In the United States, there are no restrictions in place regarding branded or sponsored content. In fact, it is estimated that consumers are exposed to nearly 5,000 advertising messages per day (source). Breaking through can be challenging for brands, especially those who are trying to reach millennials who tend to be fatigued and indifferent to commercial messages. Bear Naked granola needed to tell an epic, compelling, entertaining and – most of all – authentic story to rise above the clutter and engage consumers.

The Bear Naked #OneUpIt campaign launched in the United States in January 2014. Bear Naked promoted the campaign and distributed content to its main target, millennials, through various platforms:

•Partnerships: Partnered with YouTube superstar Devin “Super Tramp” Graham (2 million YouTube subscribers), Winter Olympians Hannah Kearney and Chas Guldemond

•Social: Featured videos on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook

•PR: Seeded videos in media coverage in millennial-centric outlets including Mashable, College Humor, YouTube Nation, Rolling Stone

•Experiential: Aired content along the Burton World Snowboard Tour

•Paid Media: Paid online video and search support ensured content reached millennials

What started as a human insight turned into a word of mouth campaign resulting in buzz and conversation spanning the globe. With the help of partners like Devin “Super Tramp” Graham, Bear Naked was able to bring #OneUpIt to life and show millennials how Bear Naked granola provides the fuel and inspiration to take winter experiences to the next level.

The #OneUpIt content produced by Devin “Super Tramp” Graham has garnered more than 2 million YouTube views to date. Amplification of the video content through paid and earned media resulted in more than 320 million earned media impressions and 1,300 PR placements in highly targeted millennial outlets, including Mashable, Rolling Stone, Outside, College Humor and Snowboard Magazine. At ski resorts across the country, over 200,000 product samples were handed out to hungry millenials looking to refuel. More than 700 #OneUpIt consumer entries were also submitted online, resulting in more than 100,000,000 impressions on Facebook alone.

All of this success meant that the Bear Naked #OneUpIt videos reached millions of viewers across multiple platforms and drove substantial recognition for the Bear Naked brand. This helped Bear Naked, on the heels of the program, see a serious sales spike (source: Nielsen).