In the U.S., branded content is prevalent. However, most of it is uninteresting, irrelevant, and just plain poorly produced. The widespread use of product placement within movies, TV shows, etc., has desensitised viewers and diminished the placements’ effectiveness. What resonates now is content that is created to integrate the product in a purposeful and conceptually logical way.

In the case of the ‘Buick One From the Road’ submission, our mini-documentary was not the only content created for our partnership with Harman Kardon and Hellogoodbye. An original song that is downloadable makes content not only entertaining and interesting, but also portable and usable on customers’ terms.

Leading up to the launch of ‘Buick One From The Road’ and the free, original song, we generated buzz and anticipation by leveraging Hellogoodbye’s 500,000+ fan base on Facebook. The edit needed to transcend the music video genre, projecting a feeling of something coming into its own, which the film successfully communicated. On the Facebook pages of both Hellogoodbye and Buick, we posted :10-:30 video teasers that revealed progressively more and more of the film and song, which led to a successful launch.

Although they had always talked about playing to a younger audience, the client had never done anything like this before. It completely reformed the way Buick markets, lowering its demographic age significantly. Harman Kardon was thrilled.Hundreds of comments have been posted and countless conversations have been started over Facebook, Soundcloud, Twitter, and YouTube about this great band and this great, younger Buick. Major news outlets, such as Billboard, the Wall Street Journal, the Boston Globe, AgencySpy, PSFK, and more, picked up this story as both a business and a musical success. And the song spread to 10 countries.