In the US, brands and advertisers are rapidly increasing their focus on Branded Entertainment initiatives in an effort to increase consumer engagement and foster brand affinity. The modern media landscape offers up many opportunities for brands to tell a story, but because consumers have little interest in being sold to, the need for fresh creative executions combined with honest, authentic messaging is essential. Branded Entertainment allows for that rare thing: a true connection with consumers by way of human, relatable content.

The campaign’s centerpiece music video was shared on Nissan’s YouTube, Facebook and Twitter platforms. Then, content in the form of Vines, GIFs and exclusive photos were promoted across Nissan-owned channels as well as Bret Michael’s channels. Other tactics included video seeding, pre-roll, digital banners and direct emails.

In addition, 6 product videos, also featuring Bret Michaels, were created and curated in a Nissan YouTube playlist so that users could episodically learn about Nissan’s vans and testing. Consumers were ultimately directed to a Tough Love micro-site where they could download Bret’s song for free and learn even more about the vans.

The music video went viral, with 1.5 million YouTube views in 2 days, 94% of them organic. The video currently has 3.2 million views across YouTube and Twitter. Lionel Richie Tweeted about it, unsolicited: “Hilarious!...one of the most rockin’ covers ;).” To date, the supporting product videos have 400 thousand views.

There has been a 26% increase in awareness of Nissan vans, a 33% increase in opinion about them and a 26% increase in social buzz. Traffic to the dedicated site is up 33%.

By the end of 2014, sales of the vans had increased 165% over the year before.