Next Generation Posturepedic for Sealy

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Message Next Generation Posturepedic The Sealy Posturepedic brand is an icon in the mattress industry, with strong name recognition among consumers. In fact, Posturepedic sales represent more than half of Sealy’s business—and have made Sealy the largest mattress manufacturer in the United States. The brand, which has been around since the 1950s, set the industry standard for making mattresses endorsed by health-care professionals to promote back health and good posture. Sealy partnered with IDEO to bring Posturepedic into the 21st century by developing a new product that clearly delivered on the long-running promise of the brand. The design team set out to build upon Posturepedic’s heritage of health expertise, which began during the era of advertised endorsements and finishing schools. The first task was to sort out how back health has evolved culturally and professionally. To this end, the design team explored holistic back health care, which is far more complex now than it was 60 years ago. In its early years, Posturepedic was endorsed by orthopedic surgeons, an emerging and cutting-edge specialty. Today, however, orthopedic physicians are the last people anyone wants to see: visiting a surgeon generally means one has severe back problems and needs surgery. In contrast to the early days, today’s consumers are far more proactive in their physical health—chiropractors, yoga trainers, massage therapists, and physical trainers have become part of people’s everyday lives. Recognizing this shift, the team brought this holistic evolution to the brand—and made sure that the mattress product itself had physically demonstrable benefits. During the design process, IDEO conducted multiple rounds of research, building on in-home interviews with consumers from previous Sealy projects, and reconnecting with retailers and retail sales associates to discuss features they’d like to see in the new line. This information, combined with insights garnered by discussions with leading back-health experts, led to a core brand principle for Posturepedic: a product line that is about holistic back health promotes a healthy back with every interaction, not just sleeping; the newly design sleep set is as good for people’s backs when they are sleeping on it as it is when they are making it, lifting it, cleaning it, or carrying it. Concurrently with this brand research, the team also explored visual languages that communicated strength, support and comfort in order to find a distinctive voice for Sealy. The team chose to lead with familiarity and imply technical know-how to have the most mainstream appeal. To accomplish this, they looked to cultural icons like the canvas tote, denim jeans, men’s pajamas and even the Eames lounge chair as sources of inspiration. By understanding how these classic symbols communicated timelessness, reliability and appropriateness, the team formed ideas about how to approach the new Posturepedic’s aesthetic. This exploration phase concluded with a workshop with Sealy’s management team to discuss the business implications of various product concepts inspired by the research. Having formed a strong point of view, the IDEO team co-located to Sealy’s R&D center in North Carolina to investigate material options with Sealy’s vendors and subsequently to begin prototyping full-sized mattress designs on site. Over the course of weeks IDEO and Sealy produced a series of prototypes, each building on a previous version until the brand and visual language were clearly communicated through demonstrable features: an innovative handle system that makes the mattress easier to move, a visually distinct support zone in the center of the mattress, and a convenient rubberized foundation to better grip sheets, among others. Sealy also integrated state-of-the-art internal components like Titanium springs to complete the full reinvention. “Part of the challenge of mattresses is that innovation is typically hidden below the surface where consumers cannot see it,” Jodi Allen, chief marketing officer at Sealy, told Furniture Today . “We wanted to create an aesthetic for Posturepedic that is both recognizable and appealing to a wide range of consumers, while also communicating the incredible technology inside.” The Next Generation Posturepedic officially began shipping In January 2011. By the end of the second quarter, Sealy had delivered the new mattresses to most of its retail customers. In its earnings report, the company said US bedding sales for the quarter were up 10.6 percent to $253.4 million, a figure driven by the new product line’s introduction. According to Sealy’s Q3 earning’s report, the Posturepedic launch represented the largest and fastest rollout in the company’s history. http://www.ideo.com/work/next-generation-posturepedic-for-sealy

The Sealy Posturepedic brand is an icon in the mattress industry, with strong name recognition among consumers. In fact, Posturepedic sales represent more than half of Sealy’s business—and have made Sealy the largest mattress manufacturer in the United States. The brand, which has been around since the 1950s, set the industry standard for making mattresses endorsed by health-care professionals to promote back health and good posture.

Sealy partnered with IDEO to bring Posturepedic into the 21st century by developing a new product that clearly delivered on the long-running promise of the brand. The design team set out to build upon Posturepedic’s heritage of health expertise, which began during the era of advertised endorsements and finishing schools. The first task was to sort out how back health has evolved culturally and professionally.

To this end, the design team explored holistic back health care, which is far more complex now than it was 60 years ago. In its early years, Posturepedic was endorsed by orthopedic surgeons, an emerging and cutting-edge specialty. Today, however, orthopedic physicians are the last people anyone wants to see: visiting a surgeon generally means one has severe back problems and needs surgery. In contrast to the early days, today’s consumers are far more proactive in their physical health—chiropractors, yoga trainers, massage therapists, and physical trainers have become part of people’s everyday lives. Recognizing this shift, the team brought this holistic evolution to the brand—and made sure that the mattress product itself had physically demonstrable benefits.

During the design process, IDEO conducted multiple rounds of research, building on in-home interviews with consumers from previous Sealy projects, and reconnecting with retailers and retail sales associates to discuss features they’d like to see in the new line. This information, combined with insights garnered by discussions with leading back-health experts, led to a core brand principle for Posturepedic: a product line that is about holistic back health promotes a healthy back with every interaction, not just sleeping; the newly design sleep set is as good for people’s backs when they are sleeping on it as it is when they are making it, lifting it, cleaning it, or carrying it.

Concurrently with this brand research, the team also explored visual languages that communicated strength, support and comfort in order to find a distinctive voice for Sealy. The team chose to lead with familiarity and imply technical know-how to have the most mainstream appeal. To accomplish this, they looked to cultural icons like the canvas tote, denim jeans, men’s pajamas and even the Eames lounge chair as sources of inspiration. By understanding how these classic symbols communicated timelessness, reliability and appropriateness, the team formed ideas about how to approach the new Posturepedic’s aesthetic.

This exploration phase concluded with a workshop with Sealy’s management team to discuss the business implications of various product concepts inspired by the research.

Having formed a strong point of view, the IDEO team co-located to Sealy’s R&D center in North Carolina to investigate material options with Sealy’s vendors and subsequently to begin prototyping full-sized mattress designs on site. Over the course of weeks IDEO and Sealy produced a series of prototypes, each building on a previous version until the brand and visual language were clearly communicated through demonstrable features: an innovative handle system that makes the mattress easier to move, a visually distinct support zone in the center of the mattress, and a convenient rubberized foundation to better grip sheets, among others. Sealy also integrated state-of-the-art internal components like Titanium springs to complete the full reinvention.

“Part of the challenge of mattresses is that innovation is typically hidden below the surface where consumers cannot see it,” Jodi Allen, chief marketing officer at Sealy, told Furniture Today . “We wanted to create an aesthetic for Posturepedic that is both recognizable and appealing to a wide range of consumers, while also communicating the incredible technology inside.”

The Next Generation Posturepedic officially began shipping In January 2011. By the end of the second quarter, Sealy had delivered the new mattresses to most of its retail customers. In its earnings report, the company said US bedding sales for the quarter were up 10.6 percent to $253.4 million, a figure driven by the new product line’s introduction. According to Sealy’s Q3 earning’s report, the Posturepedic launch represented the largest and fastest rollout in the company’s history.