Sonoma Clean Power partners with local media company to produce telenovela series

It had many of the hallmarks of a big-time Hollywood event: fancily dressed, beautiful people, who walked a red carpet that lead them past a stylish backdrop where they briefly posed before the flashing lights of a waiting photographer.

But it wasn’t some epic ball in New York or a much-anticipated film premiere outside a sold-out movie theater. Instead, it was Sonoma Clean Power’s Santa Rosa launch of its latest marketing strategy — an online telenovela.

The not-for-profit public agency has partnered with Nexo Media, a locally owned media company to produce a digital telenovela series that Sonoma Clean Power spokesperson Kate Kelly said will be part of the electricity supplier’s marketing strategy to educate and better connect with the Spanish-speaking population it serves in Sonoma and Mendocino counties.

“This is a great opportunity to do this, to be able to showcase what organizations like Sonoma Clean Power are doing in a storytelling way that resonates with the community that is a resemblance of day-to-day stuff when people buy a home,“ said Hector Velazquez, who directed the series.

Velazquez is also CEO and founder of Nexo Media, which has been a multicultural marketing partner with Sonoma Clean Power since 2017.

During Saturday’s premiere event, which was held at Sonoma Clean Power’s Advanced Energy Center in downtown Santa Rosa, mariachi music played in the background as people behind the telenovela’s production sipped margaritas and ate locally made Mexican food.

The eight-episode series, “Por El Mañana,” follows the López family who, after they purchased their first home in California, search for inexpensive ways to renovate as they deal with the trials and tribulations of home ownership.

The first episode is now available on the Sonoma Clean Power website and upcoming episodes will be released over the next few weeks, Kelly said.

She added that the agency also plans to release a radio-version of the telenovela series.

In Jan. 2022, Sonoma Clean Power hired Soluna Outreach Solutions to host a series of focus groups to find ways to connect with its Spanish-speaking audience, Kelly said.

The idea to produce a telenovela series came from one of these groups, which were held in Santa Rosa, Cloverdale, Graton and Sonoma, said Refugio Mata, outreach coordinator at Soluna Outreach Solutions.

He said the purpose of the focus groups was multi-faceted. Soluna Outreach Solutions asked participants what they knew about Sonoma Clean Power, taught participants about the work the public agency does and gathered input on ways it could better reach its Spanish-speaking audience.

After they heard about the results of the focus groups, Velazquez said his team researched the effectiveness of a telenovela as a type of marketing strategy.

The group didn’t find anything like this at a state or national level and it was “loud and clear” a telenovela would resonate with the local community, he said.

Velazquez said production began this past July, with the script written by Francisco Payó González, a Mexican filmmaker whose most notable work is “Saving Private Perez,” a Spanish-language parody of the film “Saving Private Ryan.”

The series was filmed in two days this past November in Santa Rosa. It included local talent, such as actor and comedian Juan Carlos Arenas, Odalis Medianero, Sofia Carolina Valverde, Jacob Cortez, Crystal Diamante and Gustavo Sanchez, all from Sonoma County.

“It's just historic for us, right, being able to be a part of this, especially with (a company) like Sonoma Clean Power,“ Velazquez said.

Connecting to an existing audience

According to 2021 U.S. Census data, about one in every four people in Sonoma County speaks a language other than English at home. And although Latino and Hispanic people don’t all speak a language other than English, they do make up about 28% of the county’s population, which is very significant.

Alma Magallon, president of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Sonoma County, said she has noticed a recent increase in organizations hiring bilingual staff, but this is the first time a local entity has created a telenovela series as part of its marketing efforts.

“Many Latinos grew up listening to the radio, (and) watching novelas, and using these mediums is a great way to relate culturally while also delivering important information,” said Jackie Gonzalez, vice president of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Sonoma County.

Gonzalez, who also works at Wine Country Radio as a marketing consultant, added that local companies are increasingly recognizing the “need to pivot and accommodate our Spanish speakers’ needs.”

"This is what public power needs to be is directly in the community, working for the community,“ said Geof Syphers, CEO of Sonoma Clean Power. The best part of this, he added, was that the idea came from the community.

Depending on how this effort goes, Syphers said he would like to expand this type of strategy to reach people who speak languages other than Spanish and English.

"We're trying things. And I think that's the most important thing is we're willing to try things in order to figure out what works,” he said.

You can reach Staff Writer Jennifer Sawhney at 707-521-5346 or jennifer.sawhney@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @sawhney_media.