• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, May 7, 2020

Want to paint your dog’s toenails? Use a toilet backwards? Master the blanket fort? Lucky Brand is hoping all this safer-at-home downtime has sharpened consumers’ competitive spirit, and that they’re willing to play its new #WinFromHome game. The twist is that winners’ prizes also go to their favorite essential workers. 

“Shortly after we all started working from home, we launched a community content hub called 'Lucky Together,’” says Deanna Bedoya, senior director, brand marketing and creative services at the Los Angeles-based denim company. “It started with a general message of solidarity and safety, but as days went by, we wanted to make it fun and give it a daily dose of optimism.”

The result is a game developed by Preacher, Lucky’s Austin, Texas-based ad agency. It issues daily challenges on its Instagram account, using richly illustrated “playing cards.” People can enter and tag others, including their favorite essential workers, with the chance to win prizes for themselves and others.

The company is redirecting part of its marketing budget to support the game, with each day’s winner getting a $250 Lucky Brand Gift card for themselves, another for an essential worker of their choice and a $500 donation to the winners’ favorite charity. And each day, 25 runners-up win a pair of jeans for themselves and another for their essential worker.

“We know it’s not like getting a $3 million check,” Bedoya tells Marketing Daily, “but it’s enough to make an impact in a way that’s timely and feels meaningful.”

She says the company is using marketing funds initially earmarked for photoshoots. “We can’t do them now, with social distancing. So we were looking for a fun way to drive home the message that when we stay in, everyone wins,” she says. (Her personal favorite challenge? Powersquatting the cat. And she’s proud to say her boyfriend has accepted the challenge to become a #PlantDaddy.)

She says the denim brand has always prided itself on a sense of humor, which the game has amplified.  “This is a fun-spirited competition and even has some one-upmanship in it.”

The all-social campaign, which also includes an influencer component, targets mostly millennials. About 75% female, many “are probably working from home with kids, so we included some challenges that touch on that. But others live alone, maybe without pets, so we have challenges that fit them, too.”

The goal is to inspire user-generated responses. “The share-ability of our content speaks to that community, and the sense of being in this together,” she says.

Like many retailers, Lucky shut down its stores, so sales have been impacted. And she says that while much of the #saferathome crowd is living in pajamas and yoga pants, Lucky is about to launch a new campaign called “Stretch your expectations,” focusing on how comfortable its jeans are.

“Denim is tried and true. We’re showing you can put on a pair of jeans and still be comfortable," Bedoya says. "They can stretch and move with you, and you can still feel like you're getting dressed every day.”

And recent brand research finds that people are interested in fashion and styling content, even as they work from home.