More Counting Sheep are b-a-a-a-ck
By David Perry -- Furniture Today, August 5, 2002
ITASCA , Ill. — ITASCA , Ill. — The Counting Sheep, the increasingly frustrated stars of bedding major Serta's award-winning advertising campaign, are upping the ante in their ongoing battle with Serta.
Four new TV spots — two network commercials and two retail spots — are rolling out as part of Serta's $21 million national ad campaign for 2002, which Serta says will reach nearly all U.S. adults.
Like previous spots, the new spots use humor to drive their message home: Serta's products are "So Comfortable, You'll Feel the Difference the Moment You Lie Down."
The campaign features the mounting frustrations of the Counting Sheep, who are unemployed because of Serta mattresses. The humorous confrontations focus attention on the comfort and quality that Serta says its mattresses provide, and on the increasing numbers of consumers who are purchasing the Serta brand.
In one new national spot, the sheep get into trouble with the law when one of them impulsively rips the law tag off a Serta mattress, after losing yet another client because of the comfort of Serta. A 15-second version of the ad will begin airing later in the third quarter.
In the other new national spot, the sheep believe they have finally found work at a Clinic for Insomniacs. But Serta once again spoils their plans.
"Humor can be one of the most effective ways to communicate a brand message to consumers so that they remember and talk about it," said Susan Ebaugh, Serta's vice president of advertising.
This strategy is working, according to Serta. Three-quarters of U.S. women in the 25-54 age group now say they have seen or heard Serta's Counting Sheep commercials, according to a 2002 survey by Roper Starch Worldwide. Serta also has seen substantial increases in brand awareness and preference since the campaign began in July 2000.
This summer, the advertising honored Serta and its advertising agency, Doner, with a gold EFFIE for the Counting Sheep campaign. The awards recognize the year's most effective and creative ad campaigns.
"Based on the outstanding results we're getting, the Counting Sheep campaign will be around for a long time," said Ebaugh. "There is virtually no limit to the story extensions that can be developed."
The network spots, which premiered the week of July 15, will run through the end of Serta's 2002 TV schedule. The schedule includes networks ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox, as well as cable channels Comedy Central, Discovery, Lifetime, Nick at Nite, TBS, TNT, TV Land, USA and VH1.
The spots will run almost exclusively Wednesday through Sunday, "reflecting our strategy to build awareness and capture consumer attention as the week shifts to the weekend, when mattress shopping is more likely," said Ebaugh.
In the two new retail TV ads, now available to Serta dealers, the sheep go on the offensive to discourage Serta mattress sales. In one spot, a sheep impersonates the store owner and calls to cancel a Serta sale. In the other, the sheep find a sure-fire way to drive Serta customers out of another mattress store.
Serta has two other dealer spots that were released last year. All four have been designed for dealers to tag and run in their markets.
| A store salesman is told to call off a Serta sale in a new retail spot in Serta's Counting Sheep campaign. |
