Marketing through the Solar Eclipse

With the solar eclipse happening just this week it was truly a remarkable event, hopefully you saw it because we will not get another one till 2044! With that being said I was drawn into this marketing campaign about two companies Moonpie and SunChips and how they used the solar eclipse as a marketing strategy. The article stuck out to me because of the flashy cover and big letters grabbing my attention. I thought it was very clever how both of these companies went about advertising their limited edition items related to the eclipse. 

This article goes over the promotions the brands moon pie and SunChips did with the solar eclipse to hopefully generate more sales.The main takeaways from this article were first about the brand sun chips.They released a new flavor "Solar Eclipse Limited-Edition Pineapple Habanero and Black Bean Spicy Gouda'', for 4 minutes and 27 seconds during the time of the solar eclipse. They also partnered with a fellow astronaut and researcher Kelli Gerardi to further promote their product. Moon Pie also took advantage of the solar eclipse as a marketing campaign. I would say they took more advantage of this than SunChips. They took it a step farther and created a video advertisement. The setting of the video was a wrestling match, with the competitors being the sun and moon. Moonpie decided to come out with limited edition hawking survival kits that double as blackout boxes to aid with the eclipse viewing. They were being sold at Walmart, dollar tree, their brand website, and other grocery stores. The video was very humorful and its goal was to increase people's excitement for the eclipse, and hopefully generate more sales. My last take away from the article was the overall creativity that both these brands took regarding the solar eclipse. By marketing towards a real life event that is a big deal and does not happen often. I feel that is a very strong marketing strategy and something different and fun that I have not seen done before.

The value proposition for MoonPie is the fact that it is a tasty American snack that people love, that has been around since 1917.  The value proposition for SunChips is that it is a healthier chip and snack option. They offer a variety of flavors made with whole grains that are free from artificial preservatives. .

The marketing relevance of this article is two separate companies trying to increase and generate more sales. They are doing this by coming out with limited edition items related to the solar eclipse that are only available for a short amount of time. In hope that this drives people's excitement up for the solar eclipse therefore increasing the chance of them purchasing their product. Moonpie did this by creating a video advertisement that was humorful and interesting to interest consumers. SunChips took a different approach by getting help from a professional astronaut and researcher to reach consumers. Both with the same intentions of enhancing their brand through a creative and innovative current event. 

The challenge both MoonPie and SunChips are trying to overcome is making their brands stand out and resonate with consumers alongside the excitement of the eclipse. They take the risk by using the eclipse as a marketing tactic because it could fail and not help them reach the goals or it could. Marketing nowadays is about being different, taking risks, and thinking of ways your company can stand out from the other competitors.

This marketing approach is unique and new because both companies are using a current event that does not happen regularly. I would say it appeals to a few different buyer personas, with most obviously being previous consumers of the product. Or people who are excited for the eclipse and even people who are interested in limited products or deals.

I thought that this was a great marketing solution and idea! I have never seen it done before and feel that it is very innovative. I feel that taking advantage of a current event is smart and is a great way to reach more customers. The limited edition items are new and exciting and with people already excited about the eclipse. I feel that it makes the limited edition items these companies are selling more likely to be purchased. I can see that through social media these marketing strategies used word of mouth marketing and got people talking. I feel overall that this is a very remarkable idea and both these companies did a good job using the web and social media to push their idea to the public.

If I was the brand/product manager I would have done the same thing except I would have taken what both these companies did separately and combined them. What I mean by that is if I was in charge of a company using the solar eclipse as a marketing strategy. I would create an intriguing and humorful video advertisement (like Moonpie), and also get a professional related to the eclipse to promote our product (like SunChips). I think by combining both of those strategies it could further push the idea to the public and make it more known.

From this article I learned how important it is to be creative in marketing and how using current events is a great source to help generate more business for your product and help you further relate with your consumers.