COVER STORY
“Now we have a clear vision of what to use and when to use it, and we’ve also formed… a great corporate staff that can assist our licensee network in many different ways.”
within all of the other organizations. So what if we formed committees and invited key peo- ple from all those organizations to take up this challenge?”
By tapping people from every licensing group, they ensured that no one facility would be dominating the conversation—and, in do- ing so, would not only unify the entire net- work, but more effectively steer the compa- ny’s development moving forward. Today the company has grown its licensing group from seven to ten domestic licensees—all of whom are working together towards “that one goal of making Spring Air the best brand it can possibly be,” Bates says.
“Spring Air is now at the top of everyone’s
mind. That’s one huge culture change that we didn’t have before, and without that nothing else works. Now we have a clear vision of what to use and when to use it, and we’ve also formed in the background a great corporate staff that can assist our licensee network in many different ways.”
Morgenstern reaffirms this idea, saying: “If you look at what we’re really doing different, I think the unification is core. Nick has put in a huge amount of effort behind the scenes to make sure that licensees feel like they have a voice, feel like they have an influence—he’s still steering the ship but he’s definitely giving an opportunity to let people provide feedback and guidance.”
12 Sleep Retailer / Fall 2019
This sense of unity has played a big role as the company has worked to streamline its product assortment. Understanding that offer- ing too many options often leaves everyone overwhelmed and confused, Spring Air has opted to instead focus on a few key collec- tions with clear differentiation in positioning. It began with Back Supporter. Over the years, the Back Supporter name had become a catch-all for all sorts of licensee-exclusive beds. By rebranding those options with “by Spring Air” names, the company was then able to reimagine Back Supporter as a singular col- lection. Last winter, the new Back Supporter was reintroduced as its nationwide ‘bread and butter’ line-up. Priced from $599 to $1499, the collection now follows designated specs— and is bolstered by clear marketing, new logos and easily-identifiable elements. Since then, the company has established a more concrete “house of brands” under the Spring Air umbrella. From the tempera- ture regulating Four Seasons to the uncom- promising Chattam & Wells and the new la- tex-based Nature’s Rest, each brand fulfills a specific product category and price point— and comes with a very cohesive marketing package that encapsulates everything from the mattress styling to the in-store POP ma- terials. By equipping each collection with its own unique set of branding guidelines and resources, it has reinforced the strength of its
messaging—and simplified the entire process for everyone.
“If everything is plug-and-play, it takes that one bit of thinking out of it and makes ev- eryone’s life a little bit easier,” Bates says. “Our licensees don’t have to create anything them- selves, like they often had to do previously. You can use our branding documents and collateral that have been created for all of your needs.” Rather than instituting unilateral changes
from the top-down, these new collections were developed and fine-tuned by the com- pany’s newly formed Product Development Committee. Made up of ten members—one from each Spring Air facility, as voted on by their teams—the committee comes together once a quarter for a day’s worth of meetings to figure out all the essential details of the new product line. “The value this brings to our company is literally over a hundred years of experience in one room, giving us many different ways to look at a scenario,” says Bates. “We have a great network of manufacturing, marketing, branding and operational minds that we can tap into. This usually would take hiring consult- ing firms and very expensive agencies; instead we are able to utilize our licensee network.” Following the successful relaunch of Back Supporter, Spring Air unveiled another legacy brand revival at this summer’s Las Vegas Market. Looking to fulfill an increasingly valuable gap in
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