Sleepy’s takes a more playful approach in a new campaign from Publicis Kaplan Thaler, though the retailer continues to focus on families and couples at home.
One TV ad, “Our First Place,” depicts day-to-day scenes from the life of a twentysomething couple settling into a new home. Together, they frolic, exercise, eat, read and ultimately sleep on a new mattress that they’ve plopped straight on the floor.
Another ad, “Welcome Home,” begins with a forty-ish dad and his children testing mattresses at a Sleepy’s and ends with the return of the matriarch of the family who has been away on military service. After embracing her children and husband, the woman, still in her fatigues, falls fast asleep on her new bed. (See both spots below.)
The ads, which break Sunday, Sept. 8, use music (the song is “Dreams Come True,” a new track from the indie pop band 1985) and a closing visual motif (lights going out on a valley of homes) to lighten the mood and add a dash of style.
“We really wanted to strengthen the emotional connection to the brand,” explained chief marketing officer Jeff Lobb. “We felt it was time to let the world know that Sleepy’s is more a branded house than a house of brands.”
The $75 million campaign—the largest in the retailer’s 56-year history—also includes print, online and outdoor ads. The tagline is, “Making the world a better place to sleep.”
“Making the world” represents Publicis Kaplan Thaler’s first work for the retailer since landing its creative business in June. The new campaign also marks Sleepy’s foray into using an outside agency after years of creating ads in-house. Likewise, in January, the company hired an outside media shop, Horizon Media, to plan and buy media.
