Could dreaded bed bug boost bedding sales?
David Perry, Executive editor -- Furniture Today, July 27, 2009
Time for a quick quiz: What causes big problems, is a real nuisance, and is closely related to spiders and ticks? No, the answer is not your trusty bedding editor! Shame on you for even thinking that. Like the government, I'm here to help. And this week I'm here to introduce a truly revolting pest: The dust mite. Yes, that is the answer to the question that began this column.
Strange as it may sound, dust mites just might be good for the mattress industry and the sleep accessory category. In fact, these household villains just could become heroes in our fight to boost sales. Before you dismiss this as a crazy idea, hear me out.
First a little background. According to AllergyStore.com, the allergens originating from dust mites are the world's second-greatest cause of allergies, behind only pollen, and are significant triggers of asthma attacks.
Dust mites are microscopic creatures that have eight hairy legs, no eyes, no antennae, big mouths and tough shells. They feed, voraciously, on human skin cells. They like mattresses, and they use them for their own private bathrooms. While they don't bite, their do-do does cause lots of allergy problems. And, yes, they like to breed in mattresses, and to raise their families there, too.
One major university reports that a typical used mattress may contain 100,000 to 10 million dust mites. And AllergyStore.com says that 10% of the weight of a two-year-old pillow can be composed of dead dust mites and their feces.
I trust, by now, that you see where I am headed. Here we have a yucky, disgusting creature who makes itself right at home in our mattresses and in our pillows. Gee, maybe we should not hang on to our mattresses for 10 years or longer. Gee, maybe we should replace our pillows every year. Gee, maybe we should use pillow and mattresses protection products to keep those nasty, revolting creatures from sleeping with us night after night.
So what we have to do is to make the dust mite the villain of consumers' lives in our marketing programs. We need to make dust mites infamous. We need to use huge pictures of those yucky creatures to grab consumers' attention. “Do you want to sleep with this?” we need to ask in ads and point-of-purchase materials.
But wait. You don't like this strategy? You say it is too negative, that it feeds on fear. You may be right. With an exception or two, the industry has shunned this approach.
But we do think there is a way to use those dust mites to our advantage. We don't talk much about hygiene and cleanliness issues in our mattress marketing, but maybe there is a way to incorporate those messages — without grossing out our consumers. Let's get to work on that challenge.
Contact David Perry at dperry@reedbusiness.com
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