BRAMMO is a small company producing a big idea: the Enertia – the world’s first freeway-legal, 100% electric production motorcycle.

In November 2008, the Big Three automotive CEOs took private planes from Detroit to Washington DC, at an estimated cost of $20,000 per person, to ask for billions in bailout money.We retraced this same route on BRAMMO Enertias, getting there on nothing more than $5 in electricity and the kindness of our fellow Americans. Once we arrived, instead of asking President Obama for a handout, we planned to present him a homegrown solution to the mounting transportation crisis – a BRAMMO Enertia.Our goals were ambitious:• launch the BRAMMO brand with no media or advertising budget • position BRAMMO as a leader in the fight for additional government funding of electric vehicles• empower everyday Americans to effect political change through the BRAMMO brand.

With zero paid media, the hub of the campaign was a blog site that which went live a few days before the trip began – ShockingBarack.com. It had to do many things well:• serve as a recruitment tool – a portal for people to get involved• function as a makeshift social community, where thoughts and ideas were exchanged• serve as a springboard for activism – a way for people to effect changeThe site served as a new form of live advertising – one where content was created, produced, edited and published in real time. Our itinerary was fully crowd-sourced, with strangers helping the riders find electricity, food and shelter along the trip.

Throughout the trip, the riders served as evangelists for electric vehicles and the BRAMMO brand, with the Enertias providing evidence that clean transportation is practical, affordable and available today.

In just over 2 weeks, we launched and established an unknown brand with no media or advertising budget. Coverage from over 150 news organizations, including the Associated Press, MSNBC and The New York Times. In all, the campaign generated an estimated 17.2 million media impressions valued at over $1,000,000.We also positioned BRAMMO as a leader in the fight for electric vehicle funding. As a result of media buzz, public support and mounting social pressure, BRAMMO CEO Craig Bramscher was invited to the White House on October 28, 2009 to meet with U.S. Energy Secretary Stephen Chu. The meeting helped advance the cause of electric vehicles and positioned BRAMMO as an industry leader.The campaign further succeeded in creating a kind of hyper-democracy – one where everyday people could use social media to effect government policy with unprecedented swiftness.