Background

Calm’s brand promise is serenity in a hectic world. For their “Sleep Better Tonight” push, they wanted a film that felt like a late-night whisper: soothing, relatable, and ultimately actionable (i.e., download the app).

Challenge

The tension lay in balancing atmosphere with urgency. We needed to lull viewers and persuade them to try Calm’s sleep programs—all within a 60-second window.

Approach

1. Tone Workshop: We aligned on an intimate, hushed narration style—no booming voice-overs.

2. Set & Sound Design: Filmed in a dimly lit bedroom with soft practical lights; captured natural ambiances (rain, wind, rustling sheets) for our sound library.

3. Scripted Pacing: The VSL opens with a five-second question (“Tossing and turning again?”), followed by founder anecdotes about restless nights, then transitions into a “you can try this tonight” CTA.

4. Color & Cut: We de-saturated the footage for warmer, dreamlike hues and paced edits to mimic a slow, calming heartbeat.

5. Platform Tailoring: Released as YouTube pre-roll, Facebook Stories, and Instagram Reels, each with slight timing tweaks for native feel.

Results

• 80 K views in seven days

• 22 % lift in premium trial conversions

• 40 % higher watch-through rate on Stories vs. feed ads

Conclusion

By treating the VSL itself as a guided relaxation session, we turned Calm’s campaign into a lived experience—a perfect example of form following function in branded storytelling.