Purple’s Humorous Marketing Videos Effectively Raise Brand Awareness

Purple began as a $171,000 Kickstarter campaign in 2015. Unlike competing mattress-in-a-box company Casper, Purple did not seek venture capital funds to expand. Instead, the brand relied on marketing creativity to gain a foothold in the market.

The company cast a wide net to get their brand in front of consumers. They developed quirky product videos designed to entertain. Purple knew the videos would be ignored unless they grabbed consumers’ attention with funny and unexpected content.

In contrast to memory foam mattresses, Purple uses patented GelFlex Grid technology invented by its founders. Their mattresses simultaneously support, relieve pressure points, disperse body heat, and move with the sleeper. Despite their product’s innovative design, Purple’s videos focus on humor rather than product specs.

One of Purple’s most popular videos uses a Goldilocks character to compare the Purple mattress with traditional firm and soft mattresses. Goldilocks drops raw eggs on the mattresses to test their relative support and give. The eggs inevitably break on all but the Purple mattress, showcasing its unique composition in an engaging fashion. Since this video first launched five years ago, it has generated more than 189 million views.

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Purple realized that they needed to first attract wide brand recognition before they could successfully deepen their consumer base. Looking at QuestBrand data, you can see this marketing approach reflected in their sales conversion funnel.

Purple’s funnel is wide at the top with an awareness score of 69.3. After the awareness rung, the funnel significantly tapers with each successive phase of the conversion process. Of those aware of the brand, 54.5% feel familiar with the brand offering and what it stands for. Even fewer (41.7% of those familiar with the brand) report having tried it.

Purple will need to put marketing power behind explaining their brand to transition consumers beyond the awareness phase to the trial and eventual usage phases of the consumer journey. They are confident that consumers will like their brand if tried, offering a 100-night risk-free trial. However, Purple must build brand familiarity before they can expect customers to order a trial mattress.

Purple Sales Conversion Funnel

QuestBrand. Base: General population. Total (n=8,221) January-September 2021.