining particularly Colombian society’s preferences, they tend to have very marked
cultural aspects that consumers feel attracted to watch, sometimes this productions have a sensitive
historical plot that is a very unique way to point at Colombia’s specific characteristics; Sports are ubicated
here because of the connection that most people in the country feel captive to watch, not only in football,
but in all the editions they broadcast of BMX or Tennis, is a thematic to what most people feel attracted.

As a conclusion we could determine that the chain and the concept of the show can fit perfectly into what
is competitive and popular on terms of TV productions, ¡Hombre al agua! has great chances to establish
itself as a profitable TV service that has the opportunity to have great impact on society’s preferences.
 Figure 12: SWOT analysis
Authors work (2018)

Based on Figure 12 there exists considerable factors that are vital for the business to work, starting with
the strengths, the show has a great advantage at its favor: the fact that it already has some experience
inside the market, which makes easy the adaptation of the show to this type of market, also the concept
is easy to understand by consumers and can be attractive to several individuals as it appeals to their
preferences as we have define on the target market, and this together could create a new entertaining
culture an involvement with customers.

Weaknesses are mainly related to certain opinions about the show, like the fact that it can be considered
violent or dangerous or also simplistic, and the setting-up of the same, because it requires somewhat
specific locations to make it work the same way as in the existing versions.

The opportunities when broadcasted in the most competitive TV station could be the increase of rating
and probably the creation of a strong fanbase around the show, other opportunities can be given when
evaluated the preferences of society at the time to decide what kind of show to watch (all this information
is clearly specified in the STPD part of this work)
Finally, identifying the threats is vital to know if success can be achieved or if any competitive advantage
is possible, the most relevant one that we could define where the great amount of TV shows offered at
the same time as ours, because customers may be familiarized with other shows already and not be
interested in the show, which leads us to the second threat, new telecommunication technologies,
streaming services are now used more than ever and preferences of watching traditional TV shows in front
of a television are changing, now, web portals offer individuals the opportunity of having the content they
want, whenever they want and that represents a huge population that is not worth the effort of promoting
a TV show. Something that is very common in the TV industry is copies or remakes of series, principally
made by competitors to attract more consumers that way is the show results to be successful, the last
threat is that the show from the beginning does not appeal to consumers and has poor rating, being
considered not interesting to watch.
5.0 Marketing mix

Defining the correct strategies from the beginning of a new product or service launch into the market is
impressively important to get positioned and valued by consumers and is vital to make up the overall
business plan, all its elements complement each other and they all work together to become a successful
product or service.

The marketing mix is a useful tool for companies, but also it also needs a lot of understanding, managing
correctly the information you can get from market research and consultation processes, to ensure the
best quality and reach to your target market; now we will proceed to set the strategies of entry of our
product to the Colombian market.

5.1 Product strategy

5.1.1 Product description

The product, as described by the same Endemol ‘is an action-packed family entertainment show that has
won the world over with some of the zaniest crashes, smashes and hilarious mud splashes ever seen on
television’ in summary, is a TV show created in 2008 that was one of the many successful series that was
produced in one of the production hubs that were established in Buenos Aires, Argentina as a form to
record episodes at less costs (the only exception was the set located in the U.S) and that has received
more than 5,000 contestant from all over the world to test them in the biggest obstacle course ever
created.

Through the years, many countries have developed the format for the TV show, however, even if the plot
seems to be the same, there are certain differences among cultures that poke now and then, the Anglo
version of the show, for example, follows the basic group of X number of contestants that go between the
obstacles and follow to the next round; compared to the Soviet format, the show is practically the same,
but Russian audience consider more attractive seeing celebrities go through the course more than
common people; the Spanish version, which carries a sexual charge that is not completely tangible in other
versions; or the Battle of Ukrainian Cities, a tournament designed for teams to represent their province
rather than individually. (Hoyt,2010)
5.1.2 Core customer product/Actual product/Augmented product
5.1.2.1 Core customer product

The most basic thing we can say about the product is that it offers family entertainment, but what are
consumers of the TV show really watching, really expecting? What are those attributes that make the
product so unique and differentiated? There are other bunch of shows that compete over the same
concept of entertainment, even if the thematic is different so at the end, what are consumers gaining from
the product? What they can obtain is a hand-made form of entertainment that best suits the unique
characteristics of each culture and represent it the best and funniest way possible in a ‘family friendly
style’ television format.

