Agency: Slay Communications (Richmond, VA)
Campaign: My Favorite Pillow, aka 2 Guys, 600 Pillows
Duration: September 14 – ongoing
Budget: $60,000
SleepBetter.org is a consumer education platform for Carpenter Company, manufacturer of comfort cushioning products. Dan Schecter, VP of consumer product sales and marketing and creator of SleepBetter.org wanted to produce a viral video that would appeal to millions of online viewers and drive traffic to SleepBetter.org.
“Our mission is to create an ongoing dialog with America about the value of sleep,” Schecter explains. “This campaign is focused on getting consumers to pay attention to sleep tools – pillows, mattress, etc – and drive them to [the site for] good information in a non-threatening, non-medical, non-selling environment.”
Schecter's inhouse team and AOR Slay Communications in conjunction with “internetainers” Rhett and Link, The Hodges Partnership, and EndGame PR created the “2 Guys, 600 Pillows” video, which launched September 14.
Strategy
The team solicited video concepts. Rhett and Link, who have upward of 500,000 followers across multiple online channels, proposed a song about people's relationship with their pillow and letting go of old ones. Slay Communications president Joe Slay says Rhett and Link's concept and sense of humor were a good fit, and their large fan base was attractive.
Social media channels and media and blogger outreach helped drive awareness and spread the video.
Tactics
The video footage was reversed so that pillows appear to fly backwards. It was posted on numerous sites, including Rhett and Link's YouTube channel, website, and Facebook and Twitter pages, as well as on Sleepbetter.org and its Facebook and Twitter pages. It was also distributed to iTunes and numerous video aggregation sites, including DailyMotion.
Trade media and home products, video, and music reporters and bloggers were pitched. The team also targeted key social influencers on Facebook and Twitter.
Results
Slay reports that the video surpassed one million views on Rhett and Link's YouTube channel less than four days after launch. As of late October, it had garnered 3.2 million views across all channels.
SleepBetter.org drew 213,000 unique visitors in the month following the video release compared with 3,567 in month prior.
“It's the biggest bump ever to the website,” Schecter says.
SleepBetter Facebook fans increased from 800 prior to the campaign to more than 4,350. The campaign garnered placement in numerous outlets, including Bloomberg Businessweek, Time.com, and MSN.com and also tweets from Ryan Seacrest and Jason Alexander.
Future
The team is currently using similar tactics to promote a new video called “Paranormal Pillow,” which is tied to a contest with customer and partner Belk department stores.
