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Research Outline

Prepared for Alexa T. | Delivered February 18, 2020

Mattress Industry - Key Players

Goals

To determine the top 4 mattress companies (globally) and for each provide their market share, competitive advantage, and brand positioning.

Early Findings

Market Leaders

Based on data from a February 2019 article from The Mattress Underground, the four major brands of mattresses are: Serta, Simmons, Sealy, and Tempur-Pedic. It is important to note, however, that due to "merger/acquisition consolidation, Serta Simmons Holdings LLC owns Serta and Simmons; similarly Tempur-Sealy International, Inc. owns Sealy and Tempur-Pedic.

Each of these brand's share of the mattress market overall is as follows:
  • Serta — 19.8%
  • Simmons — 19.5%
  • Sealy — 16.1%
  • Tempur-Pedic — 10.2%
Of additional note, OTHER manufacturers/brands (made up of hundreds of smaller manufacturers, most of who lack a massive advertising budget, and sometimes are only available locally or regionally) represent 9.1% of the total market.

Serta / Simmons

  • Up until the mid-2010s, Serta and Simmons were able to "rely on pitching its mattresses to retailers to dominate the sleepy category."
  • As such, the brands have moved from a strategy based on "mass-market advertising and (are using) a more targeted strategy to stand out in a crowded market."
  • SSM, the parent of both brands, has "retooled its media mix, moving away from the 50-50 traditional and digital split it used in the past. Instead, the company allocated 20% to traditional channels and 80% to digital. Next year, the company’s media mix will be roughly the same as it anticipates a similar ratio. However, SSB plans to increase its overall budget by 30% with much of that funneled into more digital advertising. It’s unclear how much SSB spends on marketing as the company declined to share exact figures."
  • Additionally, research has shown that consumers were not fully aware of each brand's positioning in the market. Their data "revealed that consumers didn’t understand points of differentiation between the brands or those brands’ mattresses. Now, as SSB has defined each of its brands, with Simmons serving the lower end of the market (mattresses start at just over $400), Serta for the mid-level purchase by a research-oriented consumer (mattresses start at just over $1000) and Beautyrest as the luxury option (mattresses start around $1300), the company is using those definitions to inform its marketing."
  • "The company is already using Google and Facebook ads to target consumers. Next year, as it continues to roll out the more defined brand identities, it will likely add more digital channels like Spotify and TikTok to the mix for the brands targeting younger consumers."
  • Revamped Serta Sheep advertising can be reviewed at AdAge and at iSpot.

Sealy / Tempur-Pedic

  • Tempur Sealy's recent acquisition of Sherwood bedding is expected to boost the company as it "complements Tempur Sealy's iconic brands, powerful distribution model, and supply chain. Together, we believe that we can build upon existing relationships to deliver more compelling products, branded and non-branded, than either business could on its own."
  • "Tempur Sealy said its foray into private label through this acquisition will focus on creating a suite of products that includes Sherwood’s unbranded products and the Lexington, Ky.-based company’s well-known brands — Tempur-Pedic, Sealy and Stearns & Foster."
  • "With Tempur Sealy being the dominant player in the U.S. bedding industry, we believe we have the perfect partner to acquire market share in the private label sector,' said Sherwood Bedding co-president Neil Ellman. 'The complementary knowledge and market-fit of the companies as well as the ability to improve upon our low-cost structure delivers a unique opportunity and provides us with a sustainable competitive advantage."
  • Examples of some of the company's advertising can be seen on their profile page at MediaRadar.