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Simmons Focuses On, And Demonstrates
The Company’s Core Competency “Beds Where You Really Sleep Better”
Edited
by: Dale T. Read, Editor-in-Chief
Consumers looking to purchase a new mattress/foundation set really
do understand the underlying message of the Simmons® bowling ball
commercials. Recent research studies among both consumers and
feedback from retailers confirms that customers really grasped the
basic “Do not Disturb” or motion separation message presented in the
old Simmons® bowling ball ads back in 1995. It is for this reason,
and also the fact that 80% of Simmons overall business is still
driven by the Beautyrest® product line featuring the company’s
famous Pocketed Coil® construction (according to Simmons® CEO
Charlie Eitel) that Simmons has re-introduced a new, up-to-date
Bowling Ball advertising and marketing campaign in support of the
flagship Beautyrest line.
During a recent interview with Simmons senior management at the Las
Vegas market, company CEO Charlie Eitel set the vision and the tone:
“We are at our prime fighting weight! We are focused on OSM,
Outstanding Simmons’ Merchandizing to our retail customers and to
the consuming public. I really do believe that we at Simmons make a
bed where you sleep better. Our Pocketed Coil® Beautyrest® line is
our core competency. We are focusing on what we do best: offering
real demonstrable performance and a real value to the consumer.” Tim
Oakhill, senior vice president of marketing and international
licensing, enthusiastically commented on the new bowling ball ads as
part of Simmons’ new focus and commitment to Simmons’ customers and
retailers. “Our dealers asked us to bring back the bowling ball
campaign because it simply illustrates the concept of motion
separation, which diminishes the effects of an individual’s movement
and helps prevent it from disturbing their partner’s sleep.”(a clear
performance feature /benefit demonstration of how a couple can have
a successful night’s sleep) Oakhill noted that, “The bowling ball
demonstration also helps consumers visualize the customized support
that Simmons’ unique Pocketed Coil® design provides through its
ability to conform to a person’s unique body shape.”
If you’re more than ten years old, you’ll remember the Simmons ad.
It was known as the “bowling ball” ad. An actor, dressed in a lab
coat, dropped a bowling ball onto an open coil unit, then he dropped
a ball onto a Beautyrest® Pocketed Coil unit. While the action
knocked down ten bowling pins on the open coil unit, the pins on the
Beautyrest mattress remained upright. The ad was compelling enough
that it set off a consumer craze for “the bowling ball mattress”.
And, it was memorable enough that consumers still respond to it
today.
Simmons new
campaign includes elements from the original bowling ball
demonstration seen in the 1995 ad. The new commercial, which began
airing in March, focuses on the development of the Pocketed Coil
technology and the company’s continued improvement of the design
over the last 80 years. Simmons attributes the lack of motion
transfer to the fabric encased springs, which are attached to each
other in the middle, not on the top and bottom as in traditional
innerspring designs. Rolf Sannes, Beautyrest brand director
summarizes the value of the pocketed coil demonstration, “Each
Pocketed Coil spring reacts independently to changes in weight and
pressure helping to provide individualized comfort and support. The
new ad has a female technician in a lab coat. (Mattresses are
primarily purchased by a female buyer or a couple with a female
driving the final decision). But she goes a step beyond simply
dropping a bowling ball on the mattress; she demonstrates
Beautyrest’s head to toe support by stretching out on a Pocketed
Coil unit. The picture eloquently illustrates the promise of
individualized comfort and support.”
