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New drive should fit CEO's Comfort level

By David Perry -- Furniture Today, August 19, 2007

Minneapolis — Can Bill McLaughlin pull another marketing rabbit out of his hat and restore the magic at Select Comfort?

As the CEO of the nation's No. 1 bedding retailer rolls up his sleeves and gets directly involved in Select Comfort's marketing efforts, he must be feeling a sense of déjà vu. Yes, he has been here before.

While McLaughlin wants to get Select Comfort back on a solid growth track and bolster the company's reputation as a stellar performer, the challenge that he faced seven years ago may have been a bigger one than he now faces.

McLaughlin was a consumer marketing veteran from Frito Lay when he joined airbed producer and retailer Select Comfort in 2000. By his own admission, Select Comfort was "in deep trouble." It was bleeding red ink and a bleak ending to the company's dreams of glory appeared likely.

What happened next has become one of the great comeback stories in the industry: McLaughlin found a promising marketing campaign gathering dust on a shelf and introduced the Sleep Number Bed, which enables consumers to dial in their own comfort.

Select Comfort suddenly found the wind in its sails. Consumers embraced the Sleep Number beds, launching Select Comfort into a major force on the national bedding scene.

The momentum enabled Select Comfort to climb the list of bedding retailers until it had nowhere else to go. The company moved into the coveted No. 1 spot years ago, and hasn't looked back since.

Until now, that is.

These days Select Comfort finds itself mired in a sales slump. For a company that has flown so high since its dark days in the late 1990s, this is unexpected territory. But the Select Comfort of today is a far stronger, more well-established player than the fledgling company that survived a crisis that could have left it as a minor player in the industry.

Still, Select Comfort wants to regain the sales luster it has brought to the industry. One sign of its seriousness was its decision to get McLaughlin himself directly involved in marketing.

Select Comfort admitted this summer that it wasn't at all satisfied with its marketing performance. The company's senior vice president of marketing had left the company, and Select Comfort said it was time to assess its marketing direction.

A company official described McLaughlin's new role this way: "Our first priority is marketing development, which we know can provide sales lift above what is currently being delivered. The marketing team has new direction with direct leadership from Bill McLaughlin. We are adjusting our marketing near term to communicate new product news and the unique benefits of our products, while the revision of our media messaging and creative will be executed over the balance of the year."

Another immediate priority, the official said, is the launch of an enhanced product line.

The new beds, the Sleep Number 7000 and the Sleep Number 9000, offer enhancements that include proprietary comfort materials and "revolutionary" cooling materials, company officials said. They are expected to win favor with current Sleep Number bed owners, and also appeal to consumers who have been thinking about buying a Sleep Number bed.

The Sleep Number line has remained at the heart of the company's selling story since it was launched in 2001. It takes something difficult to quantify — firmness — and translates it into a number between 0 and 100. Consumers use hand controls to adjust the amount of air in the bed's chambers. A digital printout gives them their Sleep Number.

A major advantage of the Sleep Number beds, according to the company, is that they let couples find their individual comfort levels. Men and women often want different comfort levels in their bedding.

The new beds give the company an upgraded product line.

"The new Sleep Number beds represent the company's desire to continue to innovate for the benefit of the consumer," said Greg Pesky, product director for consumer mattresses for Select Comfort. "The key attribute of the Sleep Number bed is the ability to adjust the firmness on each side based on personal preference. By adding layers of the most technologically advanced fabrics and materials available, we've taken the comfort a sleeper can achieve on the Sleep Number bed to an entirely new level."

The Sleep Number 7000 bed has a rayon and silk sleep surface softened with aloe vera. It also has three inches of "technologically advanced Intralux Ultra comfort material, which is a premium foam exclusive to Sleep Number beds," the company said.

It added that the Intralux Ultra material is more permeable than other foams, enabling the sleeper to experience better temperature control and a more comfortable sleep experience.

The new Sleep Number 9000 bed is "simply the ultimate in personalized comfort," the company says. It is covered in a boucle yarn, a rayon-cotton blend fabric used in high-end European bedding, according to the company. That bed also has Outlast Adaptive Comfort technology, designed to balance a sleeper's skin temperature throughout the night.

Also exclusive to the Sleep Number 9000 bed is the Dual Foam Layering System, which offers a reversible insert, allowing sleepers to customize each side of the bed. One side is made from Intralux Premium comfort material, while the other side is made of advanced "open cell" memory foam.

Both of the new beds offer fresh, clean and more contemporary designs.

A lot is riding on the performance of the new beds. But, then, the Sleep Number beds have already lifted the company to the top of the bedding retail pyramid.

And the marketing prowess that Bill McLaughlin brought to the company in 2000 remains a potent force.

Can McLaughlin once again make Select Comfort a darling of the industry? "I wouldn't bet against him," one senior bedding executive said.

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