Cookie Monster Café Melbourne

Cookie Monster Café was launching in Australia for the first time, with no owned social channels and a limited trading window. The brief was to create immediate awareness, drive foot traffic, and position the café as a must-visit destination during peak trading and school holiday periods, without relying on paid media.

The challenge was scale. How do you launch a globally loved brand locally, generate sustained buzz, and reach families, tourists and fans across Melbourne using earned and partner-led channels alone?

Darling Bloom designed a partnership-led launch strategy built around visibility, cultural relevance and shareability.

The campaign centred on four pillars:

• High-impact launch moments at Melbourne Central and Highpoint, designed to be highly visual and socially shareable

• PR and earned media to establish credibility and national awareness

• Influencer and creator amplification to act as the café’s voice in the absence of owned channels

• Shopping centre amplification across social, email, websites and in-centre digital placements to layer reach and sustain momentum

Every element was designed to flood social feeds, encourage organic sharing, and embed Cookie Monster Café into the retail and cultural conversation.

Two high-energy launch events featured Cookie Monster appearances and giveaways for the first 100 customers, creating queues, excitement and strong visual content.

A curated mix of family, foodie, lifestyle and nostalgia creators were invited to experience the café, generating playful Reels and TikToks that captured first bites, queue energy and the novelty of the space.

PR coverage was supported by high-quality imagery and video, while tourism and city platforms amplified the launch through listings, editorial and newsletters.

With no paid media, the campaign relied on trusted creators, publisher credibility and the reach of shopping centre partners to replace the need for café-owned channels.

In just over two months, the campaign delivered:

• $155k in earned media value
  
  

• 5.6M+ estimated reach
  
  

• 6.1M+ impressions
  
  

• 47 reportable placements across PR, Shopping Centres and Influencers
  
  

• $0 paid media investment
  
  

Shopping centre amplification proved critical, with layered exposure across social, EDMs, websites and in-centre screens significantly extending reach. Video content delivered the strongest performance signals, while a high volume of micro creators helped the brand feel everywhere during peak trading.

Almost all influencer content was secured in exchange for a drink and dessert, delivering exceptional value efficiency and proving the natural pull of the Sesame Street brand.

The launch positioned Cookie Monster Café Melbourne as a must-visit destination for families, fans and tourists, and demonstrated how a global brand can achieve scale locally through smart partnerships and earned-first thinking.

The results now serve as a powerful proof point for future site launches and leasing discussions, clearly demonstrating the commercial value and footfall-driving power of the Sesame Street brand.