By Jane Kitchen and Barbara Nelles
A handful of sleep products showrooms at the Las Vegas Market Jan. 26-30 had celebrities on hand, from athletes to actors, to help promote their products.
Spring Air featured actress and health author and advocate Marilu Henner, best known for her role in the television show “Taxi,” who helped the company promote its new Sleep Sense hybrid Back Supporter beds. Henner said she was inspired to help spotlight the Spring Air line after sleeping on it herself.
“This bed makes so much sense to me, and I’ve never gotten such good sleep before,” said Henner, who autographed copies of her latest book, “Total Memory Makeover,” during her appearance in the Spring Air showroom. Henner is one of a handful of known individuals with HSAM–highly superior autobiographical memory.
Henner has authored nine books on healthy lifestyles and is a big believer in the difference a good night’s sleep can make.
“The quality of your brain and how well you can function the next day is determined by sleep,” said Henner. “I’ve never seen a drama, a problem, a pimple not cured by a good night’s sleep.”
Spring Air President Rick Robinson noted that Henner has established a significant following of upwardly mobile women, aged 40 to 65, through her work as a performer, writer and current host of The Marilu Show.
“That demographic segment represents a good portion of the U.S. target market for upscale mattress purchases,” he said.
Simmons launched its racy new Beautyrest Black line with a market appearance by hunky actor and race car driver Patrick Dempsey to celebrate the partnership between Dempsey Racing and Beautyrest Black.
The company is an official supplier and sponsor of the No. 27 Dempsey Racing Porsche GT America driven by the actor, and is featuring Dempsey as it promotes Beautyrest Black in a “Dream in Black” advertising campaign, which focuses on the both the technology and the sleek, modern design of the line.
“We’re going to market in a way that we’ve never seen luxury bedding marketed before,” said EVP of Marketing Jeff Willard.
Protect-A-Bed emphasized the relationship between exercise and rest by bringing in women’s CrossFit champion Camille Leblanc-Bazinet to help promote REM-Fit Total Sleep Recovery System, a boxed mattress protection set that includes an adjustable pillow — users can add or remove its fiber fill to find their perfect comfort level. The protectors use Tencel fiber, which is touted as being softer than cotton, naturally moisture-wicking and thermo-regulating. Leblanc-Bazinet is a three-time Top 10 finisher in the CrossFit games and currently is ranked sixth-fittest woman in the world by the CrossFit organization.