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Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley has put together one of the most impressive seasons in NFL history and now he’s starring in a timely medical marketing spot.

To understand how we got here, let’s rewind to the 2024 NFL offseason.

In an episode of HBO’s Hard Knocks, New York Giants co-owner John Mara joked to his front office personnel that he “might have a tough time sleeping” if Barkley joined the rival Eagles.

Since being drafted in 2018, Barkley had been the face of the Giants franchise — earning Pro Bowl honors and leading the team to its first playoff victory since 2016.

Ultimately, though, Barkley signed with the Eagles as a free agent and subsequently ran for over 2,000 yards — becoming the ninth player in league history to do so.

On Sunday, he led the Eagles to victory over the Los Angeles Rams, bringing the franchise one step closer to playing in Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans next month. (Meanwhile, the Giants missed the playoffs.)

Given this rich context, Opella’s Unisom sleeping aid brand saw an opportunity to have some fun with Mara’s remark.

On New Year’s Day, Unisom launched its social-first media campaign, with an Instagram post featuring Barkley as he’s getting ready to go to sleep. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Saquon Barkley (@saquon)

“I’ve got no problem resting up, but for those of you who might have a tough time sleeping, try Unisom,” he tells the camera in a subtle dig at Mara that quickly went viral. 

Over the course of three days, the spot achieved more 600 million earned media impressions as well as more than 2.5 million organic views.

The Unisom campaign came to life with the support of creative partners Lippe Taylor and The Martin Agency. The latter agency utilizes its Cultural Impact Lab to stay on the pulse of culture and look for moments that could align with clients.

However, The Martin Agency didn’t immediately jump on the opportunity for Unisom — opting to let the season play out and see how fans were discussing Barkley’s performance online. 

“As the season unfolded, we were social listening and we saw that Saquon was killing it week after week,” notes Amy Wheeler, creative director at The Martin Agency. “The Mara quote kept resurfacing week after week, too. That was when we decided to turn this into something.”

Wheeler says it was an exercise in patience to find the right moment to bring the idea to Unisom brand lead Nimit Bansal. From there, the team worked to bring it to the world.

The fact that this particular cultural moment — which centered around sleeplessness — kept gaining momentum is part of what appealed to Bansal. 

“Every time Saquon [Barkley] had a good week, which was every week basically, people were bringing up the quote from John Mara,” he says. “It was continuing to play in the culture and that part was exciting to me. Obviously, he referenced sleep and we felt like if we could get Saquon as a partner, he’d be perfect.”

Barkley’s popularity, which extends beyond the community of football fans, is paired with what Bansal sees as an expert ability to land a punchline. 

“We weren’t trying to come down hard on John Mara or the Giants,” he says. “It was all tongue-in-cheek. Plus, with his smile, Saquon was able to deliver our message perfectly.” 

It appears even Mara got a chuckle from the campaign, telling a media session recently that he called Barkley and told him that “the least you could have done is ask me to be in it. I could have been tossing and turning, and it would’ve been great!”

In addition to the social media component, the campaign includes billboards placed outside Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. The signs had a simple message, digging the knife a little deeper: “Put offseason regrets to bed.”

Coincidentally, the billboards went up just in time for the Eagles and Giants to face off — with the home team winning 20-13. 

Tapping into the culture for its campaign opportunities is consistent with Unisom’s marketing strategy.

Last year, the brand seized on a very different cultural moment: the Met Gala.

The annual fundraiser’s theme was “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion.” Collaborating with designer Christian Siriano, the brand created a pop-up experience at different locations throughout New York City that explored the connections between sleep and fashion. 

The fact that campaigns with inspirations as different as fashion and sports have both been successes for Unisom reflects the broad and diverse market for sleep aids, according to Bansal. 

“What’s consistent about them is that, from a Unisom standpoint, we try to talk about the benefits of sleep and the magic of sleep, as well as those restless moments that the product solves,” he says. 

The other thing that’s consistent, he adds, is that they were both intriguing cultural moments where people were talking about sleep. In his opinion, both activations and partnerships excelled at hitting the target, though in different ways.

Kristin Pehush, executive VP at Lippe Taylor, uses different language to explain another common trait of both campaigns that allowed them to break through. 

“If you look at the Sleeping Beauties campaign and this one, they are simple and straightforward,” she says. “We don’t strangle it with a lot of marketing messages. By letting it breathe, we allow it to take off and find their humorous and fun aspects.”