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Message Reinvigorating the Stearns & Foster Brand In the early 1980s, Sealy acquired Stearns & Foster and used the brand’s long-standing reputation of luxury and authenticity to establish a new high-end category for mattresses. Sales grew rapidly from 1994 to 2002, but then began to falter, as quality issues and new competition entered the luxury market, prompting retailers to stock other options and competitors to grab market share. Sealy sought a means to reinvigorate the 160-year-old brand’s good name. Sealy teamed up with IDEO to develop a design language for Stearns & Foster mattresses that would re-establish what the brand stood for—and clarify what made it unique. IDEO worked with Sealy to translate these sentiments into products relevant to both the company and consumers. Early on in the project, the creative team met with employees, partners, customers, and vendors and made a few discoveries that heavily influenced their approach. These included the facts that luxury beds don’t have to be hand-made — just well made, giving delight through hidden details and a distinct identity with retail appeal. The team also learned that many people became endeared to products by maintaining them and preferred exclusivity through personalization, not rarity. Based on this learning, the team redefined the brand principles to ensure that, going forward, Sealy met consumer expectations for Stearns & Foster. Among them are heritage (meaningful storytelling about the brand’s legacy), made with care (precision engineered and meticulously assembled), iconic (visually distinct and unrivaled, exclusive (not “a bed” but “the bed”), indulgent (best in class materials); enduring (made to create loyalty). Beyond the product, these core brand values would influence all future operational, sales, and marketing. This empowered Sealy, rather than retailers, to define the Stearns & Foster position in the market. The related product principles were embodied in a series of mattress prototypes whose evocative details garnered the interest of key customers and retailers. Many of these details—tailored handles, heritage corner guards, multi-fabric gussets, high-contrast colors, and a proprietary coil-in-a-coil design—were successfully integrated into the 2009 Stearns & Foster Estate line, setting in motion a sustainable new standard of design and identity for the brand. The 16 models vary in price from $1,499 to $2,499 at select retail stores. In consumer research, the Stearns & Foster beds scored higher than competitors for visual appeal and comfort. In fact, the newly released beds are the highest rated in Sealy’s portfolio since it started keeping records. Additionally initial retailer orders exceeded management projections by over three times. “Stearns & Foster continues to expand its line of sophisticated offerings and provide consumers with practical luxury and refined style,” said Larry Rogers, Sealy’s CEO, told Furniture Today. “We’ve partnered with a top global design consultancy, IDEO, which specializes in impact through design for the luxury consumer.” The result of that partnership, he said, “is a mattress above the average price point made for consumers who are willing to invest in their health by spending more on a bed that will help them get a better night’s rest. The new Stearns & Foster line fulfills this consumer demand, providing an uncompromising mattress that feels as luxurious as it looks.” http://www.ideo.com/work/reinvigorating-the-stearns-foster-brand/