We are witnessing rapid growth in the organized mattress sector: Mohanraj Jagannivasan

As Duroflex releases a campaign in collaboration with Sunil Chhetri on World Sleep Day, CEO Mohanraj Jagannivasan talks about using digital platforms to share an important message, discusses Duroflex’s marketing strategy for 2023, and more. 

What was once a largely unorganized market, the mattress industry, is gradually becoming more streamlined with newer brands entering the market. 

The average consumer is changing with the advent of high speed internet and so are their content consumption habits. Taking cue from this, on World Sleep Day, Duroflex, India’s leading sleep expert launched a digital-first campaign that included rolling out unexciting content to share the importance of fixing sleep cycles. 

In conversation with Mohanraj Jagannivasan, CEO, Duroflex, shares the idea behind the campaign, the brand’s larger marketing strategy, changing landscape of the sleep solutions industry, and more.

Edited Excerpts:

What was the idea behind the 'India’s sleepiest page' campaign? 

Night-time scrolling at bedtime is a universal phenomenon. And while this seems harmless at first, consuming stimulating content towards the bedtime disrupts the quality of sleep. 

This was unacceptable to the team at Duroflex. But there was a challenge: just telling people not to use their phones at bedtime wasn’t going to do much. Hence the team found a way to use night-time scrolling to our sleep’s advantage. 

The content we watch on the internet harms sleep in a big way. Late-night binge-watching, endlessly scrolling through dance reels, travel videos, texting, group chatting - all of this can activate the brain and affect sleep quality. 

Hence the team created content that is unexciting. Three films featuring Sunil Chhetri, where he is just going about his chores. There is one where we see him reading a book for 2 whole minutes! 

To help India sleep better, Duroflex’s Instagram handle turned into India’s Sleepiest Page - a page that deliberately creates unexciting content that puts people to sleep. 

As a brand in the sleep category, if our content puts people to sleep, that’s a big win for us. And that’s the aim this World Sleep Day.

What is your marketing objective behind this campaign? Why was Instagram chosen for this campaign? 

For those consumers who know the brand the marketing objective was to establish Duroflex as the sleep expert and engage with consumers in a meaningful manner, enhancing conversations around the brand. 

For those who don’t know the brand the objective was to improve consideration for the brand by giving them a chance to like Duroflex. 

In how many phases was the campaign executed? Please take us through the media plan for the campaign - how are you making sure that the content reaches the right audience? 

The campaign was set on the premise that it takes at least 21 days for an average person to form a habit. Basis this fact, the campaign was divided into 3 phases: 

Phase 1: Starting social chatter

We went live with the campaign on 9th March on our social media handles and simultaneously the media promotions were started on different online and offline platforms. To further elevate this cause, we also did an innovation on our D2C website, where we put a pop-up that would suggest visitors against nighttime shopping post 10 PM. 

Phase 2: Adding weight to the cause

Brand Collaboration: To further raise awareness about the importance of sleep, we partnered with a TV news channel for a week-long endeavor with Vignettes; Vox Pops; Astons, etc. around good sleeping habits. On World Sleep Day, 17th Mar 2023, a high-impact Panel discussion with a mix of guests was aired on NDTV 24 x 7, Doctor NDTV & NDTV YouTube channels.

The World Sleep Day was celebrated equally well at our office to remind our internal stakeholders as well to take their sleep seriously. We had our teams coming to the office in their sleepwear, we had sleep meditation sessions conducted by our in-house psychologist and sleep expert, and we also had a lullaby session in the evening for our teams to unwind.

Phase 3: Sustenance

To make sure that these conversations reach a larger audience through a credible voice, we collaborated with Ranveer Alahbadia a.k.a Beer Biceps to talk about this topic.

From working with pets to associating with Alia Bhatt, Duroflex has been seemingly trying to connect with the youth. Who is your core target audience and how do you use marketing to connect with them? 

Our core Target audience is two types of people-

Primary: Our primary audience is our purchase audience. The older millennials and beyond; They are aware of the importance of sleep. They understand that their mattress affects the way they sleep. They consciously research sleep. They’re into fitness and are health-conscious. 

Secondary: Our secondary audience is the younger millennials. Some have the purchase power and are in the stage of life where they need to buy a mattress and others whom we want to catch young and strike conversations with well in advance. 

How is consumer behavior changing now? Are trends and common patterns that you have observed here? 

Consumer behavior changes over the long term. A decade ago – health and an active lifestyle weren’t considered as important as they are now. And because of that, sleep is getting its due importance. The medical community, the gym trainers, dietitians – everyone we consult for better health – is throwing light on the importance of sleep. And that’s how it’s catching momentum. 

However, there is a lot of information available on the internet and no way to filter authentic, real information. A lot of myths, and false facts are making the rounds. But Duroflex is trying to provide authentic information. As a sleep expert – it’s our mission to spread awareness about sleep with authentic sleep facts and knowledge. 

What are some of the marketing themes that the brand explores? 

The key theme around which our strategy is built is sleep, and then there are different ways through which we help India sleep better. The idea is that Duroflex becomes a one-stop place for everything sleep.

Our communication ranges from advising the consumers about what kind of sleep essentials are best suited for them as per their needs to science-backed tips and tricks to help them sleep better.

What does your larger media mix look like? 

Our media mix varies as per the campaign objectives. For example, for World Sleep Day, the objective was to connect with digital natives right at the time when they are indulging in nighttime scrolling (i.e. between 8 PM to 2 AM) either on their Smartphones, Laptops, Smart TV, or digital screens. 

Hence we decided that the media mix needs to include platforms ranging from Meta (Instagram & Facebook), YouTube, Quora, OTT, Audio Streaming Platforms, Digital OOH screens, to TV.

Talking about our overall media mix, we are an omnichannel brand and hence, we need to connect with our audience at every touch point. Keeping this in mind, ours is a well-balanced mix of digital, offline, as well as traditional media.

A Research and Market report reveals that the overall mattress market grew at a CAGR of over 11% in the last five years. Is the market becoming more organized now? 

The sleep solutions industry in India has definitely come a long way over the past 10 years, however, the larger market share still remains to be covered by the unorganized sector.

That being said, we are witnessing rapid growth in the organized sector with the lifestyle and behavioral changes in the consumers.

What else can we expect to see on the marketing front from Duroflex this year? What would be your marketing focus areas?

As India’s sleep experts, our objective is always to spread awareness with authentic science-backed information about sleep, and that is the key theme of all our communication. 

We will continue the conversations about sleep and collaborate with more authentic voices like Chhetri to make them reach a larger audience.