5.1.2.2 Actual product

These needs of entertainment can be successfully reached with the product made possible by Endemol,
which is a reality TV show that offers a comical competition where its contestants must overcome
ridiculous obstacles and move forward round to round to finally be the winner of a prize; the program is
recognized by its high level of adaptability into markets and the message of excitement that it transmits,
we believe that is a one of a kind show, because most competition programs that are offered tend to have
a serious facet in them, which makes them interesting but they do not include the hilarious factor that
WipeOut offer to customers.

5.1.2.3 Augmented product

What could possibly be beyond of this product? The interaction if offers to consumers, it has a large
presence in social media and in other platforms such as video games, as a complementary strategy, we
have observed that for game shows emitted in the Colombian market is common the use online surveys
to determine important moments in the show or just to give opinions about a specific matter; these types
of methods create good relationships between show and audience and increase the familiarity and trust
of customers
5.1.3 Product attributes
5.1.3.1 Quality

What the company wants to offer its customers it’s a quality-experience relationship, where every detail
is important to ensure the correct development of the whole production, every obstacle must work
properly to be a good challenge for any type of individual that participates and even when sometimes
their contestants result full of mud, soaked and beaten by giant hammers or doors, they seem happy
about it, the added audiovisual effects provided to create the slow motions, sounds and the comments
from the hosts are vital to keep the audience entertained with the whole scheme that has been created
just for them to laugh at.

5.1.3.2 Features

The most important feature present in the show is the obstacle course because it accounts for practically
all of what the show is trying to communicate: a challenge; other features include the audiovisual effects,
the hosts and finally the contestants, these features can be quite flexible, and that is a huge advantage
when moving the concept from one culture to another to fit society preferences; obstacles can be created
or removed, depending on the difficulty level that wants to be achieved, special effects for television can
be molded in any way that is considered effective to attract customers, hosts can be selected to ensure
the popularity of a show and finally the diversity of competition modes (the basic ones are individual or
by teams) that can be selected for the contestants to follow thorough the competition.

5.1.3.3 Design

The image that the company wants to communicate is very dynamic, challenging, exciting and fun; its
combination of colors and all the elements that are part of the logo expresses the purpose of the show;
even though the initial idea is very simple (competition between individuals) the style is not, it follows a
very complex design that accounts for the level of commitment needed to produce it and the evidence is
how everything is put together perfectly into the field.
5.1.4 Product classification

Within the classification of products and services offered by Armstrong & Kotler (2016) we have classified
the show as a consumer product and more specifically as a combination of a convenience product and a
shopping product, because even though is immediate, consumers always go through a process of selection
of what they would like to see on TV in a specific moment based on the quality, style and concept, those
perceptions are unique between individuals, but also consumers tend to just decide what catches their
minimal attention and there is no such thing as a decision process involved, also some features (like price)
does not apply to these classifications because is not something that consumers usually do when watching
TV (except on Pay To Watch products).

5.2 Price strategy

5.2.1 Description of the pricing strategy

Telecommunication services can be distributed as we said before through various methods: it can be free
or with a charged quota that represents the Pay to Watch channels. As defined before, Private National
Television in Colombia is controlled by CaracolTV and RCN. We are going to broadcast the show in Caracol
Television because is the most competitive and recognized of the two, as seen above on the CPM matrix;
as we cannot charge our consumers a fixed price for the transmition of every episode of a TV show,
because it is already included in the range of productions available offered by the telecommunication
service, we are going to base our price strategy according to the tariffs charged by CaracolTV to broadcast
the show at the ‘prime time’ (Monday to Friday, at night time because of increase number of views by
Colombian population) that we have selected for ¡Hombre al agua!

