As Brisk continues to shift its focus away from borrowed equity, the brand is making a play on mobile and social as a part of a wider campaign to reach its target audience where they spend most of their time.

The "Not Half Bad" campaign is the next stage of its Brisk Bodega platform to try to better connect to its core customer base while promoting its Half & Half product line. The campaign ads will run across Twitter, YouTube and Facebook, both on desktop and on mobile.

"We know that our target demographic isn?t consuming traditional media," said Eric Whitehouse, marketing director at Brisk, Purchase, NY. "Through our research, we?ve found that media consumption happens throughout the day and a lot of that is away from home.

"With this in mind, we knew mobile was a crucial component to deliver our creative where the target consumes content and spends time," he said.
 
"Our goal is to be always on, where our consumers are and when they are. Mobile is a major part of making that happen with their on-the-go lifestyle."

Not half bad
The idea behind this new campaign is to give off a humble, stripped-down, honest message. Brisk decided to go this route after conducting deep research on the demographic.

For the ad spots, Brisk brought in regular consumers from its core customer base and asked for their real reactions to Half & Half drinks. There were no scripts, stylists or green rooms.

One spot has a man drinking Half & Half Iced Tea & Lemonade, and when he finishes, he just says, ?That?s cool.? Then another man says, ?If I was thirsty I?d drink this? after trying Iced Tea & Cherry Limeade.

The third available flavor is Iced Tea & Tropical Lemonade, and they are all available in 24-ounce cans and one-liter bottles.

The campaign will be running across mobile and digital, radio, out-of-house as well as appearing on http://www.briskbodega.com, a mobile-optimized site Brisk launched nine months ago to aggregate original and curate content. Brisk will also place under-the-cap/under-the-tab promotions on one-liter bottles and 24-ounce cans beginning May 19.

Consumers will be able to enter the codes on BriskBodega.com to receive prizes such as 4,000 custom premiums. One grand prize winner will win a 2014 Chevy Avalanche truck with a custom paint job by Crooks & Castles.

BriskBodega
The "Not Half Bad" campaign is the next phase of the BriskBodega platform, which was Brisk?s attempt to shift from leveraging borrowed equity, such as with big sporting events, to developing an owned equity platform. Brisk partnered with Vice Media and Noisey to roll out the digital platform.

BriskBodega.com features music, a behind-the-scenes look at the Brisk Bodega tour and a loyalty program with incentives such as premium headphones and custom watches.

Brisk will also be adding new content to the site, including ?Rap PSAs, ?Live from the Streets? and ?Call Your Mom.? Rap PSAs will range from how to drive safely to how to dress well.

Live from the Streets will focus on young rappers and where they came from. Call Your Mom will have rappers calling their moms.

"As South by Southwest ramps in Austin, brands look to digital and social solutions to better connect with their youth demographics," said Gary Schwartz, Toronto-based author of ?The Impulse Economy? and ?Fast Shopper, Slow Store.? 

"Brands realize that an authentic voice is key," he said. "Brisk hopes that using the consumer voice will make for effective native advertising campaign."

Mr. Schwartz is not affiliated with Brisk. He commented based on his expertise on the subject.

"It is a perennial challenge for brands ? how do they create a social narrative in a conversation they no longer control?" Mr. Schwartz said. "Storify and Rebel Mouse all try and help influence and organize the social narrative, but the brand that will stand out in 2014 will not only curate social content but work out a way of creating and owning the narrative."

"Micro-content creation is the next frontier for brands and agencies," he said. "Buying content from Twitter Amplify is just not enough. Brisk realizes this and are trying to partner with their consumer to amplify their brand."

Final Take
Rebecca Borison is editorial assistant on Mobile Marketer, New York