Creative Strategy & Promotion
CONCEPT & AIMS
APAPACHA HUGS WERE INVENTED TO LET PEOPLE KNOW YOU LOVE THEM WITHOUT HAVING TO SAY ANYTHING.
Apapacha is a platform for Latin American individuals seeking to become more affectionate and talk openly about their mental health. Its practical and unorthodox approach to mental health and wellbeing aims to help those who struggle to establish strong interpersonal relationships and show their feelings in Latin American countries (for fear of being labelled as weird) to slowly start releasing those emotions by adopting hugging and physical contact in their lives. Furthermore, its honest content aims to make a rarely talked issue more approachable and less stigmatised. Mission: to forge a community of slow-embracers, rebelling against the suppressive Latin American society and labels.
CONCEPT & AIMS
HELP SLOW-EMBRACERS TO BECOME MORE AFFECCTIONATE Encourage slow-embracers to adopt hugging and physical contact in their daily routines so that they, little by little, become more affectionate and begin establishing better interpersonal relationships.
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Apapacha does not claim to have all the answers to mental health and wellness. Instead, it aims to provide slow-embracers with a source of perspective that can guide them towards finding what type of affection or help they may need. Plus, it reminds them that hugging and physical contact has benefits for their wellbeing.
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AIMS
REDUCE SCREEN-TIME TO ESTABLISH MEANINGFUL RELATIONSHIPS
BREAK STIGMAS
Show slow-embracers how to spend technology-free time to bond with loved ones, instead of using messaging apps. Text messages and emojis cannot transmit how the person truly feels.
Show Latin Americans that mental health is essential and that treating it allows individuals to unlock their full potential, find a sense of purpose and fulfilment.
RATIONALE
RATIONALE Talking openly about feelings in this society is not well seen due to factors such as: familismo, compadrazgo, machismo and dignidad (Scielo Brazil, 2016). As a result, those who attempt to reach out for help get negative attitudes and social distance from people in their environment, especially family. Due to that, they have limited knowledge of mental health, and upon learning their loved ones are mentally struggling, the family often experience frustration, denial and grief. On top of this, society labels them, leading to individuals having low self-esteem and feeling different from others.
DEMAND FOR RESOURCES During the pandemic, 73% of people, especially adolescents and young people between the ages of 13 and 29, felt the need to ask for help regarding their physical and mental well-being. However, 40% did not considered asking for this (UNICEF, 2021).
DETERORATION OF MENTAL HEALTH IN LAC
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STIGMA IN LAC
GROWTH OF PODCASTS
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Sadly, Latin American countries have always had poor mental health care, and the pandemic only worsened this. A report published by WHO states that 5% of the adult population in Latin America suffers from depression, and six out of ten of these do not have access to medical treatment (Bassey, E. 2022).
According to Insider Intelligence, the global podcasting market size is expected to grow at an annual rate of 31.1% from 2021 to 2028, and Latin America will produce standout growth throughout these years (2021). As Spanish is on the way to becoming the second universal language for podcasting.
SWOT ANALYSIS STRENGHTS • • • •
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PHYSICAL CONTACT CAN SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS.
A fresh outlook on mental health and wellbeing Accessible across different platforms A range of bilingual relevant and interactive content The podcast element in the project, alongside the Instagram profile, will provide a strong sense of community, where the target audience could share their opinions on the episodes and content Relatively affordable Publication available in print and online
WEAKNESSES • •
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OPPORTUNITIES • •
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Build up a recognisable platform and a safe space to encourage conversation Gain international audience from non-Spanish speaking countries due to the bilingual content in social media, podcasts and publication The growth of podcasts in the LA Region suggests that listeners will be interested in listening to a fresh podcast with a modern twist Opportunity get budget through crowdfunding and pay for high-quality printing and sponsored promotion
Lack of funding to get started As one of the aims of Apapacha is to reduce screen time to establish meaningful relationships, it will not be able to harness the power of digital content like other brands, as this would contradict its mission. Not yet an established platform. Yet to build up popularity and digital presence
THREADS •
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Many self-development podcasts are already established and so can afford to get renowned guests and a range of merchandise easier Trying to get enough funding could be challenging The risk of not generating profit
RESEARCH & MARKET ANALYSIS
THE SIX P’S PRODUCT Free online platform: It is a free online platform for men and women who want to stop suppressing their emotions and celebrate the beauty of squeezing and physical touch. Bi-annual print magazine: Apapacha is a bi-annual publication aiming to help those who struggle to establish solid interpersonal relationships and show their feelings in LAC. A weekly podcast: A weekly podcast made for those who are seeking guidance on how to overcome certain things in their lives and break stigmas surrounding those topics they never felt confident talking about with their families.
PRICE
PROMOTION
Price: Apapacha will be available to buy biannually through its digital platform. Publications will cost £8.25 each.
Apapacha’s Insta account will create a safe and supportive space for the target audience to connect and draw non-followers
Costs: Initial start-up costs amount up to £3,174.36 per edition, with yearly expenses totalling £6,348.72. The Kickstarter goal of £3,174.36 will cover the 1st edition costs. With the income generated through publication sales, Apapacha can start selling merchandise to create extra profit for future editions and website maintenance.
A weekly podcast on Spotify will allow the audience to interact with the brand when doing other activities and increase Apapacha’s significance in customers/followers’ lives. In the Kickstarter pledge, a large budget for paid promotion through Instagram was considered, aiming to at least reach up to 60,000 users across the LATAM Region.
PLACE
PEOPLE
Online platform, Website:
Target market:
Apapacha’s website, apapachamag. com, will provide brand information and take sales. The print publication will be distributed on the online shop, meaning that it can be bought anywhere, at any time. Convenient to those who can not access shops.
