Branded entertainment is gaining popularity on a national level throughout the United States. From social videos by Red Bull to a full-on TV series from Chipotle, brands are finding more creative ways to communicate through entertainment instead of traditional advertising. And more importantly, consumers are engaging with that content, so much that branded entertainment is becoming a major staple of many brands’ marketing efforts.

It began with a commercial. In a sports-style draft set billions of years ago, all the plants and animals of the world gather to learn where they will spend eternity. Unsurprisingly, Mexico drafts avocados. After the commercial, we pushed viewers to our social channels with #FirstDraftEver, where we launched a live hour-long continuation of the draft on YouTube. There, viewers saw all of Mexico’s other top picks and could even win those picks by sharing the draft on social media. We kept engaging viewers by giving away more Mexican-themed prizes like someone’s weight in avocados and a bar of silver.

Our strategy worked.

The live video, social giveaway and campaign as a whole proved to be wildly successful both for the brand and with consumers.

— Adweek said we had the most positive social buzz of any brand that night.

— Adobe Digital said we had the second most popular second screen experience.

— Engagement across all social platforms rose 5,300%.

— We acquired 30,000 new social followers.

— We received a total of 1.6 billion impressions.

But most importantly, in the months after the Super Bowl, when there’s usually a slump in avocado sales, our sales increased by 35%.