How Simmons pulled off the first brand debut on TikTok

Mattress manufacturer Serta relaunched the Simmons brand on TikTok with #Snoozzzapalooza, a virtual music festival-themed challenge.

Strategy

Last year, mattress manufacturer Serta decided to relaunch Simmons in the US as a mattress-in-a-box product targeted at Generation Z. The initiative included an overhaul of Simmons’ product design, pricing, retail channels and marketing.

The goal was to appeal to younger consumers by creating a colorful, fun persona. Marketing materials included simple, playful images that stripped out much of the product information.

“This target doesn’t want to hear all that; it’s confusing and overwhelming,” said Joanne McKinney, CEO of Burns Group.

There was also a focus on the unique way Generation Z uses their beds.

“They’re streaming, eating, working, socializing and having happy hour,” says Nicole Lucey, an executive creative director and art director at Burns Group. “That’s where the imagery comes from - everything that goes on on the mattress other than sleeping.”

“It’s the tablet of their life; their tableau,” McKinney added.

Tactics

Simmons originally had another campaign planned, but when COVID-19 hit the brand went back to the drawing board.

Instead, it decided to launch on TikTok given its appeal with Generation Z. Planning began in earnest in April.

“You can’t do TikTok too far out,” McKinney said. “You want it to be socially and culturally relevant.”

Given that all music festivals were canceled, the concept was to repurpose the bed as a stage. The challenge: Stage dive into a bed to enter Simmons #Snoozzzapalooza virtual festival.

The brand reached out to TikTok, which helped select influencer partners who would promote the challenge to their followers. Partners included Destorm Power, Montana Tucker, James Henry, Joanna Crauswell and Kailey Maurer.

“They all interpreted [the challenge] in their own way,” McKinney said. “It’s a great way to get a diverse array of content.”

The challenge launched on June 23.

Results

Simmons was the first brand to launch on TikTok, according to the platform. The six-day challenge resulted in 2.3 million videos made by more than 1 million creators.

Collectively, the campaign generated 4.4 billion views.

The week of the campaign, Simmons.com saw a 104% surge in traffic compared to a week earlier.