How Purple Got Into People's Heads (and Beds) with OpenFortune

Purple mattresses don’t just promise a superior sleep. They have patented mattress designs and sleep science to back up that big talk, with point-pressure relief, cooling, and spine-supporting tech all meant for today’s serious sleeper.

When your mattresses bring more brain power than a college physics course, it’s only right your ad strategy steps up to be just as smart. But that's a whole lot easier said than done.

In the world of mattress retailers, everyone promises the best rest ever. How does a brand truly stand out – even one backed by actual sleep-science designs, not just your average squishy foam?

That was the question keeping Purple’s marketing maestros up at night.

Its team needed an original campaign aimed toward measurable brand awareness and familiarity growth. Today, most consumers shopping for mattresses might have one or two simple criteria in mind, namely mattress size and firmness. And of course, price. Beyond that, it’s the stuff of dreams to sit as the true and distinct top-of-mind brand for the average sleeper. 

Yet it wasn’t just about being known. It was about being remembered. For that, Purple needed a new creative strategy tucked snugly between meaningful and measurable.

Purple tapped OpenFortune to generate a new level of mass brand awareness. They wanted a memorable campaign that felt relevant and on brand, came with clear performance trackability, but still maintained a wink of levity and fun.

Basically, a marketing pajama party with your oldest and dearest friends, but make it nationwide.

And while awareness itself often requires a dedicated nurtured funnel, OpenFortune’s cookies hack that pipeline, offering a creative marketing twist in a timely but unforgettable vessel. 

OpenFortune launched a mass awareness cookie campaign targeting popular dinner time rush restaurants in New York and California.

Its creative was intentional. Front slip copy delivered fortunes centered on peace, prosperity, and success right in line with classic cookie readings. Back slips, though, carried the twist.

Here, each slip had an ending punchline that played off the classic American idiom "...in bed." Using this English-language saying to end each fortune offered a versatile touch, as the phrase "in bed" could be tacked onto any of the proceeding fortunes and still maintain its meaning — only now with a funny, familiar, yet still fundamentally on-brand wink. 

It was a cheeky twist equal parts punchy as it was consistent with Purple’s product – and creative enough to prevent audiences from being bored to sleep.

Purple’s results were as dreamy as its mattresses.

The campaign generated a record 85% unaided recall. No retargeting. No follow-ups. Folks simply remembered the name Purple off a single fortune slip reading right there with dinner.

The same campaign spurred 46.2 million+ social impressions, lending the ad trackable and trending social virility. Topping it all off was an audience recommendation rate of 17%. That’s 1 in 6 folks ready to recommend Purple’s mattresses to their friends and fam, all within a wider retail niche so often driven by high loyalty.

In the end, Purple’s OpenFortune collab proved when comfort meets cleverness, everybody wins. Especially when your brand gets served up with General Tso’s chicken and a heaping side of brand recall and recommendations.

Because let’s be honest – some campaigns keep you up at night. This one? Let’s just say it put everyone involved to bed with a smile.