The American branded entertainment market is dynamic in that new models are tested every day, and staid in that the established model still prevails.Branded entertainment activity falls into 3 major categories: product placement/integration, media deals, and content creation.

Product placement is common, transactional, and only restricted in product categories such as alcohol and entertainment categories such as kids' TV.

Media deals include time buys for content distribution, meaning simply an extension of the paid advertising formula into longer form content.

And content creation means brands paying for production, and then seeking (or paying for) distribution.While not particularly restricted, the biggest challenge to branded entertainment in the US is breaking down the long-standing separation of advertising production and distribution, and entertainment production and distribution.

Our goal was to create a campaign that built an audience purely using our own social media channels. We began a conversation with our audience through our existing Facebook page, letting our fans know JW was listening to their thoughts and comments and appreciated their unwavering loyalty. With our most passionate fans we started a personalised dialogue by creating unique video content exclusively for them, which they could share online as social badges of their 'badass-ness'. These personalised shareable videos attracted 57k+ additional fans and inspired others to start up a dialogue with our brand.

By the time Nancy finally served her last digital Jeremiah Weed, we had gained over 57,000 new fans and were receiving nearly 207,000 unique daily impressions on our Facebook page. But, most of all for next to no money, we had found a way to thank our new and existing Weed drinkers for their love and continued support.