Banco Santander: Cuanto Más Allá with Rafa Nadal.

Cuanto Más Allá is the feature documentary produced by Banco Santander about Rafael Nadal, premiered on Amazon Prime Video on 22 October 2022. It runs 92 minutes, was directed by Christian Pastor (La Joya Producciones) and was filmed over five years across five countries. It is one of the most ambitious branded content projects produced by a Spanish financial brand in terms of production investment, festival run and international reach.

The project interests the sector for several reasons. First, the scale: an estimated investment between €1.2 and €2 million (according to sector sources published in El Publicista and Marketing News) places the documentary above 90% of Spanish branded content projects of the year. Second, the chosen format: cinema-quality documentary, not spot nor YouTube series. Third, the distribution: festival premiere, global streaming platform and subsequent release on social networks.

What is Cuanto Más Allá and why was this documentary produced?

Cuanto Más Allá is a biographical documentary covering Rafa Nadal's sporting and personal journey between 2017 and 2022. The thread is the search for the deep motivation that keeps the tennis player competing after recovering from injuries, conquering 22 Grand Slams and periodically questioning whether to continue or retire. The editorial premise is the question: "How far can you go and why do you keep trying?".

The documentary includes:

• Previously unseen footage filmed during tournaments, training sessions and intimate family moments.
• Testimonies from close figures: Toni Nadal, Carlos Moyà, Maymó (physical trainer), family.
• Interviews with external figures: Roger Federer, Iker Casillas, Pau Gasol, Carolina Marín.
• Archive footage of Nadal's key sporting milestones between 2008 and 2022.

Banco Santander has held a sponsorship relationship with Rafa Nadal since 2007 — he is global ambassador for the bank — and since 2008 sponsors the Open Banc Sabadell tennis tournament in Barcelona and the Rafa Nadal Academy in Manacor. The documentary fits within this stable relationship and is framed within the responsible business and sports commitment strategy Santander declares in its annual reports.

How was Cuanto Más Allá distributed and what audience results did it obtain?

The documentary's distribution strategy followed a four-phase sequential pattern designed to maximise editorial reach:

Phase	Channel	Date	Objective
1. Festival	San Sebastián International Film Festival	September 2022	Critical validation
2. Premium release	Amazon Prime Video (190 countries)	October 2022	Global reach
3. Earned media	International press, sports podcasts, talk shows	Oct-Dec 2022	Amplification
4. Digital release	Clips on social networks and Santander channel	January 2023 onwards	Massive repositioning

Public data on the documentary's impact:

• It was among the 10 most-watched documentaries on Amazon Prime Video Spain during the four weeks following the premiere.
• It received editorial coverage in more than 35 international media, including The New York Times, L'Équipe, BBC Sport and El País.
• It generated approximately 320 million earned impressions according to Santander tracking published in its 2022 annual report.
• Exact viewership figures on Amazon Prime Video are not public (Amazon does not disclose them), but sector estimates place them around 2-4 million views in the first three months.

Why did Banco Santander choose feature film documentary format and not a YouTube branded content?

The format decision is strategic and reveals the brand positioning Santander pursues. Compared with BBVA's Aprendemos Juntos, which bets on a weekly YouTube series with cumulative reach over years, Cuanto Más Allá bets on a punctual impact milestone with large-format production.

Five reasons behind the choice:

1. Capitalising on a key moment of the protagonist. Nadal won the 2022 Roland Garros with a severe foot injury, won the 2022 Australian Open from outside the top-5, and there were already rumours of retirement. The editorial window was open and not going to be open for much longer.
2. Premium positioning. A documentary for Prime Video at a festival positions the brand alongside quality cinema, not alongside sponsored content.
3. Immediate international reach. Amazon Prime Video operates in 190 countries. YouTube is global but its algorithm is very local. For a brand with operations in 10+ countries, a global premiere platform makes more sense.
4. Abundant earned media. A "festival-premiere" documentary generates 30-40 times more qualitative press coverage than a series episode. Per euro invested, the free public conversation is much greater.
5. Reusable editorial heritage. After the premium release, clips feed social networks for years. A 92-minute piece can become 200-300 micro-pieces.

"Cuanto Más Allá is not advertising or sponsorship. It is cinema we finance because the story it tells fits the values we stand for: effort, perseverance, purpose. The difference matters."

— Felisa Becerra, Director of Global Marketing at Banco Santander (public statement at the documentary's presentation, September 2022)

What risks does a brand take by producing large-format branded content?

The operation has relevant risks worth understanding before contemplating an equivalent investment:

Risk 1: Dependence on the protagonist. If the central figure has a scandal, sporting decline or reputational change, the brand investment is in limbo. Santander took this risk with Nadal and it went well. Other brands with protagonists who have had reputational problems (athletes, actors, business leaders) have had to withdraw their pieces.

Risk 2: Insufficient appropriation. A 92-minute documentary where the brand appears only in header and closing credits can have excellent editorial run but low association with the producing brand. The audience remembers the protagonist, not the sponsor. The brand lift metric measures exactly this and it is worth activating.

Risk 3: Comparison with independent cinema. If the production does not reach the cinematic quality the format demands, the piece is perceived as "disguised advertising". The comparison standard is cinema, not the spot, and that is very demanding.