Tariffs are determined by the rating points that each episode has, the Cost Per Rating point is determined
by channels to charge the advertising that occurs during their programming and it is the main way that
these two channels gain revenue, but as we selected the Prime time segment to broadcast the show it
might incur in more costs, according to the rating points gained per episode of existing TV series emitted
by CaracolTV, to promote a 30 second commercial during a show, the fee charged is around $3.180.000
COP, on average, per emission, 3 series of publicity are presented, each one with an extension that
revolves around 7 minutes, that means that approximately 28 video advertisings are presented during
normal programing (Entretengo, 2017) in this way, our objective for the firsts months of broadcasting
¡Hombre al agua! In the market is to gain between 8 and 10 rating points, considering that in Prime time
the average rating for current shows in CaracolTV is 13,1 and also that is a new introduction that does not
have a level of reputation as series that have been transmitted through years like El Desafio or that touch
a sensitive spot in Colombian history like La mama del 10; however it is expected to grow during time,
overall the revenue created per episode would be then between $1.068.500 COP - $1.335.600 COP an
amount that could cover all the setup and production costs and still represent a good profit.

5.3 Place strategy

Decide the strategic place where the show is going to be produced and then distributed has a great impact
on the resources needed and also the extra costs that may arise on the activities that we are going to
perform and the distribution channels have to be in concordance with the scope we want to achieve and
the type of consumer we are going to serve; of course individuals perceptions and preferences in the
matter of TV are crucial to decide where to lead all the production and promotion efforts to obtain a
sustainable and unique product that creates itself a special place and image that is consistent with what
we offer, in the mind of actual and potential consumers.

As we have highlighted throughout this work, we have selected as a distributor of ¡Hombre al agua! the
Television chain of CaracolTV, there exists several reasons why: it has a remarkable presence in the market
and currently is the strongest competitor in the overall Colombian telecommunications industry; the range
of productions it broadcasts are between the best rated, which also means that its experience with
previous game shows and reality TV is positively successful and it has international experience; It is the
ideal environment to boost the image of our product to our final target market.

One of the main strategies we have proposed is to connect with consumers through a consolidated and
strong social media presence, the basic idea is to intensify interactions with people, letting them
participate at critical stages of the competition and creating an opinion forum on the official web site of
the show, and both are going to be conducted in the form of online surveys.

Finally, and based mostly on the scenario where previous seasons of the popular show El Desafio had
place, we are going to operate the obstacle course on the Panama coasts, more specifically on the
archipelago de Bocas del Toro (Caracol Television, 2013) this location represent an important strategic
advantage for the production for several reasons: it has the adequate extension of land needed to build
the course and it counts with diverse surfaces that we can use to create the obstacles and most
importantly we count with the know-how and experience of how to get the production there, based on
what El Desafio did before several seasons and our own experience with the course in Argentina and the
US.

5.4 Promotion strategy

To effectively communicate the desired image and the value that the company wants the product or
service to have in the mind of consumers, a consistent and strong promotional and marketing strategies
are needed to accomplish that, promotion comprises all those activities that create an early interaction
and relationship with the individuals in the market, that is possible when making good use of the resources
available and the media to develop purposeful strategies.

Even though Colombian society is somewhat familiarized with the concept of reality competitions and
with the concept of comedy entertainment, they have always been apart from each other, that is why
introducing the concept of ¡Hombre al agua! into the market needs the correct strategies to create the
perception of a show that, combining those two concepts, is a good source of entertainment that catches
the attention of consumers.

Our primal promotion is going to be focused on events which we are going to sponsor with the youth radio
station of Los 40 Principales, which is also part of CaracolTV to link customers that fall into a certain
category of individuals that represent the current Colombian pop culture, in a way to connect with them
and create a buzz marketing and influencing chain that would spread the information about the show into
society and reach several groups on individuals. To perform these activities in the most efficient way we
are going to apply the Promotional mix.

