In mythology, there has never been a character more relatable than Kumbhakaran. The mythological sidekick spent unusually long periods sleeping and would wake up only to devour anything in sight. During Doordarshan’s rerun of Ramayana earlier this year, many millennials could not help but notice the similarities between themselves and Kumbhakaran. While they took to Twitter to share hilarious memes, sleep-tech company Wakefit took notes.
Now, in its latest ad campaign for orthopedic memory foam mattresses, the start-up has used the iconic character to drive home a message. “Who better than the OG of sleep to communicate the essential role of a mattress in impacting the quality of sleep,” says Chaitanya Ramalingegowda, co-founder, Wakefit. The ad begins with Kumbhakaran narrating how his old and uncomfortable mattress was coming in the way of him following his passion, that of sleeping. The trouble amplified so much so that he woke up three months early from his six-month sleep cycle.
But, his associates come to the rescue and inform him of Wakefit’s memory foam mattress that can be home delivered. In a matter of few days, Kumbhakaran’s bed is revamped and he goes back to sleep peacefully. The ad ends with the giant declaring that Kalyug is amazing.
“Insufficient sleep is one of the biggest health crises of our times. So, we wanted to create conversations and raise awareness around sleep health, while keeping our storytelling style fun, quirky and informative,” says Ramalingegowda. For the ad, the sleep solutions start-up collaborated with Spring Stories, the in-house content arm of Spring Marketing Capital that also helped ideate on Wakefit’s viral sleep internship program.
The conceptualization of the ad started with a simple brief - product testimonials. “As we devised the script, we wanted to strike a delicate balance between efficacy and a bit of lunacy,” says Sandeep Balan, partner- branded content, Spring Marketing Capital. During the first narration, Wakefit’s team laughed for a few seconds on the opening dialogue, recalls Balan, but the road after that was a tough one. “From the campaign being on hold for six months due to the lockdown to the shoot location being in a remote part of Gujarat untouched by data connectivity, it was quite an experience,” he says.
Shot by Twilight Entertainment, the filming was completed with minimal crew. Launched as a standalone video, the ad garnered 1.2 million views on YouTube and 3.8K social media engagement within a week of its launch. “The focus is to create engagement for the story through multiple mediums on digital platforms,” says Ramalingegowda. This means, Kumbhakaran will be popping up on your screens, every now and then.
So, the next time you are looking at mattress options, you know which expert’s opinion to go with.
