La Palma, the Isla Bonita, the island of treasures, with only 708 km2, houses a cultural and historical wealth that few territories can match. In addition to being the third most important port in the Spanish empire, after Seville and Antwerp, the island has been a pioneer in a multitude of events throughout its history: the first city council, that of the capital of Palma, to democratically elect its rulers in the year 1773; This city is also the sixth city in the world to receive electricity; first court of the Indies of the Canary Islands…and thus, if we continue, we could complete the article.
However, despite this accumulation of wealth that, without a doubt, would have inspired Jules Verne himself (if he did not), this unpolished diamond has been anchored in disillusionment for decades, to which a pandemic has added , a volcano and a hopeless post-volcanic situation.
On the other hand, tourism markers, one of the main sectors on the island, do not seem to indicate a great recovery in the short or medium term.
Now, are all the problems on the island exclusively attributable to external factors, political management or lack of resources? What if perhaps we are making a mistake in our communication strategy when we want to capture the attention of visitors? What if perhaps we should start telling our story thinking about what our target audience really needs to know, enjoy and experience?
The screenwriter and art historian Javier Olivares created, together with his late brother Pablo, the successful audiovisual production The Ministry of Time. For those who have not seen it, this series tells some key episodes in the history of Spain as they have never been told before. Cervantes, Goya, Clara Campoamor o The Hatless, These are just some of the historical figures that this series recovers throughout its four seasons.
But also, The Ministry of Time has gone much further creating its own transmedia universe: making use of such innovative tools as a mobile application, the series’ podcast, a board game or even adapting the script into a novel, The Ministry of Time has been able to create a community of millions of fans around the world called The Ministers.
And the data is there: first TVE series in the world ranking On the rise (ranking of the most watched series in the world); more than a million followers on social networks; rejuvenation of the RTVE user; trending topic on the history of Spain each day of broadcast; and a 200% increase in searches for historical figures on Wikipedia.
But what has been the key to the success of the series? In addition to an excellent and innovative script and a great team of scriptwriters, without a doubt, its commitment to putting the focus on people and the needs of audiences, creating new experiences and using new narratives, new ways of telling a story. , implementing transmedia elements that allow users to be part of the story, thus promoting the culture of participation and community creation, and leaving behind the culture of the spectator.
And you may wonder, what is a transmedia universe?
Well, in a scenario marked by innovation, the media or any company that wants to offer the sale of a service or product, should use tools that are capable of attracting and building loyalty among their audiences. For this reason, the search for new original ways to capture attention and reach a larger audience is becoming more frequent. In order to achieve this, in recent years new narratives have been created, focusing on a very innovative element: transmedia narrative.
We are talking about a new way of telling stories and creating community, of going beyond the simple action of communicating. We talk about listening to and analyzing audiences, and offering transformative experiences to users. Provide our audience with a leading role capable of deciding how, when and where they want to consume information.
The importance or key of transmedia narrative lies in its ability to tell the same story through different channels, and thus be able to reach a larger audience: social networks, web, podcast, applications, cinema, television, performing arts, but knowing provide extra value that excites our recipients.
Already in 1998, B. Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore anticipated this transition towards an economy focused on experiences, predicting that the most successful companies would be those capable of offering unforgettable experiences..
On the other hand, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) met, within the framework of the 118th session of the Executive Council in Punta Cana, to branding experts, journalists and content creators under the central message of “put people at the forefront” to rethink the narratives around tourist communications.
Returning again to La Palma and its cultural and heritage wealth, and taking into account the above, I wonder, what if we started to focus on people and their needs? What if we started working on a type of tourism that contributes to the balance between the development of this sector and the well-being of those who reside on the island? What if we look for new ways to tell our story, to awaken the interest of residents and non-residents in knowing the secrets and History that exist in every corner of our territory, and to create new experiences that they will not be able to forget? What if we are able to value what was able to turn us into such a fruitful island? Recover crops such as tobacco leaves and sugar cane, old crafts such as riverside carpentry, internationalize our crafts and recover our identity.
Well, inspired by the series The Ministry of Time and its ability to disseminate the History of our country with a totally innovative and disruptive formula that has captivated millions of people around the world; making use of tools as powerful as audiovisual or performing arts to tell our story; implementing innovative tools that can ensure that information reaches a larger audience; and, above all, focusing on people and their need to know and live transformative experiences, the Cultura Mágica team is already working on the design of seven tourist-cultural experiences that we hope will contribute to the promotion of cultural tourism in the region. island, becoming an economic driver and diversifier of our economy, in addition to promoting the recovery of our identity and its internationalization. We also have on our team the creative director of the transmedia universe of El Ministerio del Tiempo, Pablo Lara Toledo.
As our colleague and production director, Javier Afonso, says, “the island is like an onion with infinite layers of stories. “The tourist who comes has only seen the first layer because we have not been able to show him the heart.” And to me it seems like such a beautiful simile… We will see if the island, in the medium term, begins to be known, truly, as the island of experiences, the island that transformed me, the island to which I want to return.
* María José Manso is CEO, co-founder and director of the Audiovisual and Tourism area of Cultura Mágica