Who: Blue Moon beer, with Rethink for strategy and creative; Citizen Relations for PR; Wavemaker for media and Volt for social.
What: Special “#MoonMode” coasters created for the National Day of Unplugging (March 3) that automatically place a phone into do not disturb mode when it is placed atop them.
When & Where: The coasters are being sold on the Blue Moon website, costing $19.99 for two. The program is being supported by video running across paid and owned channels, and the brand has also partnered with both nano and mid-tier influencers to create what it calls “a swell of cross-country social coverage” on Instagram.
Why: The campaign is formally announcing a rebrand of the beer from Belgian Moon to Blue Moon while reinforcing its new “Made Brighter” brand platform.
While the beer has always been about bringing the extraordinary to the everyday, the “Made Brighter” platform is more specifically focused on alerting its drinkers to the brightness—more specifically, the happiness—in the everyday, said brand manager Luca Garofalo.
But Canadians aren’t necessarily attuned to the happiness that the everyday can bring. Canada has slipped 10 spots in the annual World Happiness Report, a report from the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network that surveys people in about 150 countries. Canada ranked 15th on the 2022 report, down from seventh in the 2017 study.
Blue Moon says that an “endless cycle of scrolling and double tapping through our phones” is at least partly to blame for Canadians’ increased dissatisfaction, citing a commissioned study from Maru Public Opinion which found that 73% of Canadians 19-34 experience FOMO or negative emotions because of things they see online at least some of the time, and that 55% find it challenging to stay off their phones when with friends or loved ones in a social setting at least some of the time.
How: Each coaster contains an NFC tag that automatically activates a phone’s “do not disturb” mode whenever it is placed on top. When influencers go live with the campaign’s #MoonMode graphics and announce their participation in the movement, they will temporarily go into #MoonMode by logging off social media.
And we quote: “With an unexpected burst of citrus flavour, Blue Moon has always been about unexpected, invigorating everyday moments. #MoonMode builds on the work of past campaigns, such as Undrinkable Pints, to clearly define how Blue Moon awakens you to moments of brightness in the everyday and to kick off our new Made Brighter platform in a way which is tangible, timely, relevant, and brand ownable.” — Luca Garofalo, brand manager, Blue Moon
