The result is “a different flavor” compared to previous marketing, according to Sam Bennett, Mattress Firm’s executive vice president of marketing. “But it feels core to who we are—approachable and helpful, serious about what we can offer people, but fun and light about it.”
Challenges included casting the right actors, capturing their deadpan delivery and picking an emotive soundtrack.
“It’s such a balance because it’s a big, simple idea, but no one wanted the execution to be too broad,” Shaffer said. “We wanted them to be dry but still lighthearted and relatable.”
Richie’s toe-tapping anthem, used as the coda, has been sampled in commercials before, most recently in a 2018 Super Bowl spot for TD Ameritrade in which the performer himself appeared.
Beyond ‘Junk Sleep’
Mattress Firm may be best known for its “Junk Sleep” series starring Liev Schreiber and developed by Droga5. The new effort departs only slightly from the theme of good versus bad sleep because, as Bennett pointed out, competitors in the segment have co-opted that approach over the past few years.
While retaining some of that core message, the new campaign also delves into the brand’s customization, aiming to show that it is not a one-size solution. The characters rattle off a list of the features that help them sleep at night, despite their many waking transgressions.
Mattress Firm, with some 2,400 stores, plans a “robust” push behind the commercials, kicking off the most important selling season on the annual calendar. President’s Day is a key driver for the category, Bennett said, but Memorial Day, July Fourth and Labor Day are the biggest sales events of the year.
The trio of spots—dubbed “Nana Sleeps Hot,” “Socks Guy” and “Double Dipper”—will get distribution on linear and connected TV, online video, radio, social and digital platforms. The ads will get further exposure via Major League Baseball and Copa América soccer games, with the partners aiming to stoke social chatter.
