The Campaign

In Australia, there no regulations preventing or restricting branded content and product integration on TV or online. The only exception is the national public broadcaster ABC, which is prohibited from engaging in commercial advertising arrangements and is entirely government funded. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) does not specifically regulate brand funded programming and simply requires it to meet traditional programming standards. Branded entertainment initiatives have largely been undertaken by media owners, such as free-to-air and pay TV operators. Brand-funded content is typically aired on secondary digital channels and often outside prime time. Broadcasters are increasingly looking at branded content deals as a way of shoring up declining ad revenues, as an alternative to the traditional 30-second TV spot. However, brands are largely relegated to sponsorship deals, as opposed to true creation and ownership of programming ideas. Notable brands that have undertaken branded content initiatives in the past 12 months include; McDonalds, Tourism Australia and Powerade.

Results

The overall strategy for the campaign was to leverage the global brand campaign for Heineken ‘Serenade’. At a local level in the Australian market, the plan was to use the core concept of the master brand campaign and extend the idea to build a consumer engagement initiative for the brand. The campaign was designed to shift brand health measures, in particular to drive increased 'adoration' of the brand - making Heineken more relevant to the Australian audience. The principal thought driving the idea is that rock stars can always get girls, but could they help an ordinary guy get the girl? The campaign aimed to answer this question by giving one lucky guy the help of the Joel and Benji Madden, from world famous rock band Good Charlotte. The lucky winner would get the chance to have the Madden brothers write a unique serenade specifically dedicated to his girl. The band would then surprise the girl in question, by serenading her at a secret gig. The whole journey would be filmed and seeded online through key channels. The first phase of the campaign was a recruitment campaign to find the right candidate. Ads were run in targeted music magazines and online. The band arrived in Australia and started to work with the winner to craft a unique song for the serenade. Both the planning and the rehearsals were filmed. The secret gig was set up in a local pub, and the event managed by the production team. Hidden cameras were placed amongst the crowd to ensure broad coverage of the performance. The footage from all stages was then edited into a 3-minute story. The film was launched online and seeded through social media.

The key driver of the campaign was online activity and social media. The serenade film was seeded through key channels including the dedicated Facebook page, YouTube and other avenues.

The campaign has been highly successful for both the positioning of the brand and its consumer engagement. The film has had over 176,000 hits across Facebook and YouTube – generating conversations and commentary across social media platforms. From a brand health perspective Heineken adorers have increased by 27% over the last 12 months and the key brand scores lifted by an overall 22%.