Branded Content is viewed as a crucial part of an advertising campaign in the current US marketplace.

The relationship between brands and entertainment has evolved from 'product placement' to truly integrating the brand into entertainment assets or creating content other than commercials where the product can play an important or character role in the finished production.

We built a 3-story dorm, outfitted it with Target college products, moved in 5 YouTubers and live-streamed it for 90 straight hours at BullseyeUniversity.com. Using #BullseyeU viewers could communicate with the students, alter their experience, and participate in dorm events. Every hour was preprogrammed with activities – from college advice to a Tweet powered ice cream dunk tank. The live feedback empowered us to evolve and optimize the event as we saw what viewers responded to best. BullseyeU was also shoppable – while viewing each dorm room, an interactive overlay allowed students to shop Target, all while the action was streaming live.

Objective 1: Facilitate deep engagement with the brand.

- Milennials responded to the unique opportunity the campaign offered to interact with online idols in real time. Engagement exceeded expectations, with over 3.3 million views and average session duration of 11:33 minutes. Total viewed minutes equals 17 years. 85% of 18-24yr olds see Target as credible place for BTC, compared to 77% in 2012.

Objective 2: Drive purchase.

- During our live week, 160,000 visitors clicked through to Target.com, accounting for 50% of all Target.com traffic. Compared to 2012, Target saw 39% increase in online sales and 2% increase in total BTC sales.