Samuel Rodriguez was the perfect embodiment of the artist and his beautiful struggle to make a name for himself in the artistic community. He represented a strong cultural reference for Espolòn and was both an authentic figure for artistic Millennials and a compelling extension of the brand itself.

Our collaboration resulted in a series of native ad brand stories, around Espolòn and Sam. The videos were distributed in high-impact units on Complex Media network and Espolòn’s owned channels. Sam took over Espolòn’s Instagram account, where he posted images capturing the neighborhood art that fueled his inspiration. As an industry first, users submitted Instagram pictures dynamically into our Takeover.

We tapped into the social sphere with Facebook and Buzzfeed, activating Facebook engagement through page post and like ads to generate fan acquisition. The partnership with Buzzfeed provided a steady stream of branded content that ignited ongoing discovery and inspiration amongst the audience.

Within 10 weeks, there were:

35K social engagements on Facebook (Likes, Shares, Photo Views).

508 uses of #LetsStirthingsup across Instagram and 21K likes.

Facebook fans up 28%

Twitter followers up 42%

ESPOLÒN Instagram followers up 153%

1.3m video views with 100% user initiated for the custom branded video featuring Sam Rodriguez. The Instagram Takeover, first to market execution, delivered 20,926 Instagram likes, exceeding benchmark by 4x.

Awareness levels rose from less than 1% to 9%. Sales rose by 33%.

Our use of unexpected activations allowed us to stir things up and start winning the hearts (and throats) of elusive Millennials.