Risk 4: ROI hard to defend before the board. A €1.5 M investment without clear sales metrics is hard to defend. It is worth having a pre/post-test panel measuring favourability, consideration, intent of relationship with the bank. Without that data, the project remains as "good reputation but we don't know if it pays off".

Risk 5: Captive distribution platform. If the distribution platform changes conditions, withdraws content, modifies algorithm, etc., the asset is compromised. Santander keeps the documentary's rights, which mitigates this risk.

What role does Cuanto Más Allá play within Santander's overall brand strategy?

The documentary is not an isolated piece but a chapter within a broader strategy. Banco Santander has produced branded content in different formats over the last decade:

• Sponsorship of the Open Banc Sabadell tennis tournament (Barcelona) for more than 15 years.
• Sponsorship of the Rafa Nadal Academy in Manacor since 2018.
• Sponsorship of Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin F1 with associated audiovisual pieces.
• Santander Scholarships with branded pieces on professional transformation and lifelong learning.
• Sponsorship of LaLiga Santander (ended in 2023) with associated audiovisual productions during that period.
• Santander X Community with content on entrepreneurship aimed at startups.

Cuanto Más Allá is the most visible example of how Santander moves the line from traditional advertising sponsorship to auteur branded content. The distinction lies in who owns the content and what story is told. In sponsorship, the brand is invited to someone else's event; in auteur branded content, the brand finances and stewards its own story.

What can a mid-sized Spanish company learn from the case?

Five operational lessons:

1. Production quality sets the impact ceiling. Large-format branded content competes directly with premium platforms' offerings. If not produced with cinematic quality, it is not perceived as cinema and remains a long spot. Production quality is not a detail: it is the difference between the audience seeking it out or being served it involuntarily.

2. The protagonist closes the piece. In large-format projects, the central figure decides between hit and oblivion. Nadal in 2022, in a full comeback year after injury, was the perfect protagonist. Protagonist choice matters more than the sum of other decisions.

3. Sequential distribution maximises ROI. Festival → premium platform → earned media → social networks: each phase amplifies the previous. Releasing directly on YouTube would give up most of the possible editorial run.

4. The internal narrative must coincide with the brand's declared values. Effort, perseverance, purpose: the documentary's three editorial pillars literally coincide with the values Santander declares in its annual sustainability report. The coincidence is not casual.

5. Branded content does not replace, it complements. Santander keeps its entire conventional advertising structure active (TV, digital, sponsoring) and additionally invests in branded content. The two logics coexist and each serves a different objective.

Can SMEs do something similar with a reduced budget?

The logic of the Santander model is replicable at scale. An SME with an annual communications budget of €80,000-150,000 can consider a medium-format branded content project with a relevant local protagonist: a customer with an interesting story, a founder, a transformative use case. Production can range from €25,000-50,000 if working with small producers and concentrating on a single format (12-20 minute short film, short podcast series, 4-episode mini-series).

The typical SME mistake is trying to replicate the format without replicating the production discipline. A short film made with DSLR camera, no script and no professional sound does not produce the same effect. It is better to invest half the budget in a single very well-made piece than to spread it across five mediocre pieces.

How to measure the success of a similar project?

The four metrics I recommend to evaluate a large-format branded content project:

1. Brand lift measured by pre/post panel: favourability, consideration, key brand attributes. Typical investment: €8,000-15,000.
2. Earned media value: calculation of the equivalent advertising cost the editorial coverage received would have had. For Cuanto Más Allá, this indicator far exceeds the production investment.
3. Cumulative time spent: total minutes of attention generated by the piece and its derivatives.
4. Search lift: increase in direct searches of the brand name after the premiere. Quick indicator of awareness impact.

Combining the four indicators yields a qualitative and quantitative view of the return. Traditional performance metrics (CTR, CPL) do not apply and forcing them on a project like this leads to misleading conclusions.

Is Cuanto Más Allá the future of financial branded content in Spain?

It is one of the possible directions, but not the only one. Banco Santander has bet on concentrated punctual large-format. BBVA with Aprendemos Juntos bets on sustained medium-format accumulation. CaixaBank with Wivai bets on a continuous editorial platform. Sabadell bets on specialised B2B content. Each model responds to a different hypothesis about how to build financial brand in 2026.

The right question is not "which model is best?" but "which model fits my bank's strategy, internal culture and budget?". The four answers are valid if they are consistent with the entity's market definition and with its overall brand strategy. If you want to analyse which branded content model makes most sense for your company, book an initial session at no cost and we will review the fit together in 45 minutes.

Frequently asked questions

What is Cuanto. Más allá del dinero?

Branded content project by Banco Santander launched in 2017. Five short films produced with Spanish and international directors exploring non-monetary values.

Why is Cuanto a good example of branded content?

Because the brand renounces being the protagonist. The viewer receives real cinematic art, not banking advertising. Santander is associated with purpose and reflection, not with financial product.

Which short films make up Cuanto?

Five pieces around values: time, identity, friendship, freedom and purpose. Each with its own director and independent cast. Released online and in festivals.

Did Cuanto work commercially for Santander?

It worked as branded content: it won awards (Cannes Lions, Festival El Sol), generated unpaid editorial coverage and improved brand sentiment.

What budget did Cuanto Más Allá require?

Investment estimated between €1.2 and €2 million according to sector sources, above 90% of Spanish branded content projects of the year.