Casper is helping Canadians catch a few winks as part of its Nap Tour that lets people try out its sleep products.
The Casper Nap Tour, which features a retrofitted trailer outfitted with four nap compartments inspired by Japanese style pod hotels, made a stopover in Toronto last weekend and is heading to Vancouver and Calgary in July.
“We give people the opportunity to actually experience the products firsthand,” says Nicole Tapscott, general manager of Casper Canada.
Several hundred people tried out Casper double-beds, sheets and pillows during the Toronto activation, which took place May 27 – 29 near Queen St. W. and Bathurst.
The response in Toronto was “overwhelming,” Tapscott says. “People loved the activation. They just thought it was so fun and whimsical.”
Each pod contains a red phone that tells bedtime stories. Shades that say “nap in progress” can be dropped down to provide privacy.
The tour, which launched in the U.S. this spring, will be in downtown Vancouver for Canada Day weekend and Calgary during the Stampede in July.
Casper launched in 2014 and makes “outrageously comfortable” mattresses that work for just about anybody, says Tapscott, who is based in New York City.
Products are sold online at casper.com, with a queen mattress selling in Canada for $1,175, with free shipping and no custom duties.
The tour is being promoted on paid and unpaid channels on social media as well as through Casper owners and members of its Casper Labs sleep research community.
Word-of-mouth about the activations also helps the brand achieve “really positive brand exposure,” she says.
Typically people have “a horrible experience” when they go to big box stores to buy a mattress, Tapscott says. “You’re at a disadvantage because the person that’s helping you is pushing a marketing narrative and is potentially trying to upsell you. No one is in a condition to understand the real differentiators between the mattresses.”
But, when people see the Nap Tour is an experiential event with no sales push, they find it “kind of refreshing. That’s what really helps perpetuate a lot of awareness of the tour and is actually what drives a lot of traffic.”
Tapscott says brand awareness for Casper is lower in Canada than in the U.S., “but is quickly catching up.”
Rock-it Promotions handles public relations for Casper in Canada.
