Retail Giant points way to selling better sleep
Now that’s what we were talking about.
The day after I returned from Texas, where we successfully held our second Bedding Conference, I was greeted with a newspaper insert from Mattress Firm that perfectly embodied one of our key conference themes: The need to sell better sleep.
This insert put the "Sleep Better" message in big type at the top of the first page. Yes, this insert did have a triple-zero message — zero money down, zero payments and zero interest for a full year — but it also talked about the importance of better sleep.
Mattress Firm, which we honored at our sold-out Bedding Conference as one of four Retail Giants of Bedding, also offered a free Sleep Easy Kit. The copy read: "Mattress Firm has teamed up with sleep specialist Dr. Michael Breus to bring you this kit featuring Dr. Breus’ new book, ‘Good Night,’ a four-week program for better sleep and better health; the SoundSleep Solutions CD, which relieves stress and allows you to fall asleep easily and peacefully; and Sleep Tip Cards to help you start sleeping better tonight."
The kit was offered with a minimum purchase of $699.
The insert had several strong sale messages, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Creating a sense of buying urgency is the name of the bedding advertising game. But what set the insert apart from so many others I’ve seen were the tools it offered to help consumers get a better night’s sleep.
As Leggett & Platt’s Mark Quinn said in his powerful presentation at the Bedding Conference, we are selling better health and more productive lives when we sell new mattresses. Those are incredible benefits, yet all too often they’re not even mentioned in our consumer advertising.
The other day I saw an anniversary ad for a leading bedding retailer. It was chock full of sharp prices, but carried not a single word about better sleep. The flawed message in a nutshell: Buy a bed because the price is right. Argh! That’s not the way to sell more beds.
I’ve been complaining about our industry’s obsession with price-oriented ads for many years. While I welcomed the messages at our conference about the need to sell better sleep, I have come to accept that change in our industry comes slower than I would like.
But the Mattress Firm insert gave me a fresh shot of optimism. Yes, we really can sell better sleep and better health. Sure, we need to include strong sale messages in our ads. But we can do that and also give consumers some powerful tools that can help them change their lives. Thanks to Gary Fazio and Steve Stagner of Mattress Firm for taking this important step down the road toward better sleep.