Deepsleep® Simmons Commitment To Every Lifestyle And Generation
The introduction of Simmons new four bed DEEPSLEEP® bedding further
confirms the company’s commitment to the company’s core competency
and to a broad range of product, offering quality bedding at a range
of prices. The new DEEPSLEEP offers comfort at a price “that is not
a dream”. DEEPSLEEP mattresses are for consumers who need quality
bedding at value prices. Known over the recent years for
introductions of premium and ultra-premium beds as well as product
innovations (Beautyrest 2000 no-flip mattresses, the BareCare
product line, the washable HealthSmart mattress top, and the
licensed specialty sleep products including Simmons Beautyrest
LuxAire™ and Natural Spring® mattresses), Simmons is taking a dead
aim bead on its core business and addressing the needs of the a huge
segment of buying customers. In discussing the focus on Beautyrest
with the new bowling ball ads, and on the new introduction of the
DEEPSLEEP line, CEO Charles Eitel told this reporter that, while it
was a right strategy to offer innovations and premium and
ultra-premium bedding in a market where high-end bedding sales are
increasing, “it is wholly in appropriate to abandon the (mid-range)
$600 to $1000 price point. In 2006 we want to be able to address the
needs, wants and desires of the consumer who is looking for high
performance and comfort at a variety of price points.” Tim Oakhill
tells BEDROOM Magazine that the new four bed DEEPSLEEP line offers,
“three things that are hard to find in mattress these days:
‘Durability, Affordability and Comfort.’”
A DEEPSLEEP mattress offers durability featuring a super strong coil
support system that is made to last. These coils are double
tempered, heavy gauge coil designed to last for years. Using these
coils along with high performance foams, luxurious Damask or
Supersoft Knit covers, and easy to clean fabrics Simmons can offer
the consumer a nice range of comfort choices and support at very
attractive prices.
In addition to durable high performance support, Easy Clean fabrics
and high performance foams, the four bed line up also has the
Triton® Lite Foundation system and of course Simmon’s No Flip
(one-sided) mattress design.
Simmons’ Healthsmart Mattress Top Wins Good Housekeeping’s Good Buy
Award
While re-introducing an old ad campaign, Simmons was recognized for
a new innovation. Good Housekeeping recognized the Healthsmart
mattress top from Simmons Bedding Company during its 11th Annual
Good Buy Awards. Through its launch of the HealthSmart mattress top
this past year, Simmons enabled consumers to zip-off and wash the
top of their mattresses for the first time. Laundering of the
HealthSmart mattress top helps remove dirt, germs, bacteria, dust
mites, odors and perspiration. Just like washing your sheets,
laundering your mattress top contributes to a healthier sleep
environment.
“The opinion of the Good Housekeeping Institute is one of consumers’
most trusted viewpoints,” said Tim Oakhill, Simmons’ senior vice
president of marketing. “This recognition of the HealthSmart
mattress top has helped further establish Simmons as the mattress
industry’s leading innovator, a title we’ve maintained since the
development of our Beautyrest® Pocketed Coil® springs in 1925.”
Simmons’ Charlotte, N.C. Manufacturing Facility Honored by OSHA
In addition to Good Housekeeping’s recognition for innovation,
Simmons Bedding Company’s manufacturing facility in Charlotte, N.C.
was selected for OSHA’s Safety and Health Achievement Recognition
Program (SHARP) by the North Carolina Department of Labor’s
Occupational Safety & Health Division. Inclusion in SHARP is
reserved for companies that exhibit a superior management structure
for ensuring their employees’ safety and well-being. SHARP members
serve as models of workplace safety for both their local business
communities and their respective industries.
“We have always made the health and well-being of our employees our
number one priority,” said Rhonda Rousch, Simmons’ executive vice
president of human resources. “SHARP is one of OSHA’s highest
honors, and we are thrilled to be recognized as a leader in employee
safety, for that is an area in which we continually strive to
improve upon the accepted industry standard.”
Simmons’ Charlotte facility posted an OSHA incident rate of 0.7 last
year, compared to the furniture industry’s rate of 8.7 during that
same time period. The North Carolina Department of Labor and OSHA
celebrated the plant’s acceptance into SHARP at an awards ceremony
in February.
The Charlotte facility is one of several Simmons manufacturing
plants across the United States to receive safety accolades in 2005.
Simmons’ facilities in Salt Lake City, Utah, Kansas City, Kan. and
York, Pa., each celebrated their second year without a recordable
incident, while the company’s Phoenix plant renewed its membership
in SHARP and in OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Programs’ Star division
(VPP Star), the organization’s most prestigious honor. Simmons’
Phoenix plant was initially selected for both SHARP and VPP Star in
2004 and was the first Simmons facility to win either honor.
For more information, please visit
www.simmons.com
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