One of my favourite quotes from Shakespeare is a brief, but telling sentence on sleep. “To sleep, perchance to dream,” says Hamlet, and, indeed, every human being seeks a good night’s sleep every single day of their life, with an enjoyable dream thrown in as bonus. We may take sleep for granted sometimes, but there’s no doubting that it is a very important desire and activity. Hence, it has to be an important focus area for marketers as well, although it has perhaps received less than its fair share of attention from brands.

Consider these remarkable statistics. On average, we sleep around eight hours each day, which means one-third of our lifetime. Based on a 75-year lifespan, this translates to 9,125 days or 219,150 hours, which far exceeds the time we spend on any other activity, including eating, working, driving or partying. Additionally, a relaxing good sleep is valued higher than even a holiday or spa experience.

So, how can marketers focus on helping millions of people sleep better? Are brands catering sharply enough to their needs? I don’t think so, and I hope the brief exploration that follows provokes us to think differently on the marketing of sleep.

Pre-sleep First and foremost, research suggests that a relaxed state of mind before going to bed is important for good sleep. To achieve such calm, consumers engage in various relaxing activities such as bedtime reading, listening to soft music or drinking a cup of hot chocolate. How can marketers specifically address this “pre-sleep” need? Tea brands can market special varieties of herbal or light teas that have a relaxing effect on the body. Television channels or FM radio stations can schedule late-night content that relaxes the mind, and hence is something you look forward to before drifting off into sleep. Marketers of bedside lamps can develop products with a wonderful relaxing glow, which can help consumers wind down before they eventually turn off the lights. FMCG marketers could consider developing end-of-day soap brands with soft and appealing scents that are gentle on the mind, and therefore ideal for a bedtime bath. The “pre-sleep” product opportunities are endless, including categories as diverse as light food, children’s books, incense sticks and bedroom upholstery.

Wonderful sleep We now turn to the period of sleep itself. Typically, we associate products such as mattresses and pillows with wonderful sleep. Indeed, brands such as Kurlon and Sleepwell have done good work in this area. But there are many more exciting possibilities here, beginning with consumer segmentation. Can marketers develop different mattresses for people of different weights, sizes, ages and maybe even sexes, given that male and female bodies have intrinsically different shapes? Most mattress and pillow brands emphasise firm zones, optimal spinal alignment, back-friendly shape, and so on. Can brands become more imaginative and focus on other attributes such as beds that are ideally designed for sexual foreplay and intercourse? Perhaps luxury brands could offer beds which are uniquely crafted or made of fabulous material that allow consumers to retire for the night feeling like royalty? What would a Louis Vuitton or Coco Chanel bed look and feel like?

Other product categories that promote good sleep range from mosquito repellents to air-conditioners, sanitary napkins and sleepwear. There is much opportunity in each of these “sleep categories”. Let’s take sleepwear, for instance. Apparel brands talk a lot about office wear and party wear, but very little about sleepwear. There is a clear marketing opportunity for sleepwear, with brands embedded with distinctive functional and emotional benefits and differentiators. Apparel that likely helps skin breathe better during sleep, keeps one cool, or even promotes blood circulation. In a different emotive space, fashion sleepwear can be designed to spice up sex lives, another strong consumer need in today’s hectic world.

Similarly, marketers can promote products which help people snore less, and apparently there are certain kinds of pillows that silently achieve this noble objective. Air-conditioners can target specific consumer segments such as babies, seniors or light sleepers, each with individual cooling or heating needs. Mosquito repellents can perhaps bite into an even larger market with differentiated products based on pleasing or exotic scents, or even hypoallergenic vapours for sensitive skins.

Post-sleep We must not forget that a good night’s sleep includes a wonderful waking-up experience. Products catering to this need can range from user-friendly alarm clocks, freshly brewed coffee, morning newspapers, simulated sounds of twittering birds or rustling leaves, and a bedroom that lets in the soft, bright rays of the rising sun. Mobile phones, clocks and wristwatches with a wake-up alarm, beverage brands and, of course, real estate companies will find ample opportunities here.

Wake-up call Besides the pre-sleep, during-sleep and post-sleep products, several daily-use products and services can be marketed effectively with the end-benefit of good sleep. Gymnasiums, which today focus primarily on weight loss or body toning, can point to the beneficial effects of workouts on sleep patterns. Marketers of financial services such as insurance, or brands of household burglar alarms can both emphasise how they promote sound and peaceful sleep. Similarly, hospitals or emergency medical services with 24-hour helplines can market themselves as enablers of worry-free sleep, particularly if consumers have elderly relatives or infants or cardiac patients at home.

I would like to conclude by pointing out that while sleeping is normally considered a passive activity, there are so many active consumer needs associated with it.

Each such need is a potential marketing opportunity, and many of them remain unexplored yet. Therefore, marketers may wish to take to heart the great American poet Robert Frost’s declaration that although the woods were lovely, dark and deep, there were miles to go before he could sleep. These long miles to sound sleep can make brands famous, and set many cash registers ringing.

HARISH BHAT MD and CEO, Tata Global Beverages

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