Objectives

Hollister Co., the global retail brand celebrating the spirit of endless summer, partnered with AwesomenessTV with the objective of creating a unique brand experience that would drive a deeper and more meaningful, authentic relationship with the brands' shared Gen-Z audience through discovery and entertainment.

Considering the unique consumption habits of Gen-Z, Hollister tasked AwesomenessTV to leverage their core insights and premium content creation to develop a full marketing approach that would position Hollister not just as a brand to buy, but as a brand and a story to invest in.

Strategy and Execution

In May of 2017, AwesomenessTV and Hollister launched their strategic partnership with the release of This Is Summer, a 24 episode original branded content series. This Is Summer, the real story of 7 friends and their journey during one epic summer, provided Hollister with a platform to both engage and entertain their core Gen-Z audience, while also integrating key brand pillars and messaging throughout. Built to embody and reflect the audience we serve, This Is Summer featured a group of real teens, representing key Gen-Z interests and priorities, including diversity and inclusion, LGBTQ+, music, relationships and love. The AwesomenessTV audience reacted favorably, finding a piece of themselves in each of our characters, and strengthening their connection to the content, the Hollister brand, and the This Is Summer story.

This Is Summer extended beyond YouTube, with platform intentional, purpose-built content across all social platforms and relevant events. In addition to series episodes, AwesomenessTV produced hundreds of pieces of social assets, engaging our audience with additional This Is Summer content that provided more ways to connect with the story. With music being a key brand pillar and focus for the series, AwesomenessTV created a This Is Summer soundtrack, featuring original music from Salem Davern, a cast member and rising musician. Her original song, "Step Lightly," was also developed into a music video, which was featured as an additional piece of content on the AwesomenessTV YouTube Channel. The surreal experience was captured through an episode of This Is Summer, including behind the scenes content from the set of the music video.

The cast of This Is Summer also traveled to VidCon, the largest online video creator and fan event of the year. Spending the weekend interacting and engaging with fans, making new friends, and participating in Hollister branded activations at the AwesomenessTV festival plaza further established the relatability and authenticity of the program.

Many members of the This Is Summer cast were featured as models within key Hollister ad campaigns and initiatives, further connecting the brand to the story. Lower funnel tactics were also deployed through the creation of a shoppable experience on Hollister's website, where cast members' styles and favorite items were featured as shoppable for all fans.

Results

The debut season comprised of 1 trailer and 24 episodes, generating over 16.3M+ views, achieving lift in key brand metrics goaled.

This is Summer Performance Metrics

• 16.3M+ Views on YouTube across 24 Episodes + 1 Trailer
• 468 Social Posts from AwesomenessTV & Cast, and Hollister.
• 4.4M+ Social Engagements across Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook & Twitter

This is Summer Brand Lift Results (based on Nielsen Research)

• This is Summer drove higher brand recall compared to participants being exposed to traditional pre-roll & mid-roll advertising. Additionally, those exposed to This Is Summer generated significant lifts across all key brand metrics (Familiarity, Affinity, Purchase & Recommendation Intent).
• All metrics saw double digit increases and were all above Nielsen norms

Media

Video for This is Summer