Branded content is commonplace in New Zealand and adheres to both the Broadcasting Act and the Advertising Standard Authority’s Codes of Compliance. Both bodies monitor adherence to these standards by individual broadcasters and standards vary by advertiser category and audience.

Content was a combination of live broadcast, as well as digital video content on Youtube, Facebook and branded websites.

The TV station promoted the content through show promos.The TV station also leveraged a range of Radio stations to prompt people to tune-in using promo space and DJ announcements.

PR maximized exposure of the content locally and around the world – we’d get more coverage in NZ if we made news internationally.

Paid content seeding and promotion within Facebook and YouTube ensured the digital content was accessible. Complemented by paid search to ensure interest in the content was converted to a view.

MINI driving dogs content has been viewed by hundreds of millions worldwide. On social media alone the campaign has reached over 100 million people. It trended everywhere from Huffington Post to Twitter to the BBC (where the content was more popular than the royal baby news).

The content successfully engaged New Zealand – viewership from the training footage tease TV show to the live drive TV show one week later increased 49%.

Meaning awareness of MINI’s association with SPCA increased 600% and engagement with the MINI brand on Facebook increased 440%.

Most importantly, the content changed perceptions of shelter dogs in New Zealand, leading to a 590% increase in adoption interest the day after the live drive TV show and every SPCA dog being adopted. It also changed the lives of countless shelter dogs worldwide, with adoption interest increasing from as far away as the US and UK.