Toss, turn, get paid: Castlery wants Singapore's worst sleepers

Castlery is looking for some of Singapore's worst sleepers, and it is willing to reward them for tossing and turning.

The furniture brand is recruiting five self-professed bad sleepers to test its mattresses over 20 nights as part of its new "Bad sleeper programme". The initiative comes as Castlery expands further into the sleep category.

Speaking to MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, Leah Howatson, general manager, international markets at Castlery, said the brand deliberately chose to build the launch around people who already know what a bad night's sleep feels like, rather than leading with product claims.

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"If Ayrie can make a meaningful difference for Singapore's 'worst sleepers', that says far more than simply telling people how comfortable it is," she said, adding that the brand wanted to start with a human problem and let the mattress prove itself through the participants' experiences.

The selected participants will put Castlery's new Ayrie mattress range to the test, documenting their experience through reviews and photos along the way. At the end of the trial, each tester will get to keep the mattress and receive a SG$2,000 Castlery cash voucher. Applications for the programme opened on 8 September and close on 15 September.

According to Howatson, Singapore was a natural starting point given both its sleep habits and its position as Castlery's home market. She pointed to research ranking Singapore as the world's third most sleep-deprived city, alongside studies suggesting that many Singaporeans struggle to consistently get sufficient or good-quality sleep.

That gave Castlery the idea of turning the problem into the qualification itself: applicants had to be "bad sleepers".

"We wanted to make the conversation around sleep feel relatable rather than clinical, whether the problem is a partner moving, a child climbing into bed or simply feeling too warm at night," Howatson explained.

The participant experiences will also form part of Castlery's marketing for the range. The brand plans to publish their reviews on its website and, with permission, use participant content across social media and other owned channels.

Howatson said testimonials and word of mouth can give shoppers an understanding of how a mattress performs that specifications and certifications alone cannot provide. The programme is therefore intended to give prospective customers a picture of how Ayrie performs across different sleep habits and preferences.

The "Bad sleeper programme" forms part of Castlery's wider move into sleep, with the furniture brand bringing mattresses, beds, bedding and other sleep essentials together as a more complete bedroom offering. Its new Ayrie mattress collection comes in three firmness levels and is delivered full-form and uncompressed.

The brand is also attempting to rethink how consumers shop for mattresses. At its Castlery sleep studio within its Orchard flagship, shoppers can test the Ayrie range in a dimmed environment, with staff stepping away for around 10 minutes to give them greater privacy to assess the mattress.

"You wouldn't expect someone to decide on a sofa after sitting on it for 30 seconds, yet shoppers are often expected to choose a mattress they'll spend eight hours a night on after lying down for just a few minutes in a brightly lit showroom, with a salesperson standing nearby," Howatson said.

The studio also provides items including disposable pillow covers, eye masks, ear plugs and modesty covers, while customers in Singapore have a 30-day return window. According to Howatson, the aim is to give shoppers more time, privacy and confidence when choosing a mattress.

For Castlery, the category move is part of a broader ambition to build itself into a global design brand centred on how its products fit into everyday life. Howatson said sleep was a natural extension of that approach, with the brand looking at the entire bedroom experience rather than mattresses as a standalone category.

The move follows Castlery's first-ever designer collaboration, which saw the furniture brand partner with fashion designer and television personality Tan France on an 18-piece home collection spanning living, dining, lighting, rugs, décor and accessories.

The partnership also marked France's first venture into furniture design. Speaking to MARKETING-INTERACTIVE at the time, Declan Ee, co-founder and president of Castlery, said the brand deliberately sought a partner with a genuine point of view for its first designer collaboration rather than simply attaching a famous name to a collection.

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