In the center of Madrid, one of the brightest advertising spaces in the city went black this Thursday for a few minutes. A strategic action by Pikolin with which the brand has sought to transfer to the public space the debate that happens every night in private: the use of cell phones in bed and its impact on the emotional connection of couples.

Thus, coinciding with Valentine’s week, Pikolin turned off the screens in Madrid’s Plaza de Callao as part of a campaign that poses a direct question: what would happen if the last light we turned off was not the one on our cell phone, but the one that connects us with the person sleeping next to us?

Before going black, the media launched messages that invited us to reflect on intimacy and nocturnal habits. And after a countdown, visual silence arrived. The intervention has sought to transfer an increasingly normalized domestic routine to urban space: the constant presence of screens in the bedroom.

“We wanted to make visible something that happens every night and that has become a routine already established in couples’ bedrooms: we live hyperconnected, but increasingly disconnected from who we are next to”explained Ana Robledo, Marketing Director at Pikolin. “If we are able to turn off Callao, we can also turn off our cell phone for half an hour and look at the person next to us again.”

The action continues the “Topper” campaign, with which the brand has reopened the conversation about the bedroom as an emotional refuge. Now, that story is materialized in an urban intervention that has turned disconnection into the axis of a brand experience.

“Intimate”, or how to turn the message into an experience

As part of the campaign, Pikolin has created the “Intimario”, defined as the first Museum of Intimacy in Madrid. Also located in the Plaza de Callao, and open from February 12 to 15, the space proposes a sensory tour guided by the expert coach in personal leadership and couples, Anna Vicen Renner, to rethink nighttime habits.

Far from being presented as a conventional exhibition, the Intimario articulates dynamics and direct questions, such as “what do you give more: likes or I love you?”, with the aim of transferring the debate to the street.

The experience culminates with the launch of “21 Connected Nights”, a challenge that invites couples to spend 21 nights without screens in bed and generate new rituals of rest and emotional connection. The brand will propose simple and fun dynamics to disconnect from the cell phone and reconnect with the couple, such as using the bed for something unexpected, such as stretching as a couple, listening to a song together or having breakfast on the duvet; or replace the gesture of sliding your finger on the screen with conscious caresses and physical contact for 10 minutes.

From the creative approach, the intention of this campaign has not only been to generate visual impact. “The interesting thing has been to raise this conversation from the tangible: a blackout that directly challenges, an interactive experience that invites reflection and a challenge that turns that reflection into action”says Carlos Serra, Content Director of Havas Play, the agency responsible for conceptualization and creative execution. Arena Media has participated in the strategic approach, as well as in the management of media planning and AcentoenlaCé has been in charge of the PR strategy.

The action is supported by the study “Intimacy and Screens”, promoted by Pikolin among 500 people between 25 and 65 years old who live together as a couple. These are some of the most relevant results that support the strategic approach of the campaign:

• 70% of couples use devices before going to sleep
• In 60% of cases, the last light that goes off in the bedroom is that of a screen
• 46% feel invisible when their partner uses their cell phone in bed
• One in three goes to bed feeling ignored
• 43% have argued for this reason (61% among young people)
• 62% would like a bedroom without screens, although changing the habit is complex, especially among the youngest, of whom 76% recognize that their privacy is harmed.

“Intimacy does not disappear suddenly, it erodes little by little when we stop being present”explains coach Anna Vicen Renner. “The bed is one of the last spaces where the couple can meet without interruptions. When the screens do not occupy that place, the emotional connection suffers and, over time, also the desire.”

With this activation, Pikolin integrates physical experience, reflection and practical commitment, reinforcing its platform “Do something that keeps you awake,” with which the brand has been building a story that transcends the product to address cultural issues linked to rest, intimacy and relationships.

Movistar joins the blackout

Movistar joined the Pikolin blackout initiative in Callao through Movimiento Azul, its platform aimed at promoting responsible and conscious use of technology. In parallel with the symbolic shutdown of Pikolin in the center of Madrid, the company turned off the screens in all its stores in Spain starting at 10:00 p.m.

The membership was made public through a conversation between the official Instagram accounts of both brands, reinforcing the shared message: prioritizing the connection with people in front of screens.

Thus, Pikolin, a mattress manufacturer, challenges the bedroom as a space for rest and connection. And Movistar, a technology operator, assumes the role of accompanying the healthy use of technology. The sum of both brands seeks to show that disconnection should not be considered a renunciation and should begin to be approached as a conscious choice.

More info: 21 nights connected challenge