Better Sleep Council to debut Web series called Suite 7

TV, film stars educate consumers on mattress replacement

David Perry -- Furniture Today, November 10, 2010

Shannen Doherty directs upcoming episode of Better Sleep Council’s “Suite 7” web series.}

Actress Jaime Murray and actor Eddie McClintock, stars of the SyFy channel’s “Warehouse 13,” spoon in an episode of the BSC’s Suite 7 web series.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — What do you get when you combine several award-winning Hollywood stars, writers and directors with a Web savvy public relations firm that is thinking about beds? A new Web series that stars the mattress.

"Suite 7" is a seven-episode Web video series that is being produced for the Better Sleep Council by New York-based CJP Communications. The first episode is being produced this month and goes live in December.

The series will be the most exciting BSC program ever introduced, BSC officials said. The BSC is the education arm of the International Sleep Products Assn.

The setting for the comedic drama is a suite in a New York hotel. In each episode, a new couple or group unpacks their emotional baggage in that suite and then resolves its issues with the mattress as a catalyst in those changes, BSC officials said.

"Suite 7" complements a new mattress replacement message unveiled by the BSC: "The Seven-Year Ditch." That message is designed to encourage consumers to replace their mattress every seven years for maximum comfort and performance.

The BSC has signed up a number of film, television, stage and web personalities to write and direct the seven episodes. That group includes Craig Bierko ("Damages"), Wilson Cleveland ("The Temp Life"), Shannen Doherty ("Charmed" and "Beverly Hills 90210"), Illeana Douglas ("Entourage"), Mark Gantt ("The Bannen Way"), Tony Janning and Sandeep Parikh ("The Legend of Neil"), Michael Kang ("Easy to Assemble: Finding North"), Susan Miller ("Anyone But Me"), and Milo Ventimiglia ("Heroes").

Bierko, Cleveland, Doherty, Douglas, Janning and Ventimiglia will also appear onscreen, along with a cast that includes Brian Austin Green ("Beverly Hills 90210"), Henry Dittman ("Greek"), Joshua Malina ("The West Wing"), Eddie McClintock ("Warehouse 13"), Brandon Molale ("Reno 911"), Jaime Murray ("Dexter"), Tara Perry ("The Legend of Neil"), and Alexi Wasser ("Boy Crazy").

CJP, one of the largest independent public relations firms in the country, was selected as the BSC's new agency earlier this year, and BSC officials said the firm's expertise in social media will give the campaign a major boost.

"The Better Sleep Council is leveraging the dramatic growth in social media to deliver our positive messages of the benefits of a good night's sleep more efficiently and effectively," said BSC Chairman Jimmy Orders, president of Park Place. "The world is changing faster and faster - and the BSC will be part of that change. ‘Suite 7' will reach a much broader spectrum of people than we've ever been able to reach before. It's the most exciting program the BSC has ever launched."

Added Mark Quinn, the BSC's vice chairman and vice president of marketing for Leggett & Platt's residential furnishings segment: "Based on the Better Sleep Council's strategy and budget, using social media makes tremendous sense. Entertaining the audience while delivering a message has proven to be more effective than traditional delivery methods. Our industry has an incredible story to tell and this is a great way to tell it."

Orders and Quinn are members of a BSC subcommittee overseeing the "Suite 7" projct. Other members of that subcommittee include Pete Bils of Select Comfort and Dan Schecter of Carpenter.

In turning to Web videos to get its mattress replacement message out, the BSC is using the "the hottest thing online right now - and online is where your customers are," said Eric Blinderman, managing director of CJP. Web videos "are a powerful means to carry through and effectively deliver your messages," he said.

BSC officials said that Americans watch approximately 100 million online videos per week, and the average U.S. Internet user watches 186 videos per month. And the videos also carry a business premium: Web series messaging provides an 82% brand awareness boost versus advertising industry norms, the BSC said.