Have you heard there will be a total lunar eclipse of the Blood Worm Moon tonight? That’s right, starwatchers will be up in the middle of the night (literally 2:26 a.m. where I live) to see this rare occurrence. What exactly is a Blood Worm Moon? It is the merging of two natural events that are happening at the same time. First, a full-lunar eclipse happens when the earth passes between the moon and the sun, causing the shadow of the earth to cover the moon. During this event, the atmospheric particles in the earth’s sky cast a red color (the same thing happens at sunrise and sunset) and causes the moon to look red – thus the name, "Blood Moon.” Every month the moon is full for a day as the sunny side of the moon faces earth. The full moon in March is called the Worm Moon because earthworms and grubs are burrowing out of the ground with the coming of spring. Combine the two concepts and you have the Blood Worm Moon we are experiencing tonight.

There is a lesson you can learn about marketing – particularly brand marketing – from the celestial event tonight. First, there is a catchy name that gets your attention. Your brand has to capture the interest of the consumer. Too often there is little inventiveness behind brand names. They are more in line with what the product or service does rather than what seizes the imagination. If we were going to describe the event tonight, we would call it a lunar eclipse of the full moon in the month of March. There is not much zing to that phrase like there is in calling it the Blood Worm Moon.

Second, there is a defined target market. People who are really into astronomy are the people who will set their alarms to get up in the middle of the night to get a glimpse of the reddening moon. In marketing, you have to find your target – those who are more likely to buy from you and gear your marketing to them. Make them aware of your brand so they understand what you are selling. Entice them to try it for the first time. Give them a reason to buy it. There is little reason to market to people who have no interest or need of what you’re selling. Find your target.

There is a third marketing lesson that is a part of this event: FOMO – the fear of missing out. If you do not gaze up at the sky at the right time (in a cloudless environment, no less), you will miss the entire thing. It is not like you can come back tomorrow and get the same thing – you are either there at the right time or you miss it. So let me tell you what hardcore stargazers are doing right now. They are watching the weather to make sure they get a good look at the moon. They have chosen a place that gives them an unobstructed view of the night sky. They set their alarms. They have charged their batteries to make sure they get a good photo. FOMO is one of the best marketing tools to get people within a target market to take action on your brand. Whenever you have a one-time event, you have a powerful marketing tool.