DNA Launches #Hibeernation to Stay Wild at Home

Drawing on Rainier Beer’s legacy as a quirky brand loved by outdoorsy beer drinkers, Seattle creative agency DNA has launched the ‘Hibeernation Survival Guide’ - a social campaign designed to help Rainier’s fans stay connected to the outdoors while stuck at home due to Covid-19 stay-home orders.

The campaign kicked off with social content featuring the brand’s legendary wild Rainiers – giant Rainier cans with legs - practicing physical distancing while frolicking in the Pacific Northwest wilderness, with messaging such as ‘Normally wild Rainiers travel in packs of six - now they travel six feet apart and you should too.’

“We were about to produce year two of our ‘Rewild The Rainiers’ campaign when the pandemic hit, so we had to pivot quickly so the brand could be useful to fans in ways that fit their fun-loving, outdoor-loving spirit,” explained Steve Williams, executive creative director at DNA. “The idea of a ‘hibeernation’ inspired a whole host of ways in which the brand could help their fans survive all this time indoors.”

The initial wild Rainiers content – repurposed from existing footage – is followed by new content designed to engage fans by showing people creatively enjoying outdoor activities from home. Featuring everything from a kayak run down a set of stairs to a backyard chair lift ride, the content was shot by DNA staff over a weekend and quickly edited for use in social and pre-roll. Fans are encouraged to show how they ‘stay wild’ while at home using the hashtag #hibeernation.

“When you have a brand that’s named for a mountain and a legacy for good times, it’s important to bring people ideas for lighthearted ways to enjoy the outdoors at a time when those activities are limited,” explained Nick Reely, VP marketing at Pabst Brewing. Hopefully, our take on Hibeernation activities inspires our fans to have a bit of fun, as well as a laugh.  We could all use more of that in our lives right now.’“And hopefully we can give our fans the opportunity to relax and even smile a bit during this time.” 

The campaign also helps Northwesterners de-stress with a ‘Hibeernation Meditation,’ a six-minute, sensory-rich audio experience that takes listeners on an odd-yet-soothing ‘guided hike through the mountain in your mind.’

“This is a challenging time for creatives because there are executional limits and you need to be really sensitive to the cultural moment we are living through,” explained Chris Witherspoon, president of DNA. “So while the audio meditation is clearly meant to be funny, it’s also filled with the sounds of babbling brooks, gentle breezes and chirping birds to give people that moment of zen that many are craving now.”

Creating social engagement was a critical component of the overall campaign and DNA was tasked with finding ways to create content that would give Rainier fans things to do. One series of posts offers curated lists of Pacific Northwest-inspired movies, books and music to help fans pass the time inside, and fans are quickly adding their own suggestions to the list.  DNA is also making daily video conferences more fun with Zoom video backgrounds featuring Mt. Rainier vistas with wild Rainiers frolicking about.

The campaign will appear on social channels including Instagram, Facebook and Youtube and is supported through programmatic media buys that also include banners.

The entire effort was produced by DNA’s in-house production company Petting Zoo.