The Campaign

Branded Content in New Zealand is normally limited to products or Fast Moving Consumer Goods – not Government messages. This distinction is even more profound when it comes to PSAs, which traditionally have only appeared as prime time, 60 second television ads. It was always considered highly unlikely that you would be able to get a disinterested, and sometimes actively hostile audience motivated enough to want to actually seek out a PSA online, let alone engage with something longer than a few seconds in duration. Blazed bucked this trend and proved that Branded Content can be a powerful method of communicating with a niche audience in New Zealand.

Results

CHALLENGE: NZTA were targeting Maori, age 30-40, who drive under the influence of marijuana. Research revealed the target audience are otherwise responsible family men who like to set a good example to their kids. OBJECTIVE: NZTA didn't want to alienate them by attributing blame. Instead they wanted these men to start questioning their own behaviour. STRATEGY: The key insight was that the dads would be incredibly uncomfortable to learn that their kids knew what they were up to. This realisation was designed to make the dads reassess the safety of their actions behind the wheel. EXECUTION: 'Blazed' resonated with the audience because it focused on a situation that many New Zealanders experience when they are growing up – waiting outside in the car for their dad to drive them home. The kids' awareness that the dad is smoking weed in the house, and their playful mockery of this behaviour, raises the question of the morality of driving stoned, but in a way the audience can own. Director Taika Waititi was the logical choice, as we knew his insights into Maori culture would lend the project a much deeper level of authenticity with our target audience.

Maori TV, a small local channel, perfectly matched our target demographic of Maori men age 30-40. However, viewership figures were very low – averaging about 15,000. To gain impact we negotiated a 'television special' spot during the season finale of the channel's most popular show. Due to the high profile and length of the spot, and a limited media budget, the content was only broadcast once. Maori TV presenter ad-libs then discussed the short film between shows, adding legitimacy and driving people online to Maori TV's YouTube channel where the audience could watch and share Blazed at their leisure.

From a starting place of just 15,000 carefully chosen viewers, Blazed quickly went viral, clocking over 2 million views on the Maori TV YouTube channel alone. It was reposted by gang members, and went on to feature globally in articles at places like TIME, ABC, Fast Company and BuzzFeed.