This article was originally published in 2018 and was last updated June 13, 2025.
- Tension: We long for rest in a restless world—but even sleep is marketed as performance.
- Noise: Video marketing often chases trends and gimmicks, forgetting the audience’s emotional journey.
- Direct Message: The best video marketing doesn’t just entertain—it builds belief at exactly the right moment.
To learn more about our editorial approach, explore The Direct Message methodology.
In a digital world flooded with noise, few DTC brands have cut through as effectively—and as creatively—as Purple Mattress.
Back in 2015, founders Tony and Terry Pearce pivoted from wheelchair cushioning to the mattress industry. Their secret weapon wasn’t just their proprietary comfort grid—it was video. Weird, witty, visually surprising video.
From Kickstarter days to public market presence, Purple didn’t just sell a mattress. It sold a visceral, memorable experience—and it did so primarily through video marketing that knew how to be entertaining and informative.
But nearly a decade later, what Purple pioneered is more relevant than ever. In 2025, when “attention” is the most valuable currency and trust is a fragile commodity, Purple’s early video strategy still holds lessons for brands trying to earn both.
How Purple built a mattress brand through metaphor
The now-iconic Raw Egg Test video introduced Purple’s unique selling point: pressure relief that cradles the body, demonstrated by dropping raw eggs on a mattress.
Absurd? Yes.
Scientific? Also yes.
Unforgettable? Absolutely.
Purple didn’t just tell you its mattress worked—it showed you, using metaphor as its bridge between technical features and human benefit.
And it worked. That single video has surpassed 190 million views across platforms. It turned mattresses—one of the most commodified consumer products—into something worth watching, talking about, and clicking “buy” on.
In 2018, the brand evolved that strategy. They released new long-form and micro-videos, experimenting across formats. A campaign with Oath (now part of Yahoo) tested six-second native ads paired with advanced retargeting. The result? Purple blew past performance benchmarks.
The deeper tension: when sleep becomes a performance metric
But why does this matter? Why did Purple’s creative approach land so well with viewers?
Because sleep has quietly become one of the most over-optimized aspects of modern life.
Wearables track our REM cycles. We buy $500 devices to simulate sunrise. Even rest has turned into a competition.
This pressure to perform—even while unconscious—creates a deeper tension. People crave real rest, but are fed a never-ending stream of data about how they’re doing it wrong.
Purple’s video strategy countered that. Instead of selling anxiety, it sold relief. Instead of pushing performance, it gave permission to feel comfort.
Its videos didn’t say “optimize.” They said “breathe.” That message still resonates.
What gets in the way: gimmicks, sameness, and surface-level creativity
Today, every brand wants to “go viral.” That mindset fuels a glut of copycat content—over-scripted humor, over-produced visuals, and underwhelming returns.
Most marketing teams focus on:
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Making ads look native to each platform
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Hooking viewers in the first five seconds
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Retargeting relentlessly after initial views
All valid tactics. But too often, the why gets lost.
Purple stood out not because it followed these rules, but because it had something meaningful to say through them. It respected its audience’s intelligence, entertained without condescension, and stayed anchored to emotional resonance.
Even as Purple refined platform-specific strategies, the heart of its video marketing stayed consistent: empathy, humor, and clarity.
The Direct Message
The most effective video marketing is not about going viral—it’s about becoming unforgettable at the exact moment your customer is trying to decide what’s real.
Integrating this insight: beyond views, toward belief
Purple didn’t just produce great content—it built a system. First-touch videos created awareness. Retargeted snippets nurtured trust. Informational content bridged the gap between curiosity and conversion.
This funnel wasn’t a gimmick. It was a sequence of emotional logic mapped onto consumer behavior.
Here’s what marketers can learn in 2025 and beyond:
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Don’t chase the algorithm. Serve the moment. Your video should meet the viewer where they are—confused, skeptical, curious—and offer clarity.
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Don’t just be “funny.” Be useful and specific in a way that sticks.
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Don’t force brand polish at the expense of humanity. Purple’s humor worked because it was grounded in real pain points (back pain, sleep deprivation, confusion about products).
Ultimately, it’s not about producing more content—it’s about producing content that connects.
In a marketplace saturated with noise, the brands that stand out aren’t necessarily the loudest. They’re the ones that help people feel seen, understood, and maybe even a little more at ease.
