Attendees stare into the brightly lit distance
Astra Lumina was produced by the Canadian entertainment company Moment Factory in partnership with Fever. It’s a fascinating night walk experience where guests take a one mile long trip across a cosmically mesmerizing nature trail with the stars. The aim is to give people a magical experience that connects them with the stars which is reflected in their slogan, “We’re always told to reach for the stars, but what if the stars could reach for us?” Astra Lumina has had astronomical success since it’s inception and much of which is due to their unique branding strategy. Here are five branding lessons that organizations can learn from Astra Lumina.
Author Goldie Chan takes images of the changing colorful lights.
1) A Universal Theme
No matter how old a person is, what country they are from, or what hobbies they’re into, everyone loves the stars in the sky. Humans have been fascinated with them since the beginning of time, and this experience captures the imagination of adults, children and people from all walks of life. Astra Lumina is a global experience, showcased in Asia, Europe and North America. Having a universal theme means that you can market your products and services globally and still attract your target audience because you’ve successfully expressed an emotion that everyone can relate to. It means all language barriers have been dismantled and that someone from other countries can capture the essence of what’s being presented.
A glowing globe draws in viewers.
2) Spark Emotion
Reading customer reviews about Astra Lumina provides insights into the emotional experience that visitors had. You had attendees comment, “It was a beautiful and magical experience,” “The most magical experience ever,” and “An absolutely incredible experience.” Building an emotional connection with your audience is one of the most effective branding strategies. Psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky discovered that humans often make decisions that defy logic because they are emotional creatures. Therefore, tapping into emotions is a powerful tool. If you can get your audience to attach positive emotions to your brand, they’ll keep coming back for more.
Deeply glowing globes hang from the trees at night.
3) One-Of-A-Kind Experience
Not only is a happy customer a loyal customer, but they’ll be quick to promote your business on your behalf. Many visitors described the Astra Lumina experience as, “magical.” A magical experience is one that evokes unexpected joy. Such experiences encourage people to leave their troubles at the door and bask in the moment. Even after leaving the environment, they carry that experience with them, and every so often, they’ll remember it. Whatever business you’re running, make it your mission to give your customers a one of a kind experience, and you’ll be in business for life.
4) A Deliberate Content Strategy
Astra Lumina provides interactive story-telling that creatively engages onlookers. During the journey, guests travel through scenes that tell the stories of how the stars found their way into an earthly garden making it a hypnotic and mezmorizing experience. Their advertising campaign has done an excellent job of capturing the splendor of the event on platforms such as Instagram and Facebook with plenty of paid adverts. They’ve had such a good response, they’re extending their dates. Their success is an indication of a superior content strategy that has captured the imaginations of their audience. They’ve made a combination of short video clips and written content to give viewers just enough to draw them in.
Although they probably had a huge marketing budget, their content ultimately had the biggest impact. Not every company is going to have their budget; however, investing in paid advertising on social media platforms is an effective way to get the attention of your target audience because it’s used by the majority of the world. For example, Instagram has approximately 1.28 billion active users. With social media marketing, you can strategically target your adverts to ensure they get in front of your target audience. Nevertheless, you’ll also need to make sure your content is on point so that it captures viewers attention in the first place.
5) Focus on Uniqueness
You can’t get any more unique than bringing the stars to earth. No other companies are providing such a captivating and enthralling experience. Astra Lumina’s uniqueness is their defining quality, it’s what sets them apart and makes them stand out. If you can focus on the uniqueness of your brand and highlight the characteristics that give your company it’s competitive advantage, you’ll attract a loyal and devoted customer base.
You may not have the budget required to fine tune your brand like Astra Lumina, but there’s nothing stopping you from using the same strategies just on a smaller scale. Successful companies have left a blueprint for you to follow, and if you apply the same principles, you’ll win too!
I attended Astra Lumina for free but all opinions are my own/the opinions of the above mentioned.
