If you've been keeping up with the latest from PEOPLE BRANDS AND THINGS, you’ll have noticed our obsession with all the cosmic and galactic-themed campaigns dominating the consumer landscape this quarter.
We loved Starface's "Earth Star" campaign featuring Devon Lee Carlson. We also enjoyed watching SKIMS' National TV spot that transported viewers to a secret SKIMS lab in outer space. Honorable mentions include Wild One's Lunar collection, Jeni’s Splended Ice Creams’ "Punk Stargonaut” launch, and of course, Kylie’s latest fragrance, "Cosmic".
You may be wondering, why is everyone obsessed with space right now? There are many reasons why this theme is so compelling. For starters, escapism is powerful. There’s no greater feeling than escaping your daily life (in real life), whether that means going on vacation or unplugging for an afternoon walk. But the second best thing may be immersing yourself in an alternate universe created by your favorite brand. Given the chaotic state of Earth right now, going to another planet feels quite appealing — hence the space-theme. The grass does always feel greener!
Another reason might just be the cool aesthetic. There's something about shiny, metallic colors that feels chic — silver was the it color last fall and winter for a reason!
Now, let's talk about the elephant in the room: the solar eclipse. It's unclear how many of these brands intentionally timed their campaigns around this monumental event, or if it was just a happy coincidence. Either way, the solar eclipse definitely helped some of them feel culturally relevant.
Lately, brands seem to be coming back down to Earth a little bit. Over the past couple of weeks, many have been shifting their focus from space to the sky, specifically the clouds. Let's start by diving into Supergoop's latest release: their brand-new "Mineral Unseen Sunscreen SPF 40":
The campaign perfectly showcased the formula’s "cloud-like" texture with visuals that portrayed the product floating, like clouds, into the distance:
The theme extended beyond social media and into the real world at their launch event hosted by Karen Sarahi Gonzalez, featuring cloud-shaped cutouts and cotton candy. What’s more cloud-like than cotton candy?!
Supergoop aside, the brand undoubtedly leading the charge with this sky theme is Summer Fridays. Last month, they unveiled their “Jet Lag Eye Serum,” a buzz-worthy follow-up to their viral Jet Lag Mask.
From start to finish, the entire campaign has been (and continues to be) incredibly immersive. The signature blue color of their visuals reflects the packaging of the product, a homage to the color of the sky. A standout moment of this release was their launch event, what they called the “In the Clouds” activation, held at The Grove in LA:
They just took this campaign one step further, unveiling their incredibly eye-catching OOH play at both LAX and JFK featuring their Jet Lag Eye Serum:
Their placements are everywhere, from digital billboards to TSA bins. Yes, you read that right. Genius! But don't just take our word for it. Before the brand officially revealed the OOH campaign on social media, fans of Summer Fridays were already sharing videos of the bins as they went through airport security. We're willing to bet some are going out of their way, perhaps changing terminals or even booking flights, just to take photos of the ads and share them with their friends. (If you've noticed longer lines at LAX security lately, this might be the reason!)
This is the perfect example of the consumer insight we just discussed yesterday with Olipop: OOH campaigns and real-world activations are becoming increasingly intertwined. In case it wasn’t obvious, we’re so here for this!
We reached out to Blair Badge, VP of Marketing at Summer Fridays, for the inside scoop on this OOH play. What are their business goals? Why airports? How has their community responded so far? Without further ado, here’s what Blair shared:
PEOPLE BRANDS AND THINGS: How much of this OOH campaign is about amplifying the Jet Lag Eye Serum launch (and the surrounding theme of travel), versus fulfilling a higher-level strategic objective for the brand?
Blair Badge: For this campaign our goal was for it to serve both purposes — first, to highlight the iconic Jet Lag Mask in celebration of our Jet Lag Overnight Eye Serum launch — which sold out on Sephora.com over the weekend (and we’re working to get back in stock)!
Plus, it was the perfect moment to build additional buzz around travel "must-have" Jet Lag Mask and the brand, especially as Summer travel season begins to officially takeoff.
PBT: How did you decide on the specific placements and cities for the campaign?
BB: Since we’re a California-founded brand, it made sense to start in our backyard at LAX. The connection between Jet Lag Mask and travel has always been at the core of Summer Fridays, so this airport OOH play felt so effortless and intuitive for us. I love that we’ve been able to create a little moment of delight for travelers coming through our hometown airport.
If you’re traveling over the next few months, you can find our digital placements featuring Jet Lag Mask throughout LAX and JFK, along with the TSA bins at LAX.
PBT: The line between OOH campaigns and activations is becoming increasingly blurred. What are your thoughts on this and how has Summer Fridays’ community responded to this OOH play so far?
BB: I’m always taking photos of unique OOH designs and love when brands make their OOH feel like works of art in the wild. Our team's goal is always to create a similar experience — whether it be through our pop-ups, community events or OOH campaigns — thoughtfully created moments that you can’t help but take a photo of and share. I can say this campaign has by far been one of our buzziest to date!
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