Before performing the components of the promotional mix, we will base our strategy on the AISAS model
(see Figure 13) to identify the stages of involvement of consumers through time (Attention-Interest-
Search-Action-Share) this will also help to recognize the level of awareness that the product has between.
 Figure 13: AISAS model
Authors work (2018)

The Promotional Mix is widely used, it represents all kinds of communication used by an organization to
establish visibility and gain leads for its products or services. The activities (which are divided into
advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, public relations & direct and digital marketing) are
performed as part of a promotional mix help to influence the buying behavior of targeted consumers in
the market.

5.4.1 Advertising

It is a tool widely used to present and promote goods and services into the market, it is the most traditional
way to achieve the first interaction between the consumer and the product, to gain their attention and
curiosity; overall, it represents a communication with the specific target market during a period of time.
The strategy is to select an optimal advertising media that is frequent and that has a good reach (number
of individuals found in the target market that are exposed to the campaign)
With the objective defined, for advertising we are going to use the same CaracolTV platform to create
expectation between the community, we are going to broadcast a series of commercials during the
programming of the Prime Time in the channel, the design we are going to do for the commercials is going
to be based on the SUCES’s model (Simple-Unexpected-Concrete-Credible-Emotional-Stories), in order
that they will persuade (selective demand) and remind (customer relationships) consumers the overall
concept of ¡Hombre al agua!, which is expected to be attractive and captivate its selected audience.

Figure 14: SUCCESs model

Authors work (2018)

As seen in Figure 14 all the advertising campaign is going to be directed with the intention of tempting
potential viewers with the most relatable humiliation stories in the format of a TV show. Other than
commercials we are going to work closely with one of the famous division of CaracolTV that works in the
radio broadcasting world, Los 40 principales and we also promote the show before its release on public
banners that will be located in public spaced through the cities, specifically at bus stations. All these
activities will ensure the positioning of our show previous to its release and the expectation of consumers,
now that we have designed the way for them to create their own personal concept of the show,
persuading them to feel curiosity for it.

5.4.2 Sales promotion

Sales promotion consists of short-term incentives to encourage the purchase of a product or service, as
we are managing a product that is not directly related to consumer promotions like coupons,
demonstrations or discounts, we could not apply this activity to the final production, because there will
not be an specific amount of money that we can charge to its purchase, however there are promotions
that are useful to promote the show into the market, such as demonstration or games, our strategy for a
demonstration is going to be performed in a event where a kind of contestants (that are regular interested
people) could participate in an interactive inflatable mobile prototype of the actual obstacle course, that
is going to be displayed in a known park at the principal cities of the country, Bogota and Medellin.

We also want to bring back a remastered version of the already existing video game of WipeOut, this will
also be a part of the whole event that we are creating in conjunction with Los 40 Principales, where we
are going to attract people to go and get to know the show through games, in each game there will be
delivered small patronage rewards for participation, and of course the incentive to watch the upcoming
show ¡Hombre al agua!

5.4.3 Personal selling

It involves face to face connection between sellers and potential consumers, with the purpose of engaging
consumers and build customer relationships, as this is a direct encounter that involves the physical
presence of two both sellers and consumers, this is not an effective strategy for a business like television
and to our show, because it does not involves a direct relation that encourages the consumers to
continuously purchase the emission of TV services, therefore is not a useful tool to apply in this kind of
business idea.

5.4.4 Public relations

Building good relationships with several groups of interest or stakeholders is good to maintain a corporate
and product image, it is vital that enterprises seek to have a stable reputation in the market and avoid
unfavorable rumors and stories that could potentially damage the credibility of any business; further in
this paper, we will discuss the principal collaborators that make possible all the production and
development of the show, meanwhile we are going to highlight how crucial relationships and optimal
communication channels are, nowadays for example, consumers are better informed and their opinions
account for an important part in the success of any new product or service introduction into the market,
this is possible thanks to the fact that communication channels are wider and more accessible, changing
the way that content is marketed; the most optimal way to promote content is creating, inspiring and
sharing the brand message and maintaining conversation with and among consumers, across a fluid mix
of shared channels and opinions of viewers.

