The Brand: 
Celestial Seasonings is a tea company with a rich 50+ year history and a huge worldwide presence, originating in Boulder, Colorado.

The Task:
Evolve Celestial Seasonings’ social media presence with organic content. Gather insights to inform larger paid campaigns.

The Insights:
1. People (and the internet) are obsessed with the character “Sleepytime Bear”- a bear from the vintage box artwork on Celestial Seasoning’s Sleepytime Tea. Celestial Seasonings had one previous modern campaign with the bear that they felt deviated too far from what they were as a brand.

2. We are all so, so tired. There is something so deeply relatable about wanting nothing more than to be a cozy lil guy next to a fireplace, enjoying life’s simple pleasures.

3. Non-alcoholic beverages are spiking in popularity, including those that are natural. Good thing Celestial Seasonings makes tons of delicious tea!

The Opportunity:
My team identified that we could bring the Sleepytime Bear to life in a new way, crafting a tone of voice that positions him as a source of soothing, wholesome support and relatable humor.

If we are able to funnel the appreciation for the character into a larger appreciation for the brand and its huge variety of teas, then we can drive brand loyalty, awareness, and sales.

ALL ORGANIC CONTENT - NO PAID MEDIA DOLLARS

Our work gained:

22 MM+ Social Views

2.5 MM+ Likes

70k+ Comments

300k+ Shares

160k+ Followers

What I Did:

• Led both the team in develop a new social media strategy, audience cohorts, tone of voice, visual guidelines, guardrails, and content pillars

• Reinvigorated the voice of Sleepytime Bear, which lacked modern appeal to younger audiences and had historical tendency to lean corny over charming or go TOO full “internet-y” and off-brand

• Managed a team of content creators to concept and execute strategic organic content to market Celestial Seasonings in a completely native way

• Wrote and designed memes using the Sleepytime Bear illustration on Instagram and Facebook to prove out our team’s theories

• Led artistic direction of the mascot costume in collaboration with the client and vendors.

• Successfully capitalized on the TikTok’s popularity as a platform, using native features and trends

  • Branched this success out onto Instagram (Reels, Stories, and In Feed) and Facebook

• Explored creator-led, non-Sleepytime Bear content - unearthing many insights about ways to apply success with Sleepytime Bear towards brand goals

• Wrote lots of comment responses and proactive comments on outside content, building 1:1 relationships with many fans and brands

  • Several of the people we interacted with got tattoos of Sleepytime Bear, including this one. I communicated with this legend and her content for over 4 months prior to this video.

• Led the social team on various amazing activations

  • Celestial Seasonings had the pleasure of being able to invite Sleepytime Bear and our crew to celebrate Hain’s 50 years of business at the NASDAQ Closing Bell

  • Led partnership with NYC Ferry to have Sleepytime Bear interact with fans both outside and on board regular Ferry routes, while creating social content in collaboration with the outstanding NYC Ferry team