Sleep App Rest Targets Insomniacs’ Late-Night Scrolling With TikTok Campaign

Some 30% of Americans experience insomnia symptoms, according to scientific evidence cited by the therapy app Rest. A significant number of them end up online in the middle of the night — browsing, scrolling and often making impulsive purchases in the early hours — according to anecdotal evidence gathered by the company.

To coincide with Sleep Awareness Week, the two-year-old startup launched a stealth campaign shortly after midnight on March 10, buying up numerous search terms on TikTok Shop and elsewhere on the platform. When users clicked the search results that appeared, they were taken to live videos from influencers spanning multiple product categories.

Working alongside BeautifulBeast, Rest launched the international campaign during Sleep Awareness Week to help people break their late-night doom-scrolling habits and reclaim their sleep.

Every night, millions of people around the world struggle with insomnia. For many, the early hours of the morning turn into a mix of exhaustion, anxiety and impulsive decisions: online shopping at 3 a.m., hours on social media or endless sessions of doom-scrolling.

Facing this global problem, an Argentine entrepreneur hopes to change the way the world approaches sleep.

Martin Siniawski, founder and CEO of Rest, created the app to apply artificial intelligence and the clinical principles of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) to help people improve their sleep in a sustainable way.

The startup recently launched “Late Night Mistakes,” an international campaign timed with Sleep Awareness Week (March 8–14) that aims to intervene at one of the most critical moments for people suffering from insomnia: the middle of the night.

Globally, more than 850 million adults experience symptoms of insomnia. Yet many of the solutions available on the market — from supplements to relaxing sound apps — do not address the issue from a clinical perspective.

CBT-I is widely considered by specialists to be the most effective treatment for chronic insomnia, with success rates of 70% to 80%, and is recommended by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, according to Siniawski.

Rest brings that approach to an AI-powered digital platform that offers personalized support around the clock through daily questionnaires and short voice coaching sessions.

“Sleeping well changes everything,” Siniawski said. “Sleep is where the mind reorganizes itself and where we recover the energy to face life. Our goal is for more people to be able to rest again — and dream again.”

Reaching insomniacs where they actually are
The campaign directly targets late-night online behavior. Through the initiative, Rest intervenes in TikTok Shop live-shopping streams and social media content during overnight hours, offering an alternative to impulsive midnight purchases: investing in better sleep.

Due to the nature of live influencer posting, no videos were available in advance, but Flor Leibaschoff, co-founder and chief creative officer of BeautifulBeast, said the goal was simple: go where insomniacs already spend their sleepless nights.

“We wanted to go where insomniacs live — trying to shop for different things while they’re doom-scrolling,” she said.

The campaign involves 23 influencers, who begin their livestreams by promoting familiar late-night fixes — makeup, caffeine or supposed sleep “hacks” — before revealing the real message.

“They’ll be giving insomnia sufferers real hacks on how to feel refreshed the next morning,” Leibaschoff said. “It’s not just makeup. It’s not concealer. It’s not super-strong coffee or an energy drink. It’s not those quick fixes. It’s actually a good night’s sleep. And in order to have that, they’re going to be sharing the Rest app.”

Some of the videos parody common late-night solutions, including spoof segments such as “the ultimate hack to have your face refreshed without panda eyes.”

The problem behind late-night scrolling
While insomnia is often associated with difficulty falling asleep, Siniawski said a large portion of sufferers actually struggle with waking up in the middle of the night and being unable to fall back asleep.

“When we talk about sleep problems, we think of tossing and turning and not being able to fall asleep,” he said. “But a big chunk of people are struggling with waking up in the middle of the night and being unable to fall asleep again. Unfortunately, the main thing they reach for is their phone.”

Once people grab their phones, he added, the device often becomes a vehicle for “bad decisions” — whether that means buying things they don’t need, messaging people they should avoid or trying sleep solutions that ultimately don’t work.

“With this campaign, we want to hijack the phone in a more positive way to help people,” Siniawski said.

The campaign’s title — “Late Night Mistakes” — reflects that behavior. Research shows that using phones in bed is one of the worst things for insomnia sufferers, Leibaschoff said.

“When you cannot sleep, you need to get out of bed and go somewhere else,” she said. “The bed is supposed to be just for sleeping.”

From awareness to solutions
Before this campaign, Rest relied primarily on performance marketing. But Siniawski said the company now wants to broaden awareness that its product is based on CBT-I, a clinically validated therapy rarely available in digital form.

Rest uses artificial intelligence to deliver the therapy through guided exercises, sleep tracking and short voice coaching sessions. Leibaschoff compares the experience to “having your own coach next to you 24/7.”

She recalled one personal example: wanting to take a daytime nap while testing the app. “The coach was actually telling me, ‘No, you cannot nap right now. You need to hang in there,’” she said.

The campaign introduces a new tagline for the brand: “Start sleeping. Get dreaming.” For people with chronic insomnia, Leibaschoff noted, night can feel endless.

“After trying everything and still not sleeping, you start to feel a little hopeless,” she said. “You’re looking for something you can believe in again — something that allows you to dream again.”

The campaign will run throughout March and includes a 50% discount on the first month of the subscription-based app.

Good sleep habits, Siniawski added, are similar to physical exercise: they require consistency. “There are lots of different habits that need to be sustained and maintained,” he said. “Otherwise you backslide and go back to where you were before.”