Momentum Energy built a working lava lamp into a Melbourne tram shelter to 'Get Happy'

Momentum Energy — 100% Aussie owned, with parent Hydro Tasmania generating more renewable power than any other Australian business — wanted emotional rather than rational messaging: 'You have to buy power, so why not choose a company that makes you feel happy?'

JCDecaux's Creative Solutions team fitted the high-traffic shelter at St Kilda and Commercial Roads with the lava lamp, a shelter wrap and floor decal; across St Kilda Rd a second build paired a wrap and floor decal with an animated lenticular poster of dancing legs; a sparkly sequin tram wrap ran playful journeys city-wide. The installation wrapped up 22 March 2021.

Delivered an industry-first lava lamp build and Melbourne's first sequin Glam Tram; no performance figures were published — the goal was to buoy commuters' spirits and make customers feel good about an undifferentiated product.

In March 2021, as Melburnians restarted their regular commutes, energy retailer Momentum Energy launched its 'Get Happy' campaign across Victoria — built around a working lava lamp installed inside a tram shelter.

JCDecaux's Creative Solutions team custom-built the lamp into a Citylight panel at the high-traffic St Kilda and Commercial Roads shelter in Melbourne, so commuters could pass their wait watching it bubble, with a shelter wrap and floor decal making the space semi-immersive. Across St Kilda Road, a second special build featured an animated lenticular poster that looked like dancing legs as people passed.

The campaign also put Melbourne's first sequin-clad 'Glam Tram' on the rails, a sparkly wrap offering 'a playful journey across the city'. Momentum's head of marketing Naomi Morton said the point was emotional: every energy company sells much the same thing, so the difference is how a company makes customers feel about their choice.

The lava lamp was a first for JCDecaux's team and an industry first — novelty engineered into street furniture, not just a poster.

Timing did half the work: the campaign met commuters as Melbourne reopened, aiming to 'bring a little bit of brightness' to the daily grind.

Momentum deliberately swapped rational messaging (price, plans) for feeling, betting that undifferentiated electrons are bought on emotion.

The execution ladder — lamp shelter, lenticular legs, Glam Tram — turned one idea into a city-wide format.

In a commodity category, the medium can carry the message: a physical object of pointless delight says 'we make you feel good' better than any tariff claim.

The lava lamp installation ran until 22 March 2021. AdNews reported the build as an industry first for JCDecaux's Creative Solutions team, part of the integrated 'Get Happy' campaign across Victoria. No campaign performance figures were published.