5.4.5 Direct and digital marketing

Is an effective method to engage directly with the targeted individuals and communities to obtain useful
responses that work as valuable information for the company and to build long lasting customer
relationships, this form of marketing is profitable, interactive and immediate, it represents a fast
alternative to reach markets at lower costs.

To implement this strategy, we will use the form of online and social media marketing, which involves
connecting with consumers, through the company web site, opinion forums and apps like Facebook,
Twitter and YouTube, where commercial online communities congregate and exchange information; the
advantages of using this type of methods is that they can be easily targeted, delivered immediately,
interactive and cost effective.

The overall strategy to promote ¡Hombre al agua! via direct and digital marketing is going to be based to
create a community and let consumers participate actively on how the show develops, we are going to
create an opinion forum that will be the center of all the community, where they can give their personal
opinions about any matter that concerns the show, we also are going to specially use social media to
create surveys or share with them questions that are going to play an important role in how the
contestants are going to take decisions that could possibly change the game and it becomes more
intriguing and attracting to consumers.

The budget for the promotion strategy can be found in Annex 1.

5.5 People strategy

TV shows are not competitive if the people behind the scenes do not have a working culture and a sense
of teamwork and collaboration to make everything possible, they are vital groups of interest that achieve
excellent results to deliver the best quality content to the target market they are bound to please;
¡Hombre al agua! is a production that is meticulously planned and organized, in the way that each
recording gets done without inconvenient to deliver what it promises into national television and value to
its consumers.

¡Hombre al agua! is the product of three main units that specialized on many different activities that they
execute constantly (if not all the time) they are divided into The crew, The contestants & The audience,
each group is involved in the development of the show but from a very different perspective, therefore
is necessary that they cooperate together to create an adequate environment to work in and fulfill the
expectations each one has about the growth of the final production.

5.5.1 The crew

It comprises all the individuals (or contributors) that in a direct or indirect way have part in the
transformation process and contribute with knowledge and actions to the progressive development of the
show, for this strategy we are going to focus on the same corporate values mentioned before that the
Endemol group manages to create content with value for consumers. Our prime value is focused on
collaboration, to make possible our goals, we must unify our talents and differences and create a
community that is passionate to create inspiration, performing our best work, growing as a team and be
defined by a sterling and deeply involved working culture.

The diverse activities that contributors must perform can be divided into 5 major movements: The first
one is organizing and spreading both responsibilities and information between all the organization and
contributors to come up with the concrete format that is going to be followed during the whole production
and the type of content to be broadcasted; continuing with the definition of the production plan where
the producers create the segments and sections to follow a specific order and carry it out with satisfaction;
the next one is the scripting process, here all the information is described and developed, is the unique
format that the show is going to follow through its production; then we have the same production process,
where all the personnel is in charge of managing the production while is being developed which implies
that there is hundreds of people with different responsibilities behind scenes running around, assuring
that everything runs smoothly, and finally the after production, where audiovisual effects are to be added,
creating the basic humoristic way to consumers amusement.

An important part of the crew is conformed by the hosts, which are the ones that conduct the program;
they guide the contestants to their missions and (in the case of ¡Hombre al agua!) insert that sarcastic
humor into it to keep people entertained while watching how contestants fly from the course to the
ground, our strategy is based on using two comedians to direct the show (it will be better if they are
recognized in the market) in order to ensure the amusement of the audience. As we are going to follow
the same concept as WipeOut we have found useful to use a third female host that is going to work as an
interviewer of contestants when they come out of the obstacle course, this with the purpose of attracting
the attention of the male segment of our market.

All the crew is going to be formed by all kinds of individuals and in the same way that they have more
responsibilities they will get paid according to the level of knowledge and abilities they possess, all
employees will receive their respective layoffs and bonuses during the year; their training on the activities
they will perform will be given by the company, they will have opportunities to get promotions inside the
organization and the company will ensure a good relationship with their workforce.

