Our campaign targeted duel audiences in both the United States and Korea.Companies are experimenting with branded content in the US, but often in an overt way, clearly marking the content as marketing material. As our brand wasn’t established in the US yet, we wanted to tell an entertaining story first and foremost, and let consumers discover the brand’s involvement in a natural way.On the other hand, branded content is not yet a common marketing approach in Korea; especially content that uses sophisticated storytelling with subtle brand involvement. We had an opportunity to surprise our audience in Korea, where this category is dominated by retail ads, featuring product shots and smiling celebrities.

We created a sophisticated satirical campaign that would amuse and entertain audiences in both the US and Korea, and also reference Korean history and its sometime-tense relationship with its neighbours. This layer of cultural subtext was designed to start a cultural discussion online. We created an online documentary exploring a made-up theory that pizza was invented in Korea and stolen by the Italian explorer Marco Polo in the 13th century. The documentary was supported by an integrated social ecosystem to engage viewers in the story across multiple touch points.Street posters, QR code stickers and protest signs first drove the audience to our conspiracy theory blogger, who then led them to our fake production company and the documentary. Characters were given a mix of English and Korean websites and social properties. A CafePress store was launched for supporters to buy swag. Everything worked together to immerse people in the story.

The documentary went viral, clocking up 2.2m views. It was praised for its sophisticated satirical approach and attention to detail, a rarity in this category.News, food and culture blogs covered the story, as well as mainstream newspapers and TV news. A sociologist at Victoria University wrote a 9,000-word piece analysing the cultural nuance and subtext in the campaign, and it’s being featured in a Canadian school textbook.Because the documentary parodied aspects of Korean history and Korea’s sometimes-tense relationship with its neighbours, a huge online debate was started. Thousands of passionate comments and blog posts were made about Korean national identity, disputed history and the role of satire in Korean humour.The campaign earned $2m worth of unpaid media, giving the client a 1600% return on their investment.