Branded content or entertainment has been a hot topic in Australia. It's been something that's been talked about a lot but not delivered on.

Harley-Davidson was in danger of being seen as a brand for ‘older guys.’ They wanted to capture a younger audience, who are cynical of traditional advertising. Harley-Davidson is an ‘authentic brand’ and relies on that brand image being upheld. In order to maintain credibility amongst our target audience, the traditional channel of TV was cast aside in favour of branded content. Recognising its importance, we wanted to create content as the core element of the comms mix and spend to engage consumers, drive brand dwell time and support SEO.

Young filmmakers were drawn to the opportunity of having their work exposed to industry experts. The wider public audience were drawn to the online content by posters, EDMs and PR. The PR that further surrounded the film festival event drove film buffs and fans from across Australia and New Zealand to Bondi beach for the open screening, hosted by Bryan Brown and judged by Toni Collette. The public were further encouraged to participate online by voting for their favourite films. Prize incentives including a Harley Iron 883, Canon cameras and equipment, kept the momentum going through to the final screening.

The campaign generated far more interaction than we had anticipated or hoped for and importantly met the brief of 1) getting branded content created by filmmakers that brought to life the excitement of owning a Harley through dramatising what could happen with a Harley in 24 hours and 2) lift the sales of the Touring bike range.

The stats

59,383: number of site visits over the festival and campaign period.

41,340: number of unique site visits.

33,072: total number of collective minutes spent on the site.

10,599: total number of views of the Top 8 films.

171 : number of filmmakers who signed up for film tips from Gregor Jordan and Bryan Brown.

65: number of film script submissions and grant applications.

25: number of finished films uploaded.

The result

43% sales uplift: The campaign contributed to a 43% sales uplift for Touring models during the campaign period versus the exact same period of the previous year. A resounding success.