Abstract

The case discusses the customer-engagement strategies employed by the U.S. mattress company, Casper, one of the key reasons for the company gaining popularity quickly and registering sales of US$300 million within a span of four years from the date of launch of its product. As against the overwhelming range of mattress options available at traditional mattress stores, Casper offered a single type of mattress. The company also simplified the delivery of the mattress by shipping it directly to customers in a box. The case details how Casper’s humorous ad campaigns were a marked departure from the conventional ad campaigns of other mattress companies. It also describes some of the online and offline campaigns launched by Casper which reinforced the company’s association with sleep. The case goes on to describe how Casper created opportunities for consumers to experience its products. These included setting up pop-up shops where consumers could try out its products; driving a “napmobile” comprising nap pods to several cities; tying up with an airline to equip its flights with the company’s products; opening a permanent store in New York which had bedrooms for consumers to try out its products; and opening a nap bar called The Dreamery where visitors could take a nap for 45 minutes. The case highlights the challenge of increased competition faced by Casper due to the emergence of several online mattress companies, many of which aped the company’s operating model.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Understand how a company can generate a buzz for its products.
• Understand the role that influencers can play in promoting a product.
• Understand the role that experiential marketing plays in the success of a product.
• Understand how social media can be effectively employed by a company to create visibility for its products.

Keywords

Experiential marketing; Innovative Marketing Strategies; Customer engagement; Advertisement; Social media marketing; Content marketing; Brand Management; Buzz marketing; Word-of-mouth; Influencer marketing; Competition