5.5.2 The contestants

The contestants are the life of any reality TV show, they are the ones that actually experience what is the
plot all about, and for this particular program, the survivors of one giant and complex obstacle course,
their opinions are vital for success, because is the motivation for new potential contestants to try their
luck at the course; the selection for contestants will be methodic and practical, the prospects must fill an
application form where it will be asked basic questions like name/age/ gender etc. what we consider the
most important is ensuring that the participants we receive are in optimal health conditions in the
situation something occurs during the filming of the show, if that were the case we will have a trained
professional team of paramedics ready to evaluate the person and give him/her the best possible medical
treatment.
To match the traditional competition Colombian model, we have decided to change the individual feature
that the original show has and implement a thematic that involves the setting-up of teams, each formed
by a number of 8 contestants and a signature color or logo that identifies them, in total there will be
between 3 or 4 groups of people, with the particularity that some of them will be integrated by famous
people; overall, the show follows a very similar context as El Desafio, what differentiates ¡Hombre al agua!
is 1) that is a sarcastic/comedy show and 2) the concept of time seen in WipeOut; we are going to keep
the initial time per obstacle managed by the original show, just because if the contestants had all the time
in the world to pass the course the show would not come to an early end, also the selection is going to be
carried out by the time contestants take to complete the course.

5.5.3 The audience

If contestants are the life inside a TV show, then the audience is the life outside it, as said before, we want
to create a community of viewers, that follow closely everything that happened in the show and comment
about it, what we want to achieve is a model where, through opinions or advices; the contestants will get
the insights of the audience of what they should do regarding a specific (sometime critical) matter, let’s
not forget that if the game is going to be played by teams is going to become more strategic and on this
version the audience has finally a voice to decide what could potentially happen.

How is this going to work? Social media; we plan to ask in advance through the Facebook, Twitter and
YouTube accounts the opinion of fans in matters such as the elimination of a teammate from the group,
of course the surveys are not going to be daily, because as each episode is going to be recorded before
the release it will be complicated to communicate the ideas so quickly and it may interfere on the normal
script of the show; the randomly selected opinions are going to be delivered one day a week to contestants
in a way that viewers feel like they play an important role in the development of the show.

5.6 Process strategy

To be successful, processes are vital, they account for the entire set of activities that go from the set of
goals and objectives, going by the statement of essential activities to management activities and finally to
the implementation and control of those activities, they must be carefully managed to provide the
expected results and insights of how a product or service is promoted into the market and how it creates
value for consumers.

As we have defined before, there are 5 major activities that are the overall process to make possible the
show: Organize and spread responsibilities and information, create the production plan, script, production
& after production, each stage carries certain risk factors that could affect the whole production process;
with that in mind we must anticipate all the possible risks that could happen and determine the optimal
response to avoid complications.

It all starts within the organization, its consolidation, the transaction of documents and permissions to
operate followed by the recruitment, hiring and training of talented personnel, then there’s the
operational processes which involves the overall production planning: what the organization wants to
achieve, how is going to obtain resources to perform activities, define a budget and the possible strategic
partnerships to be followed with the purpose of growing the business etc. As a summary, it comprehends
all the crucial assets initially required to start operating a business. Any deficiency presented in the two
fist stages of the process entail a series of consequences that can go from incurring in higher costs, losing
resources, partnerships, credibility and audience. Recover an organization from that state is a difficult task
that might be even impossible in some situations.

During the scripting process resources, trained personnel and equipment must be in the correct conditions
and ready to optimally execute the production stage, which is the stage where all the planning and
collaboration of all the crew comes into action and the first results are seen, if the initial perception of the
show is being developed in the same way that it was planned, this is the stage where all the individuals
that are part of the crew have to make sure that every detail precise, communication is vital between
them, the coordination at the several activities that each one if performing has to be accurate; with the
purpose of managing people efficiently we are going to create a higher managerial team that is going to
keep track of the activities that have to be unfold in order to deliver the final product, of course value has
been added in all the previous activities to be effectively communicated with the final consumer.

