MUMBAI: We are living in the time of the 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 launched when Milind Soman rolled out a tweet saying how he planned on doing a 7-hour-marathon every day. But little did his followers know, the marathon he was talking about was seven hours of continuous sleep. This digital stunt was initiated to bring attention to the cycle of disrupted sleep that has taken over this generation.
Seeing the response, a subsequent video was released a day later where Soman clarified the confusion on #7HourMarathon and discussed the importance of good sleeping habits.
The campaign was conceptualised by Happy mcgarrybowen and executed in collaboration with Isobar, SKREEM, and Greenroom.
Duroflex director of marketing Mathew Joseph says, “As a company, we have a strong lineage in this industry and understand the importance of sleep. 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 #7HourMaratahon initiative was a great conversation starter to get people to make a very important lifestyle change. We believe in energising India.”
Most of the audience they spoke to consumed about 2.5-3 hours of social media on an average every day, making it evident that social media must be the activation area.
While talking about looming sleep crisis and the need to commit to seven hours of sleep, Soman mentions, “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 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.”
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 an unachievable task. This bag of mixed reactions instantly blew up the campaign making it trend at fifth position on Twitter nationally.
