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Drew Neisser is the CEO of New York City-based Renegade, an interactive agency that delivers competitive advantage to clients by transforming their messaging into "marketing as service".

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Losing Sleep Over Mattress Ads

Written on
Jul 29, 2008 
Author
Drew Neisser  |
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Losing Sleep Over Mattress Ads

buzz1.jpgADOTAS EXCLUSIVE — I had a dream the other night that my phone was ringing off the hook from CMO’s losing sleep over the concept of Marketing as Service. One in particular, the SVP of Marketing at Sealy, told me he understood the merit of the concept but neither he nor his agency could figure out how to get there. And just as I was about to explain to him how Marketing as Service could be applied to the mattress business, I woke up.

Realizing that “if you snooze you lose” doesn’t apply in this case, the following is an open letter to Phillip Dobbs, the Senior VP of Marketing at Sealy.

Dear Mr. Dobbs:

As you have astutely noted, sleep deprivation is a national crisis. According to the National Sleep Foundation (from whom you source your data), less than half of us get seven hours of shuteye during the week. Based on my own observations, I believe that the most common non-medical reasons for this can be clustered into three key areas:

1. We have trouble falling asleep;
2. We have trouble staying asleep;
3. We simply elect not to sleep as much as we should.

Regardless of the reason, an enlightened mattress company like Sealy’s could turn its marketing into a service by teaching exhausted Americans how to get their beauty sleep. In fact, a leader like Sealy could actually “own” sleep but it would take more than cute ads like the ones in your new campaign.

Don’t get me wrong. I like the ads and I admire all the press (Wall Street Journal and Brandweek among others) you and your agency are getting. Promising “a better six” is clever as is the notion that a few fortunate people like trust-fund babies, heiresses, and siblings of lottery winners probably get more than their allotted forty winks each night. My problem is with your suggestion that a mattress alone, even the hypnotically appealing PurEmbrace, can resolve my sleep issues.

Talk about marketing nightmares! You smartly bring up an issue that we are all losing sleep over and then you blithely suggest that the answer is as simple as buying a new mattress. Are your springs loose? Perhaps your agency is on Ambien but many of us don’t get enough sleep because we simply can’t shut down our minds. We don’t know how. We need help. The opportunity for Marketing as Service is a dream come true.

Here are just a few of ways Sealy (or one of your competitors) could blanket this topic:

* Sleep therapy: Run in-store seminars on how to get all the ZZZ’s you need without medication;
* Sweet dreams hotline: Customers could call this number day or night and talk to a professional sleep therapist;
* Sleep channel: Set up a cable station that is so boring it is guaranteed to put you to sleep in 15 minutes and will turn itself off;
* Sleep central: A social network that segments by sleep type (finally a place for those who only need three hours a night to hang out!)
* Pillow talk: Podcasts that read you to sleep.

Had I enjoyed more than my usual 6 hours of tossing and turning last night, I suspect I could come up with a lot more. The notion here is rather simple—help your customers through the entire sleep process and they will thank you every night. And don’t do this just to be good Samaritans—do it because sleep therapy clinics could drive show room traffic. Do it because a “sweet dreams hotline” could help you build a database of fans that will spread your name to every bedroom in town. Do it because a “sleep channel” could generate a lot of good will and dreamy PR.

According to an article in Media Post, “In its most recent quarter, Sealy’s sales fell 5% to $391.9 million, while net income dropped to $16.2 million from $24.6 million in the comparable period a year earlier.” My guess is that the current economic downturn isn’t going to make any easier to move mattresses. Ironically, sleep deprivation is likely to get worse as people toss and turn over rising prices, falling home prices and corporate layoffs. Now more than ever, Sealy needs to open its eyes to Marketing as Service. America (and I) will sleep better if you do.

Sweet dreams,

Drew Neisser
CEO, Renegade





Reader Comments.

i will like to purchase 50pieces of mattress what the price on that and do you discounts?whatever it is please email me with the total cost and the form of payments you take because i would like to pay with a credit card .If it is within my means i will do the payment and we will follow up with the shipment procedure too.thank you
regards
james

Posted by james | 2:40 pm on September 23, 2008.

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