The after production carries the final recording of the show that is going to be emitted to consumers
through TV, the activities that are commonly done at this stage are the ones that involve the examination
and control of the product, finally after everything seems to be correctly performed, the final audiovisual
touches and effect are added to create the final humorous scent that ¡Hombre al agua! strongly carries in
its concept.

Finally, when the ultimate version of the show is done, it is meant to be broadcasted during the expected
schedule which would be during the Prime time offered by CaracolTV (on weekdays at night) and other
than that we must efficiently manage all the activities comprised in the promotion strategy to
communicate the image we want for the show and attract audience.

5.7 Physical evidence

How can all these processes and strategies reassure our final target market that they are receiving the
best quality in terms of production and interaction? What are ¡Hombre al agua! Intern strengths that can
be presented to customers? We want to ensure that all the production is based on a meticulous study of
what are the preferences in terms of TV production for the Colombian society, we create what they expect
to see, and we provide value doing it.

Some of the most important parts of our production is the place we have located to perform it and of
course the unique obstacle courses that are shown thorough the whole show, the final desired image is
then expressed by feelings like fun, excitement, satisfaction & challenge. The style and how everything on
the course is cautiously placed in the right spots is going to communicate our efforts to develop the show
in the best way possible; the color of the course is dynamic and bright, communicating something fun and
the size and complexity of the obstacles represent the challenge contestant are about to experience; the
mix of these feelings is what we want to achieve and communicate in a way that results captivating for
consumers.
6.0 Implementation

The implementation is where all results are finally seen and where control activities must be performed
to determine and evaluate the possible risks that might occur during this last step, that could potentially
delay all kinds of operations. With this purpose we have created a contingency plan for a series of events
that might affect any production stage and ultimately, the correct delivery of the product.

6.1 Contingency plans and risk management

Risk identification Likelihood Risk impact Contingency plan

Going over budget
Failures in distribution
Medium
due transport
Loss of essential assets
Difficult adaptation to
Medium
the selected location
Damage of technical
Medium
equipment
As is the initial project
development, the board of
directors could prevent this risk
High Medium going over the budget and
identifying the non-vital activities
and reduce the costs spend on
them.
Have an alternative way of
transporting the needed
Medium machinery or equipment to the
destination, if needed, hire a
transportation service.
If any vital equipment is lost and
could not be replaced, redo the
Low High initial script and work with the
ones that are found in optimal
conditions.
Have another location where to
establish again your operation, get
High as soon as possible the legal
paperwork that could be needed
for that change.
Always count with a professional
that could repair the possible
damage and avoid delay
Medium
operations, if needed have a
backup equipment that could be
used.
 Have quality equipment that
works in certain climate
Delayed operations conditions, it the case is severe
High Medium
due climate have a safe spot to keep all the
equipment and then continue
operations.
Invest in promotional strategies
New
that are directed through direct
telecommunication
High Medium and digital marketing to attract
technologies results in
consumers that are immersed into
poor audience
online services.
Expert paramedics will be placed
to always ensure that the lesions
Possible accidents of
are treated with speed with the
contestant during the Medium Low
best possible equipment, also the
recording
material of the obstacles is not
harmful by itself
Always ensure that the product
A direct competitor offered is very differentiated and
copied the concept of Medium Medium succeeds over copies, highlight
the show why the product is different and
has the best quality
 Annex
Annex 1. Budget

Hombre al agua
WipeOut 2015 2016

MARKET SHARE (CBS) 32% 15%

United States 20% 3%

Sales (USD)
Unites States $620,000 $90,000
TOTAL WORLD WIDE $620,000 $90,000

Unit of products (50 Episodes) Price (USD)

Worldwide $1.587,00 0
Income/Expenses (Millions of USD) 2016

Income $1.587
Gross margin 5% $50,40
Administrative expenses 2% $62,05
Tax and legal expense 8% $95,10
Net profit $77,40

