The branded entertainment space is experiencing tremendous growth with the always on consumer and intrinsic, simultaneous use of multiple devices. As the mobile, on-demand culture evolves, and devices are smarter and more accessible, consumers will continue to drive demand for content, making it critical for brands to develop quality entertainment. Increasingly, savvy consumers will determine what content is worthy of watching, while technology and the web will shape the opportunities.

With that said, Branded Entertainment is anticipated to remain on a significant path of growth as content migrates effortlessly across all platforms. In our realm, the category has flourished to become hyper-competitive, with a nominal degree of restrictions. The space will not be defined as traditional advertising has been over the past 60 years. Beyond renting audiences, brands now have the ability to assemble audiences themselves, publishing and distributing content that is contextually and culturally relevant. Instead of interrupting with out-of-context messages, brand narratives flow seamlessly throughout a cross-media/cross-channel content ecosystem. Resulting with consumers that are able to connect with a brand and engage in more compelling and entertaining ways than ever before.

With inspiration from Toyota’s “Let’s Go Places” brand tagline, a custom hashtag #LetsGoToSet was created to solicit questions from Rizzoli & Isles fans. Responses were transformed into fan-powered content: long-form webisodes, custom vignettes, and promotional web drivers. Videos posted at tntdrama.com, took viewers exclusively behind the scene with series’ regulars Tina Huang and Jordan Bridges. Viewers experienced iconic sets, insider secrets and Highlander’s distinctive features. All cross channel efforts were anchored by the in-show vehicle storylines , promoted with tagged tune-ins, in-show billboards and social media was the campaign’s cornerstone to provide super fans exclusive access to content.

Toyota achieved a 280% return on investment as a result of our custom integrated campaign and the vehicle received an enthusiastic fan reception. Episodes of Rizzoli & Isles averaged 15 million viewers during the season and the effort delivered more than 110 million on-air impressions. Meanwhile, fan submissions and social engagement blazed on platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, which delivered 146K social interactions with #LetsGoToSet content during the campaign. More importantly, Toyota saw an immediate lift in brand recall, brand opinion, and likability. The Rizzoli & Isles campaign invited the audience to ”Go Places” and reinforced the idea that Toyota is an exciting, inclusive, and invitational brand.