SEOUL — Need to stay alert while sleeping during your daily commute? There’s a sleeping mask for that.
Many Koreans are busy and sleep-deprived. According to one OECD statistics, Koreans’ average sleep time is 7 hours and 49 minutes, the shortest amongst its member states. Another OECD stats confirms Korean’s commute times is the longest.
Not surprisingly, many people nod off on the subway while commuting, and end up missing their stop, and can’t sleep properly because of the fear of doing so.
So, Burger King, together with Cheil, found away to help these drowsy people to sleep better during their commutes, as well as boost its morning sales by creating a sleeping mask that says “Wake me up at _____ station.” The wearers of this mask can sleep and relax, and rely on somebody to wake them up once the subway gets to their stop.
Inside the mask are 2 coupons to redeem a cup of King Americano from selected Burger King stores, that the wearer can give to the person who woke him/her up as a way of saying thanks.
Cheil carefully selected five crowded subway stations in Seoul to distribute sleeping masks; Gangnam Station, Samsung Station, Yeoksam Station, Sinchon Station and HongIk University Station, all of which are highly crowded spots.
The campaign started from February 23 to April 15. Cheil created five different sets of sleeping mask for each station, and distributed them to those who exit each station.
“The sleeping mask certainly helped to overcome the stranger barrier, while giving busy and tired people a small laugh,” said Cheil Art Director Hyung-kyun Oh.
The selected Burger King stores (which gave free coffee in return for the coupons) saw 18.7% sales increase in the morning time, according to Burger King Korea, as many people chose to buy menu items to go with their free coffee.
Cheil’s own social media analysis also found out that social media buzz about Burger King soared 44.5% after campaign launch. These numbers were measured during one month from the campaign starting date, February 23.
“Most campaigns are designed to increase communication between brands and consumers. We certainly achieved this objective but also encouraged communication among consumers themselves,” said Sung-phil Hwang, Cheil Art Director.
Due to the rising demand, Morning like a King is being executed from April 15 in Busan, Korea’s second largest city.
