Milind Soman invites all for a 7-hour sleep marathon in witty Duroflex campaign

We are living in the time of “gig culture” where staying up all night to meet project deadlines is celebrated. However, long-term effects of lack of sleep are hardly discussed. Keeping this in mind, Happy mcgarrybowen, the creative agency from Dentsu Aegis Network, has conceptualised the #7HourMarathon campaign for Duroflex.

The campaign was launched with Milind Soman rolling out a tweet saying how he planned to do a seven-hour-marathon every day. But little did his followers know that the marathon he was talking about was hours of continuous sleep. This digital stunt was initiated to bring attention to the cycle of disrupted sleep that has taken over this generation.

The tweet got picked up and shared by multiple media channels, generating a range of reactions from awe to confusion. While some applauded Soman on pushing his limits, others expressed blatant confusion, deeming it as an unachievable task. This bag of mixed reactions instantly blew up the campaign, making it trend at No. 5 on Twitter nationally.

Seeing the response, a subsequent video was released a day later where Soman clarified the confusion on the #7HourMarathon and discussed the importance of good sleeping habits.

Mathew Joseph, Director, Marketing, Duroflex, said, “As a company, we have a strong lineage in this industry and understand the importance of sleep. We are highly committed to the cause of helping India sleep better. We really wanted to raise awareness around the importance of sleep. In Milind Soman, we found a credible voice to drive this message across. The #7HourMarathon initiative was a great conversation starter to get people to make a very important lifestyle change. We believe in energising India.”

Speaking on the looming sleep crisis and the need to commit to seven hours of sleep, Soman, added, “Having been involved in sports all my life, I understand the importance of sleep. Sleep is essential for the body and mind and restful sleep is one of the foundations of good health. Recharging and rejuvenating the body and mind sufficiently every night is important for better quality of life. My own health resolution this year has been to sleep more and better. I am happy that Duroflex is championing conversations on sleep and engaging with social media to drive this commitment. I look forward to sharing and learning about sleep tips that can be mutually beneficial.”

On the campaign, Naren Kaushik, Senior Creative Director, Happy mcgarrybowen, said, “Most of the audience we were talking to consume about 2.5-3 hours of social media on an average every day. A chunk of it also happens just before bedtime. The reason to pull this activation off in the social media space was evident in the consumption patterns. Add to that, an influencer like Milind Soman, who is followed by thousands of people with genuine interest in an active lifestyle, helped to capture our messaging effectively. The #7HourMarathon seemed like a perfect little stunt to tie ‘Marathon-Man’ Milind and our campaign together.”

Credits:

Creative agency: The campaign was conceptualised by Happy mcgarrybowen and executed in collaboration with Isobar, SKREEM, and Greenroom.