Consumers are seeking entertainment experiences and it is the job of integrated marketing groups to connect brands to those experiences in an authentic way. Brands see tremendous value integrating content across our media platforms (TV, online, mobile, social media, and on-the-ground) to reach key audiences. We look to create branded content that is contextually relevant, adding editorial authority to the brand’s positioning and allowing the brand to stand out amongst the competition. When promoting brand integrations on social, our teams make an effort to expose fans to the sponsors in a way that doesn’t feel brand or logo excessive, in order to maintain an authentic voice.

As branded entertainment becomes more prevalent and in demand in the U.S., sponsors are requesting ownership of the content created to use on their owned and operated platforms. We allows sponsors to utilize its content as long as it remains in our video player. Also it was in copyright litigation with YouTube during this campaign – this created certain restrictions with regards to that platform.

Objective:

The National Red Bull Flugtag is a competitive event where contestants attempt to create homemade human-powered flying machines that are propelled off a 50-foot ledge. Most competitors enter for the entertainment value since the machines rarely fly. Red Bull enlisted Comedy Central, the number one brand in comedy, and Workaholics, a cult favorite show among young guys, to inspire fans develop original designs. Red Bull wanted to take the 5th annual event to the next level – to bring a fun, comedic presence and to engage millennial fans at scale to flex their creative muscles on designs.

Implementation:

The Comedy Central team approached this challenge in phases to ensure the campaign ran throughout Red Bull Flugtag’s promotional window and was tied to the fourth season of Workaholics.

A 30 second on-air spot featuring Workaholics stars Blake Anderson, Adam DeVine, Anders Holm, and Kyle Newacheck introduced National Red Bull Flugtag and encouraged fans to submit their own Workaholics-inspired designs. The spot ran 28 times with continuous visibility online.

The winning design from 'Team Sealow Green' was announced on-air by the Workaholics stars. Comedy Central producers created a video that showcased the team’s Flugtag creation to foster fan engagement and build excitement for the national Flugtag on September 21, 2013. It ran online in the Red Bull hub of ComedyCentral.com and was shared on the Comedy Central and Workaholics Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.

As National Red Bull Flugtag approached, Team Sealow Green traveled to Long Beach along with Adam, Blake, ‘Ders and Kyle, who were judging the national contest. The network’s on-air team captured footage for custom promos and content pieces to drive to and run during a Workaholics marathon. The custom content also ran online and prompted fans to check out more from Red Bull National Flugtag.

Red Bull partnered with Comedy Central /Workaholics to power fan engagement for the National Red Bull Flugtag competition. Over a six month period, the Workaholics cast rallied fans nationwide to participate in the National Red Bull Flugtag, a human-powered flying machine festival. The multiphase campaign included call-to-action spots that aired on Comedy Central and online, encouraging fans to submit their original Workaholics-inspired designs. Custom content on-air and online and promotion across Comedy Central and Workaholics Facebook, Tumblr and Twitter accounts drove fans to the online hub on the Comedy Central’s web page {redbullflugtag.com/workaholics and cc.com/redbull-flugtag}.

The Red Bull National Flugtag and Workaholics partnership delivered awareness and engagement across all Comedy Central platforms. After 238 days (353,000 minutes) of fan interaction, the campaign achieved more than 27 million impressions across all platforms, including over 11 million social media impressions. When the cast arrived onsite to judge the entries of the National Red Bull Flugtag competition in Long Beach, over 110,000 fans showed up - the largest attendance of all National Red Bull Flutag events.

The Workaholics inspired submissions accounted for an impressive 39% of all Red Bull Flugtag entries. The cast announced the winning team in a video that ran on the Red Bull hub of ComedyCentral.com, capturing more than 200,000 video views, and amplified across the Comedy Central and Workaholics Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr pages.