Fire-safety question draws a variety of old answers
David Perry, Executive editor -- Furniture Today, January 26, 2004
I ran across an ad in one of my favorite business magazines the other day that asks a great question: "When faced with new questions, do you reply with old answers, or new ones?"
That, I submit, is an insightful way to look at how bedding producers and retailers can approach the mattress flammability issue. The new question is: How should we market safer mattresses? The industry is pulling old answers out of the drawer as it ponders this question.
In my ongoing conversations with industry leaders, I've come across plenty of skepticism when it comes to the notion of introducing safety as a marketing message. Bad idea, one leader told me. We don't plan to do that, another said. Consumers assume our products are safe, another said. We don't want to give consumers a false sense of security, another said.
It has become clear to me in recent months that, with the exception of Serta and Carolina Mattress Guild, there's a strong feeling in the industry that safety is just not an appropriate issue for mattress marketing programs. Never mind the amount of time, effort and money we as an industry are spending on the flammability issue.
Most of the skepticism comes from producers. Not surprisingly, a number of FR suppliers do see some marketing possibilities with safety messages.
As you know, I'm in that latter camp. I believe that marketers can choose their messages. I also believe that consumers value safety in a wide variety of products. Do they expect mattresses to be safe? Probably. But the fact is that most don't know about the dangers of fires in the bedroom. Consumers don't plan to have bedroom fires, of course. But they do happen.
One school of thought holds that we as an industry didn't make improved safety a big issue when we incorporated cigarette-ignition protection in our products in the 1970s. Since we didn't tout safety then, this school of thought holds, we shouldn't talk about safety today.
That, clearly, is a 30-year-old answer. Frankly, we couldn't really talk about improved safety when our products were not small-open-flame resistant. We were addressing only part of the safety issue then. But now we are addressing the bigger issue of open-flame protection. The improved safety we are offering (or will be shortly) is worth touting in our marketing programs.
I can't get that magazine ad out of my mind. "There are times when the best shot at success isn't the most obvious," the ad copy says, as Tiger Woods hits a shot while bracketed by trees. The ad is for a consulting company.
Rather than paying a consultant big bucks, I offer you this free advice: Look for new answers to the new question of improved mattress fire safety.
Opinion columns are available online at www.furnituretoday.com.
