My Best Campaign: Ashutosh Karkhanis

Buying Springwel mattresses became an act of greater good

Why it is my best campaign
I would consider this as one of my best works as we made buying Springwel mattresses not just a transaction, but an act of greater good. As a brand, Springwel has taken a higher ground and it will continue to do good for the society.

Brief to the agency
Springwel, India’s third-largest mattress brand, briefed us to do another exchange offer. The Indian mattress industry is highly price-led. So each player tries to outdo the other. But a challenger brand cannot become a market leader by just doing price-led advertising. We needed to create a difference.

 

So, we married the exchange offer to a cause — helping the homeless people in a country where more than eight crore people live without shelter and of which more than 50 per cent are children who have never slept on a mattress.

Problems & challenges
With a minuscule budget, creating a TVC and running it on national television was out of the question. We had to come up with something innovative, impressive, inexpensive and within reach.

The route chosen
We decided to do on-ground activation and decided to spread the message on social media. We developed a unique CSR activity, ‘Springwel sleep exchange offer.’ The offer was simple — exchange any old mattress for a new one at a discount with the idea that the old one will be donated to a homeless shelter. The activation was executed over a period of two-and-a-half months and supported by an integrated campaign across various media. We launched with a film that was posted on Youtube and on Springwel’s Facebook page.

The outcome
The campaign was hugely successful, which resulted in many people participating in the offer. The mattresses collected were sent to shelters across India. The Springwel sleep exchange offer was featured on TEDx in Mumbai as an idea that could change the world. The technology, entertainment and design (TED) is a global set of conferences owned by Sapling Foundation, a non-profit organisation; to be sure, TEDx are licensed TED-like events in Mumbai.

With 12,000 fans, our Facebook page has the highest fan base and engagement levels among Indian mattress brands. Our photography contest created hundreds of photo documentaries of the homeless. The sleep exchange offer gave Springwel an unprecedented sales spike, higher than any of their exchange offers have resulted in before. But most importantly this has been an important beginning for Springwel, to bring a good night’s sleep to many more in this world.

Will the campaign be relevant five years from now?
I believe it will be as relevant five years from now as it is today if not more. The basis of this campaign is strong as it touches the heart because more than mattresses, people care about a better society. As I said, we made buying Springwel not just a transaction but an act of greater good.

Client: Springwel

Credits
Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi
Chief creative officer: Ramanuj Shastry
Team: Saatchi & Saatchi team
Film director: Anuj Alia
Producer: Arpan Fernandes
Still Photography: Sharad Khiyalish and Ashutosh Karkhanis
Illustrator: Parag Lavekar
Music: Rajiv Bhalla

 

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Ashutosh Karkhanis
ECD, Saatchi & Saatchi