Slow-embracers aged between 24 and 29 are either becoming aware of what they are emotionally lacking and suppressing or are already struggling to establish strong social bonds. They are primarily men because research shows that men in LAC are less likely to open up and seek professional help due to the machista society in which they grow up.
Other presence will exist through Instagram and Spotify with the weekly podcast.
Due to having grown up with technology, especially screen devices, compared to other generations, they did not learn how to express their emotions the right way. This, combined with pretty much physically and emotionally absent parents when younger, means that they have now struggled to establish solid interpersonal relationships and talk about their feelings.
PERSUATION Instagram community: Instagram followers will get a strong sense of community through interactive and engaging content on the platform, encouraging them to purchase the publication and listen to the podcast. Website guest application: Those visiting the website will come across the guest application section. The idea is to get professionals and people from all walks of life to talk about mental health and well-being still stigmatized in the Latin American culture and encourage listeners to seek professional advice.
CONTENT STRATEGY
MARKET RESEARCH
Bi-annual Print Publication Consumers were asked if they preferred a printed or digital publication in a survey carried out.
Apapacha Magazine
The results were that 68% of the participants said they preferred a print publication, while 32% would go for the online version. These results eventually influenced the decision to develop a physical magazine and have an online platform for that 32% remaining.
Front + Bacck covers: 350gsm gloss card
200 mm
250 mm
Inside pages: 135gsm matt/uncoated paper Insert (recipe book): 130gsm matt/uncoated paper
Accroding to BangOn a print run of 500 copies will cost £2.500 approximately. Since the magazine is starting and aims to get recognition, the first issues will be printed on a bi-annually basis. In so doing, this will allow time to build up recognition, a solid digital presence and reduce regular high printing costs.
In the same survey, consumers were asked what kind of content they were more drawn to when reading a publication. The results of this were that most participants are enticed by imagery when purchasing a magazine. However, a significant number of surveyed also seemed to enjoy written content such as articles, listicles, etc. All in all, this influenced the type of content in Apapacha first edition. As a result, it includes a mixture of visual and bilingual written content to cater for both types of readers.
CONTENT STRATEGY
MARKET RESEARCH
Online Platform https://www.apapachamag.com The purpose of the online platform is to create a bilingual safe space where modern Latin Americans can gain insights into mental health and wellbeing. The content will aim to be relatable and informative and include bits of the print publication in the future. To start off, the platform will have all the essentials about the project, such as: the mission, podcast, guest information, resources which readers/listeners can get help from, shop (where people can purchase the publication and future merchandise) and contact details. Then, with popularity increasing, the platform aims to get online contributors and submissions to post frequently. Starting with weekly updates and posts, hopefully, contributions and submissions will increase after a few months so that Apapacha begins posting daily.
Since consumers in the previous survey were asked if they preferred a printed or digital publication, 32% answered they would go for an online magazine; Apapacha’s platform was created to cater for the remaining readers. The platform is also a mixture of visual and written content due to that consumers said they were more drawn to this. In addition to this, the forum contains resources where readers can get links and names of professionals should they hopefully wish to get help.
INSTAGRAM COMMUNITY
PROMOTION
Apapacha’s target market uses Instagram daily, so this makes it the most effective platform for promotion. The use of Instagram at first will be to build awareness about Apapacha before the website and magazine launch. After all this, the page will aim to inject followers’ feeds with kind content to remind them that talking about their feelings and reaching out for help is fine, through: • Sharable content for users to repost in stories, this will include video snippets of future podcast episodes • Posting interactive stories, e.g. question boxes that will encourage conversation with the audience (community) • Instagram lives with experts in mental health and wellbeing
Instagram Sponsored Posts (paid) The goal of Apapacha, with time, is to forge a community of slow-embracers rebelling against the stigmatized Latin American society and labels and showcase content value, enticing non-readers. Using Instagram’s promotion tool to target posts at specific audiences (taking into account age, gender, location and online behaviours) can target young adults across all the Latin American Region that engage with self-help and mental healthrelated content. Hopefully, brand awareness and conversions will be obtained on the website with this promotion method.
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SPOTIFY (PODCAST)
MERCHANDISE
Apapacha’s Podcast Once the platform is up and running, Apapacha will start to sell merchandise, hopefully generating extra income that will help produce future publications and donate to mental health charities in the LATAM Region.
Spotify is one of the best platforms to discover music and podcasts for free. Anyone with a phone or laptop can access the platform. So, the purpose of the podcast is to create another point of contact for the audience to interact with Apapacha when they are doing other activities or want to enjoy time off-screen while learning something new. In addition, the podcast aims to create a safe space where listeners (target audience) can listen to different points of view on stigmatised topics in the region and take action through the resources provided on the episodes and the description box so that stigmas begin to brake slowly. Once the episodes are recorded using the professional software, video snippets (with captions in English) will be used to create content for Instagram and future channels. In this way, the platform’s content remains engaging and drives traffic to Spotify.
Podcast Feature: Se Regalan Dudas Se Reagalan Dudas is the #1 most-listened podcast in Latin America that talks about taboo themes without prejudice. Apapacha will aim to secure a guest feature here to talk about the digital platform further to achieve crowdfunding and build popularity that will ultimately help with pre-sales and sales.
Merchandise has been carefully selected to match Apapacha’s aims: to help slowembracers know themselves better and feel supported. The blanket aims to remind the warmness of a hug, the pillow the importance of hugging and touching, and the cards’ deck aims to encourage customers to work on them to become better versions of themselves.
Click here to listen Pilot episode