of Sleep to Live/Kingsdown, a manufacturer and retailer based in Mebane, N.C. “We’re asking them to make some complex leaps in understanding—from the mattress to sleep to health. And if we really want consumers to believe in us, we must educate them not just on the importance of a new mattress, but on how their sleep environment and their behavior all play a role in better sleep.” “Mattresses have improved greatly,” says Alvaro Vaselli, senior vice president of Media, Pa.-based supplier FXI
(formerly Foamex). “There are specialty foams that increase comfort levels with moisture and heat dissipation and new technologies to help people sleep better and feel better. But I see lots of room for improvement in how the industry communicates with the general public about the benefits of a new mattress. Right now manufacturers of sleeping aids like Ambien are doing a much better job than us.” The Better Sleep Council, the consumer education arm of the Interna-
tional Sleep Products Association, helps to spread a unified industry message about mattresses, sleep and health. (See story on Page 24.) And, in 2008, ISPA began work on an industrywide marketing initiative that would ramp up those efforts with a national marketing and advertising campaign designed to focus on the connections between sleep, mattresses and wellness—and boost sales of mattresses overall. BT
Research supports, shapes messages To develop product and support their own sleep and wellness messages, mattress makers and industry suppliers have formed ongoing relationships with sleep research centers, as well as scientists at universities and hospitals. They also conduct inhouse research and sponsor outside studies related to sleep and wellness. Mattress producer and retailer Sleep to Live/Kingsdown, with headquarters in Mebane, N.C., operates the Sleep to Live Institute, a research facility with a fully equipped sleep research lab in Joplin, Mo. A central goal of the institute is to conduct large-scale research for publication in peer-reviewed medical journals, says Robert Oexman, vice president of strategic development and research. “We want to begin showing the medical community how the mattress and pillow impact sleep.” Oexman and others point to the fact that many physicians’ solution to a patient’s sleep complaint is to take out the prescription pad. “Getting knocked out is not sleeping better and drugs like Ambien and Lunesta are for short-term use only, yet some people stay on them forever,” Oexman says. Study findings help Sleep to Live develop new products and can be used to assist retailers in the selling process. Once published in peer-reviewed journals, research results can be taken directly to the consumer via public relations efforts, Oexman says. In addition to its involvement with the Foundation for Chiropractic Education and Research, licensing group and mattress maker Comfort Solutions sponsors ongoing research by Duncan Baine, a U.K. scientist with more than 20 years at University College London’s Institute of Orthopedics. Baine’s research focuses on pressure imaging and electronic scan systems and examines a variety of support materials, says Owen Shoemaker, senior vice president of products and marketing development at the Willowbrook, Ill.-based company. In March, Minneapolis-based manufacturer and retailer Select Comfort unveiled findings from a sleep study sponsored through Massachusetts General Hospital. Respondents sleeping on a new Sleep Number bed reported fewer
22 | BedTimes | September 2009
Sleep science Kingsdown’s Sleep to Live Institute carries out large-scale research that can be shared with the medical community and consumers.
body aches, better rest, fewer food cravings and improved feelings of well-being. The findings from that study and others are available directly to consumers via the company’s Web site (www.selectcomfort.com), through social media such as company blogs and Facebook, and at information kiosks in retail stores. Carpenter Co. is in the process of constructing a fullscale bedding lab at its technology center, says Ed Malechek, executive vice president of the Richmond, Va.-based supplier. The company also is adding sleep studies to its in-house research. Those will be conducted by sleep doctor, clinical psychologist and author Michael Breus. Currently, Breus works with Carpenter’s retail customers showing them how to better address sleep issues. “Ongoing clinical research at our technology centers allows us to listen and converse with consumers, develop the product pipeline and elevate the conversation about the importance of sleep,” says Dan Setlak, vice president of marketing and direct sales at Tempur-Pedic, a manufacturer and retailer with headquarterd in Lexington, Ky. Tempur-Pedic is a longtime supplier of mattresses and other medical devices to the health care industry for the prevention and relief of pressure ulcers. Results from long-term clinical research conducted at universities and hospitals are available at www.tempurpedicmedical.com.
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