​ Report : Case Analysis - Casper

Sunday, 15th December, 2020

Faculty:​ Dr. Smriti Pandey
Submission by MBA (Core) 2020-2022- Division G - Group-4

Poorva Mangal G018

Karan Tulsian G025

Nishtha Negi G040

Vivek Rai G056

Sudeep Bhaskar G063

Harshil Shah G066

COMPANY INTRO:

- Mattress company Launched the first product in ​2nd quarter of 2014

- Aiming to become the Warby Parker or the Nike of Mattresses.
- Desire to​ become the go-to-brand​ when you think of anything related to sleep
- Achieved total sales of $100 Million dollars in the first year of operations
- 0.7% of the $14 Billion​ U.S. Mattress Market
- Competing with 2 kinds of companies: ​“The Big Mattresses” (National brands like
Serta-Simmons Bedding Company, Tempur Sealy International Inc. selling through
manufacturer/retailer system) and ​Direct to Consumer ​brands (Saatva, Tuft and Needle, Leesa,
and many others post 2015)

PRODUCT:

- One perfect mattress​ for everyone

- Usually 2-3 levels of fitness are required to capture the whole market but Casper made one
formulation, Best for all!
- Four layers of foam- ​latex, memory, transition and base
- Total height of ​10 inches
- Easily compressible as it was a resilient, high quality foam​. It was compressed to fit in a box of
20*21*41 inch
- What let it expand? ​Springy latex and high density memory foam.

PRICE:

- Believed to be about ​1/3rd the price of comparable​ mattress from “Big Mattresses”
- Offers ​0% financing​ for 6 months at checkout and free shipping.
- Online competitors like Saatva offered exchange rates worth $39 for old mattresses.

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Price analysis of some of its D2C rivals:

Casper Sattva Tuft & Needle Leesa

Price (Queen) $850 $999 + $99 $600 $890

Revenue (Million) $100 $75 $42 $75

PLACE:

- Orders were made online on Casper.com, ​orders were shipped to deliver by UPS within 5
working days​. Fulfilment options for as fast as a one-day delivery.
- During launch it only had ​a store in NYC​.
- It was common practice for ‘​Big Mattress​’ companies to sell their products in mattress speciality
store chains, the retail chains that featured these products had a regional focus In U.S.
- Their offering prevented consumers going to traditional mattress stores which according to them
was a bad experience.
- As a part of their promotional campaigns they ​set up pop-stores for 4-5 days in Austin, SF and
Georgetown - ​Snooze bars​, ​for people to try them out.
- Also introduced ​Nap Mobile​, a mobile version of pop stores​ touring ​East and West Cost​.

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PROMOTION:

- Initial website design​ and presentation was done by ​Red Antler, an Ad agency​.
- Their aim was to create a​ visual language​.
- Casper was shown as a brand that ​stands for good sleep​. This was done by trying to capture the
emotional benefit of a good night’s sleep.
- Main aim:​ To not overwhelm consumers with lots of jargons and specs which the others did.
- To promote their website​, they focused on ​Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine
Marketing. They also used ​common digital marketing tactics like employing cookies to better
track and serve visitors on their site.

- Podcasts: ​They aimed to have

personalised messages by the hosts​. The
average cost was $15 per 1000 listeners
for 15 secs before the podcast began
and $25 per 1000 listeners for 30 secs in
the middle of the podcast. Unique
promo codes were provided in each
podcast to get a discount of $50​.

- Radio​:
The hosts were ​provided a casper mattress and also paid to talk about it​. Major endorsers included
Dr. Laura, Howard Stern, etc. Scripted comments, host’s post on social media platforms.

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 - Subway promotion:
6 week program at a cost of
$300,000 with the aim of
promoting “One perfect
Mattress for everyone”

Posters comprised of
discount coupons to assess
the effectiveness of reach
and attention

CASPER’S PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY:

1. Current media channels and geographic expansion:

PROS CONS

High NPS Subway promotions may not be as efficient in

places other than NY
Expectancy of success based on past experiences

Simplicity and helps in establishing

trustworthiness Difficult to scale

Contrarian marketing shall result in organic PR

2. National TV Ads with similar tonality

PROS CONS

National scaling Higher Costs

Sustains its emotional appeal Competition from “Big Mattresses”

Integration of ads with website visuals Undifferentiated Ads from competition

Misalignment with original goal (going away from

the “Big Mattress” way)

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 3. Do TV the Casper Way

PROS CONS

National Scaling Misalignment with original goal (going away from

the “Big Mattress” way)

Increased brand retention with animated ads High Costs

Differentiation from competition

Staying true to its brand image

RECOMMENDATION:

Casper should employ the ​3rd option​ of advertising i.e “Doing it the Casper Way”.
Usage of animated advertisements will not only ​differentiate its advertisements ​in an already competitive
platform, but also ensure better retention in the customers’ minds. Advertising itself on Primetime shows
will also help the company scale.

In order to distinguish itself further, it is imperative that ​Casper communicates its value proposition to its
customers. This mandates choosing ​a 30-second advertisement informing the audience about the Casper
Story. We further recommend using the ​$50 promo code for a fixed number of initial sales. A timely
analysis of the same can help the brand analyse the effectiveness of its TV advertisements. This will also
ensure that Casper does not follow the typical “Big Mattress” way of advertising. The campaign results
can be ​measured by analysing the number of customer visits and the time periods in which customers
attempt to redeem the discount code.