A good night’s sleep is not just desirable but essential for top performance. That’s the lesson of the IKEA ad that envisions a prequel to Aesop’s famous fable about the tortoise and the hare.
See “The Hare” commercial on YouTube. Note the name of the place where the hare hangs out with friends before playing video games and posting pictures all night rather than getting the solid night’s sleep enjoyed by the tortoise.
The 90-second video is the latest in IKEA’s #wonderfuleveryday campaign. The director is Sam Pilling, and the music’s source is, Witness The Fitness, by Roots Manuva.
In describing the theme of the creative approach, IKEA declared, “We believe a great night’s sleep is the unsung hero of a great day to come.” It considered this imagined night before the race an excellent illustration of how “Tomorrow Starts Tonight.”
The message is a timely one. If, like me, you’ve been finding yourself suffering the effects of sleep-deprivations, you have a lot of company. So, this commercial is on target in addressing customer pain points.
IKEA’s marketing communication manager, Kemi Anthony observed, “Stress and anxiety can have a really damaging effect on sleep, which in turn impacts our waking life, too. A good night’s sleep sets us up for a great next day, and the new integrated campaign aims to help people find ways to prioritize sleep.”
Perhaps they can play off the whimsy in this adaption with creatives that offer backstories to other famous stories about sleep. I can just picture it working for Sleeping Beauty, or better yet, The Princess and the Pea.
