Summary

• Eve Sleep launched in 2016 launching a mattress-in-a-box D2C proposition with funding from Octopus Ventures and DN Capital at the seed phase
• The mattresses sold for at least £500 each, and average order values could be between £500 and £1500
• They had been dependent on digital-only marketing running at around £300 - £500 CPA 
• Channel 4 Ventures backed their Series A round and changed their overall strategy, initially with a £2m cheque

Objectives

A mattress-in-a-box was a new concept to the consumer at the time.  The buying experience had traditionally been through high-street stores or out-of-town shopping centres. Mattress shopping was hardly at the edge of the consumer retail experience, the stores were often old and it was not an inspiring way to spend time.

Eve launched with a D2C proposition.  It designed a product with leading home credentials, high quality materials comparable to the most expensive products and a unique no quibble 100-day return guarantee.  The pricing of Eve’s products – though £300 more expensive than the cheapest products on the market, was around £500 cheaper than their main target, Tempur, whose products retailed at £1,000 and offered the most comparable memory foam mattresses.

In terms of marketing this proposition, digital strategies focused on targeting consumers showing high intent on Google.  This delivered a CPA of £300 to £500 initially.  TV was seen as the way to raise awareness of this new proposition and a new way to shop for mattresses.

Eve’s objectives were to: 

• Fundamentally grow the top-line revenues of the business 
• Change the profile of their marketing spend, reducing CAC to a more sustainable level

TV Strategy

Eve shot brand ads which were created by their award winning CMO, Kuba Wieczorek.

Results

• Revenue grew from £11m in 2016 to £31m in 2019, with TV becoming 60% of the total marketing mix from 2017 to 2019, and Eve continuing to spend £10m+ on TV during this period
• Overall CPAs fell from £500 to £120

Why did this happen?

TV complemented the performance marketing activities. By the time consumers were aware of Eve, they were already searching for the brand directly in their search terms.  

Digital marketing was a blunt tool for raising awareness of the solution. Inbound traffic for Eve was higher in volume than they had ever encountered, and performance marketing focused on consumers further down the funnel, through more targeted digital marketing.  

The TV campaign helped consumers become aware of how a poor consumer retail experience for mattresses could be improved through a direct-to-consumer route. The TV campaign also helped to build trust in Eve, an otherwise new brand.