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Netflix & UNTOLD | The Last Bella Ciao

On the verge of the last season, together with Netflix, we created a performance to remember at UNTOLD Festival for La Casa de Papel fans worldwide. This is The Last Bella Ciao featuring Steve Aoki & Delia.

The story of the last Bella Ciao starts with the sixth chapter of UNTOLD Festival. Here we were, 18 months after an absolute hailstorm of uncertainty in the entertainment industry, finally coming together, reconnecting and enjoying four nights of magic in one of Europe’s greatest music festivals.
The Sponsorship Agency proposed and produced the show for Netflix & UNTOLD. We also liaised with the management teams of Steve Aoki and Delia, as well as the 50+ volunteers that took part at the moment.
Here we found ourselves, on the first night of the festival, an emotional one for all staff and festival-goers alike. Finally, we were all together again, and what better way to celebrate this than with a headline set by Steve Aoki.

The audience present at the main stage was around 60000 people. Before the show, we introduced Steve to Delia and liaised with both management teams to explain the finer details of the project. Simultaneously, members of our team were co-managing the approximately 50 volunteers, dressing them up and running through the script once more.

Finally, it was time for the moment we prepared for. The lights shut, the music stopped and you could hear the pulse of the Cluj Arena beating in awe and uncertainty. After a brief moment of silence, the screens started displaying motion graphics of the famous Dali masks, introing the trailer of one of Netflix’s hit shows: Casa de Papel.

Simultaneously, Delia can be heard singing and setting the tone of what was to be “The Last Bella Ciao”. She was very soon accompanied by most of the audience, singing in unison the famous chorus of the song full of awe and emotion.
After the goosebump moments of Delia’s performance, the trailer on the screen started picking up the pace, and so did the song. The music became so compelling that the whole crowd started dancing and jumping in awe. This uplift in energy was accompanied by the 50 ‘bank robbers’ wearing red jumpsuits and the notorious Dali masks that started running through the audience and gifted them with approximately 3000 masks. Those masks were very popular amongst all attendees: from festival-goers to local authorities (ironically), everyone wanted to wear one of the Dali masks.
On a more personal note, I’d like to share with you why this is one of my favourite brand activations to date. First of all, I’ll be fully honest with you: before this moment happened, I haven’t watched 1 episode of Casa de Papel. Consequently, I felt the need to binge-watch the whole 5 seasons at a pace a-la-Lord-Of-The-Rings-marathon (if you know, you know).

The characters of the show are outcasts that had enough of the flawed capitalistic system they lived in. As a response, they decided to rob the Royal Mint of Spain orchestrating a number of heists that are very entertaining to watch unfold.

One of my all-time favourite moments in the series thus far is when the protagonists start singing Bella Ciao in unison. For those of you who are not familiar with the song, Bella Ciao was made popular by partisans in Italy that were opposing the fascist regime and the world war during the early 1940s. It is thus considered a revolutionary song; a statement against oppression and any form of governmental injustice (ironically, the local authorities present at the show were very keen on grabbing and wearing masks).
This moment was a catalyst in my career. It showed me the power of amazing brand activation and the impact it can have. I still remember the joy of the crowd, the excitement of the 50-something volunteers that were running through them (hats off to them for being such stars) and the hyper-ecstatic musical moment of Steve Aoki and Delia. The brand activation was a success and it briefly became a global phenomenon, scoring over 2.5 million views online in the first week of the release of the video.

Overall, the Last Bella Ciao was an absolute blast. I strongly recommend checking out the series Casa de Papel (Money Heist) on Netflix and experiencing, to an extent, the point of view of modern-day partisans and their quest for exposing a corrupt system, all while risking their lives to unlock absolute financial freedom. Hint: the final season is coming on Netflix this December, so make sure to watch the previous parts to avoid any spoilers on social media as this series is going to finish with a bang.
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