Total Investment $6,10

ROI 6,10%

Investment
Research and investigation $2,50
Marketing campaign $8,64
sales expenses $1,20
Legal expenses $0,45
Total Investment $9,25
 Hombres al agua

¡Hombre al agua! 2018 2019 2020 2021

MARKET SHARE (CaracolTV) 25,4% 27% 44% 50%
Colombia 15,0% 13% 25% 30%

Expected Sales (COP)

Colombia
6.820.000 10.571.000 13.640.000 17.732.000
TOTAL WORLD WIDE
10.571.000 13.640.000 17.732.000

Unit of products (40 Episodes) Price COP

Colombia +
971.000 1.315.421 1.782.000

Income/Expenses (COP) Expected 2019 2020 2021

Income $ $ $
10.627.289 13.400.134 10.544.615
Gross margin 20% $1.590.200 $2.721.500 $4.220.480
Administrative expenses 9% $5.479.940 $1.909.600 $2.482.480
Tax and legal expense 22% $1.428.675,00 $3.546.400 $4.610.320

Total Investment $119.877,00 $170.562,00 $276.365,00

ROI 35% 50% 63%

Investment
Research and investigation $4.800,00 $3.570,00 $5.100,00
Marketing campaign $48.610,00 $58.128,00 $200.789,00
sales expenses $1.240,00 $620,00 $3.100,00
Legal expenses $1.550,00 $930,00 $310,00
Contribution margin for corporate 23% $66.650,00 $100.626,00 $164.176,00
Total Investment $119.877,00 $170.562,00 $276.365,00

Annex 2. Creative brief

Development of a new concept of a game show and introduction into the

Colombian market which purpose is to change the conventional way
Overview
people watch TV, creating an image that transmits excitement and
amusement.
There are several deliverables. For promotion we are going to produce a
series of TV commercials that result simple and attractive to consumers,

Deliverables banners that are to be public, an organized event with a famous radio
station and social media surveys. The final product consists of a TV show
format, with audiovisuals effects included, previously recorded.
Our final target market consists of individuals between the ages of 15-64
that’s have an active personality and enjoy their free time watching TV,
which can also be an activity to share time with others, they are
Primary audiences
spontaneous and are attracted to comedy and competition shows, what
they seek of a TV program is the quality of entertainment and how
interesting is the plot.
We compete with all the other TV shows that are broadcasted at the same
time than ours (which is on weekdays, at night time) we differentiate
because we have a close relationship with consumers; we ensure that our
product is specially focused to satisfice the preferences of entertainment
in the Colombian market, the industry we operate in is highly recognized
Positioning
at a national level, because we found that one of the strongest preferences
on TV shows in the country is the entertainment, reality and game shows,
that is why, in conjunction with the most competitive television chain in
Colombia our product is going to be perceived as relatable and funny with
a touch of sarcasm, irony and a good time
 The main message we want to communicate is that everyone can have a
fun, unique experience and a valuable product they can appreciate; we

Messages would also like that, because of the previous message, people become
more active and open to different kinds of television, discovering new
formats that can also fulfill their expectations on international markets.
The feelings we are trying to evoke through this show are funny,
enthusiasts and exciting, there can also be moments where surprise might
be on consumers mind, we want to create a complex idea that is costumed
Tone
as a simple one, so the surprise factor is always present in every episode
transmitted, anxiety can also be evoked at some time, because of the time
concept we added to the show.
As a conclusion, is a mix of things that seem to not work together but
Imagery
that collaborate to deliver something unique to consumers.
According to the budget presented above, we are going to need an
investment of at least 80 million COP for the first year of operations, which

Budget will be gradually increased during time and which components are the
research and investigation expenses, the marketing campaign, sales
expenses and legal expenses.
We will start setting up the promotional strategies and activities at the end
of May, we are going to perform a campaign for almost 2 months to create
Schedule
expectation and the final launch date would be approximately at the
beginning of August.
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