Sheep Smart

In an ever-distracting world of social media and countless unread emails, sleep evades most of us when we need it. But here’s a witty and wise mascot from Wakefit giving you some sage advice with charts and a pointer. The Bengaluru-based sleep solutions company has introduced the sheep ‘BaaBaa’ in its latest ad campaign, ‘The more you know, the better you sleep’.

The choice of sheep as a mascot is a clever reference to the popular advice given to insomniacs — count sheep to fall asleep. Chaitanya Ramalingegowda, director and co-founder, Wakefit.co, says that they wanted to make the concept of sleep ‘cool and trendy’ while still sharing informative content around the science of sleep. At the same time, they didn’t want the person giving advice to sound preachy or pompous. “It had to be someone who was cute, relatable and could share information in a very distilled, byte sized manner,” he explains.

Called the ‘sleep expert’, BaaBaa has been used in three ad films. Each one begins with a profound-looking sheep talking smugly to the audience: “If you know what I know, you will sleep better.” BaaBaa then validates this with an example. For instance, two friends are talking in a restaurant when one complains of dark circles owing to lack of sleep. The friend advises her to count sheep, and as they paint a picture, the ‘BaaBaa’ interrupts them, and says there isn’t much use just counting sheep. Instead, they should opt for ‘maa-aa-ttresses’ that lower core body temperature, take the shape of the body and give true comfort, thereby improving the quality of sleep.

“While sleep is one of the most important factors impacting a person's health, it is underrated and ignored by most people. The campaign insight stems from Wakefit's commitment to bringing 'sleep' back into the consciousness and conversation of consumers through innovative products,” says Vineet Gupta, founding partner, Spring Marketing Capital. There’s not much better than a good night’s sleep, and with the ‘BaaBaa’s smug but adorable one-liners, the campaign is likely to be a ‘sleeper’ hit!