As the market has become saturated with advertisements for consumers, leaning into pop culture has proved to be the key to standing apart, especially since 38% of people consider brand involvement in pop culture either important or very important. Still, many brands opt to stay on the conservative side and avoid taking big (albeit culturally relevant) risks. When The Narrative Group took a seemingly “boring” product like yogurt and made it bold by championing the sometimes controversial “cannabis holiday” with Harmless Harvest’s “Harmless Hits Different” Pack a Bowl campaign for 4/20, they were met with 168M earned media impressions, 11M influencer impressions, and record-breaking sales. The success continued with their “thirstiest summer” campaign promoting their coconut water, tapping into “thirst traps” and recognizing “the thirst is real” with their consumers, and logging over 3M impressions in the first 3 months alone. Rebecca can share why bold, culturally relevant, and sometimes “risky” ideas can lead to the most successful campaigns. At the end of this session, the audience will be able to: + Understand what “brand swagger” is and how you can use that confidence and boldness to boost your brand and campaigns + Navigate and find the right threshold for trying new ideas that still align with the brand + Develop a strategy to connect to an audience who “gets it” - building trust with your current audience but also expanding to new ones

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Pushing the Boundaries
How the Wildest Ideas Make the Best Campaigns
Rebecca Coleman

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4. OPENED #1
WORLDWIDE, BREAKING
BOX OFFICE RECORDS
MINIONS TIKTOK
SURPASSED 5M FOLLOWERS
That’s more followers than brands like:
#MINIONS TAG:
13.6B Views on TikTok
#GENTLEMINIONS TAG:
237.3M Views on TikTok
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6. Harmless Harvest coconut water had a rabid fan base but very low overall
awareness. With an extension into plant-based yogurt, the goal was to build
a memorable and consistent brand voice across products while driving
overall sales.
The Challenge:

7. IN EARLY 2021 WE
ROLLED OUT A NEW
BRAND PLATFORM FOR
HARMLESS HARVEST
with the goal of positioning the brand in culturally
relevant moments that just *hit different*
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8. First we needed to
test the waters

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So we did what any brand
would do…

10. Narrative created a tongue-in-cheek mailer for 420, giving away free
bowls (for their dairy free yogurt) to influencers, editors and consumers.
The mailer was filled with 420 innuendos, from the bowl itself, to a
grinder for the “baked” toppings, to fun copy celebrating the moment,
giving those who partake with a fun way to satisfy their munchies.
“On 4/20, Harmless Harvest Is Giving
Out Free Bowls. Of Dairy-Free Yogurt.”

11. We could tell we were onto something

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It was almost hydration season as
summer was fast approaching

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Summer 2021: Americans
were thirsty AF
💧

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They’d become desperate to quench
their emotional desires 💗 and their
physical thirst 😅

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We set out to meet
them exactly where
they were…

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The THIRSTIEST SUMMER
IN HISTORY was born

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The campaign kicked off with
a “flood the feed” moment

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Creators donned
pink bucket hats
and shared what
they were most
thirsty for…

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Getting back out in
the world called for…

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(THE INTERNET TOO)

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And before we knew it,
it was cuffing season

25. “Cuffing Season?
According to Harmless
Harvest it’s actually
Spooning Season.”

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It was a year of bold moves
and big ideas, resulting in…

28. STRONG PRESS COVERAGE

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Winning the “hydration”
segment of premium
functional beverages

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And record breaking sales
🤑
🤑

32. And that’s how the wildest ideas
make the best campaigns
AND deliver ROI
Thank You