€14,000 per post: What Enrique Iglesias charged Santander for social media mentions
The singer’s company was paid a total of €115,000 for plugging controversial concert, which ended with boos and the ire of fans
For tweeting a message just 50 characters long, a simple “#thanks for a magical night #santander #spain !!!!!!!!” all in lowercase, Enrique Iglesias charged €14,000. In total, the Jubilee Society of the Government of Cantabria, in northern Spain, paid €115,000 to a company for arranging eight social media posts by the singer, who held a concert in Santander in July. The show was not without controversy, however, and ended with boos from the audience after the singer simply walked off the stage.
In the documentation that the Jubilee Society has sent to the regional parliament of Cantabria, it was outlined that the three tweets, three Facebook posts, and two Instagram posts had to be produced between July 16 and 19. Those mentions would have a market value of €120,000, as they would reach 70 million followers.
The company, Market Insider, which has the exclusive rights for media advertising and social media for Enrique Iglesias, indicated that the initial agreement was for only two posts on social networks and for the distribution of press releases. According to the company’s documents, the two posts became “no fewer than eight.”
gracias de nuevo Santander! 🙏😘 To all my real fans I love you!!!! pic.twitter.com/hmPPan5sGQ
— Enrique Iglesias (@enriqueiglesias) July 19, 2017
thanks again Santander!
The posts contained videos and photos of Enrique Iglesias thanking the crowd for his July 15 concert at El Sardinero stadium. “All of these impacts add up to what was agreed upon,” says the company.
The social media messages were sent during and after the event, which was one of the main acts of the Lebaniego Jubilee Year, a religious and cultural event in the region.
#gracias por una noche magica #santander #españa !!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/ggAE1RuCQb
— Enrique Iglesias (@enriqueiglesias) July 16, 2017
#thanks for a magical night #santander #spain !!!!!!!!
Iglesias’s performance ended with complaints from the audience because the singer left abruptly and without saying goodbye. “Hands in the air, this is a hold-up!” some attendees chanted afterward.
@enriqueiglesias Así acabó todo. El problema de sonido no justifica que te hayas ido sin despedirte ni hayas cantado. Pena. Engaño. pic.twitter.com/iVFPBOs0Q0
— PromesasCumplidas WP (@PozueloWeddingP) July 15, 2017
That’s how it ended. Problems with the sound system do not justify leaving without saying goodbye or singing. What a shame. Scam.
One of the criticisms of regional deputy Santiago Recio, of the Popular Party (PP), is that the posts did not once mention the Monastery of Santo Toribio de Liébana or the Lebaniego Jubilee Year.
The politician told the EFE news agency that the €115,000 spent seems like “a lot of money” to make social media posts, and he believes that “not much value comes out of spending Cantabrian taxpayers’ and event sponsors’ money” on such posts.
In addition, he complained about the “lack of transparency” by the government, which is run by the Regionalist Party of Cantabria, and criticized the “disastrous management” of the Jubilee Year.
Manuel Bahillo, of Market Insider, explained to Cadena Ser radio network that marketing experts made a report that “positively” valued the expense and calculated that the value of the impact should have cost even more than what was spent.
Bahillo highlighted the impact on social media “with millions of Enrique Iglesias’ followers.” In the end, according to Bahillo, “everything is translated into numbers,” and tourism in the region increased that month.
English version by Debora Almeida.
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