The grand opening of Moeya Japanese Cafe provided an opportunity to connect local athletes with the community while driving awareness for a new business launch. Through an in-person appearance and coordinated social media promotion, the activation helped amplify the café’s opening day visibility and engagement.


OBJECTIVES

  • Generate local awareness for the grand opening

  • Drive foot traffic on opening day

  • Leverage athlete influence to reach student and local audiences

  • Create social media buzz before, during, and after the event


STRATEGY

  • The activation centered around authentic, in-person engagement paired with digital amplification.

  • Selected athletes with strong ties to the Blacksburg community

  • Use athletes presence to draw in a larger crowd

  • Use same-day social media posts to further create buzz and traffic for the event.


EXECUTION

On opening day, athletes attended the official ribbon cutting ceremony at Moeya Japanese Cafe, engaging directly with attendees and representing the brand during a key milestone moment.

They:

  • Participated in the ribbon cutting event

  • Took photos with fans and customers

  • Created branded content inside and outside the café

  • Shared posts across their personal social media channels

This combination of real-time presence and digital storytelling helped extend the reach of the activation beyond the physical event.

We:

  • Coordinated attendance at the official ribbon cutting

  • Captured high-quality photo and video content onsite

  • Executed same-day and follow-up social media posts with athletes

CONTENT HIGHLIGHTS: