We set out to create a true piece of branded entertainment—a music video and summer song release from beloved indie musician M. Ward. Not just a 30- or 60-second beer commercial. Then, from the music video, we created the advertising campaign. The goal was to help people genuinely daydream for a better summer by giving them more than a beer commercial. A summer anthem as well. The music video was released on YouTube, while the song streamed on Spotify. So you had a choice: Watch the daydream unfold, or listen to the track, and imagine your own.

The Life Artois is about savoring time together with the ones you love the most. But with people continuing to face the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic, heading into the summer, living The Life Artois would not be possible. Caught in this tricky situation, we briefed our creatives with the task of figuring out a way to help consumers escape during a time when it felt impossible to do so. Knowing vacations would be postponed, Stella gave cooped-up consumers a way to enjoy a dream summer vacation without ever leaving their apartment. While summer looked and felt different in many ways, Stella believed that music could be a powerful form of entertainment and escape from isolation.

It’s summer 2020. A woman who is trapped at home during the lockdown—desperate to have a fun day out in the sun—gets paid a visit by another side of herself. It’s her daydream side. The daydream opens a Stella Artois to get her attention. Then, she entices her to leave her apartment and spend a day with her outside. Even if only in her mind. Together, they dance and sing throughout the streets to a reimagined version of the 1966 song “Daydream” by modern musician M. Ward. Along the way, they encounter daydream versions of other people who are also enjoying a day in the sun, singing along to the same song. In the end, our hero returns to her apartment rooftop to enjoy a Stella Artois with her daydream self, who has now disappeared, revealing that she was never there after all.

Stella Artois is not normally considered a summer beer. It’s normally for holidays and special occasions. But 2020 was not a normal summer. Instead of enjoying the summer sun with friends, we were trapped at home, dreaming about summers past. The very antithesis of a brand like Stella, who believes in savoring life together. To help Stella Artois drinkers enjoy a mental break, we invited them to step into The Life Artois, an idealized version of a life they’d rather be living—by inviting them to take a mental vacation from it all and daydream a more enjoyable summer. Since the Stella Artois drinker has more discerning taste, we wanted to do this in a sophisticated way by creating not only a campaign but also an experience the audience could participate in. A way to step out of lockdown and into a daydream, with Stella Artois in hand.

We began the process by selecting the perfect song for a story set during a summer in lockdown: “Daydream” by The Lovin’ Spoonful. A song that was originally a hit in the summer of 1966. We then approached beloved contemporary indie musician M. Ward to reimagine the song for a very different kind of summer. The song was crafted hand in hand with M. Ward to reach the perfect balance of the classic with a modern spin, along with European flourishes to tie back to the Stella Artois heritage. All while striking the balance of a song that was not only hopeful but also sensitive to the mood of a country during COVID-19. The campaign began with a full-length music video release on YouTube and song stream on Spotify. The campaign rolled out nationally on TV, OLV, OOH, social, and digital.

Consumers were eager for content that helped them escape lockdown and get a taste of a summer they couldn’t enjoy. Consumers found this through our daydream campaign, song, and music video, featuring an all-star cast. With over 702M impressions, the music video reached 100% of its target audience online.

During the campaign, shopper frequency increased 2.6% vs. 2019, according to IRI. The campaign drove double-digit volume gains, with volume sales during the campaign up 19% vs. 2019, according to IRI. And during the July-September campaign period, Stella’s e-commerce sales rose 80% vs. the same stretch in 2019.

Our original content and talent roster also drew the attention of the media, as the video garnered 133 pieces of earned coverage (33% above benchmark) with 115.7M UMV (.4% above benchmark).