COVER STORY
the company’s product assortment, the newly refreshed Nature’s Rest brand offers retailers a latex story that is supported by eye-catching POP and one-of-a-kind looks and feels. When it comes to revitalizing an existing brand, the company takes the time to first fully understand its history. Before drafting any po- tential branding ideas, they bring together “four or five key players that have known about that brand for the longest or been involved with it the most,” Bates explains. For Nature’s Rest, that in- cluded Mark Campbell from the company’s Ten- nessee facility, CEO Ed Bates and at least one retailer, all of whom were able to really explain the basic outline of what made the brand what it was during its heyday. Working closely with a third-party branding agency, the Spring Air Branding Committee can then pinpoint the so- called “engineered advantages” of the brand— the specific features that make it unique. “Everyone can say, natural this natural that, natural fabrics, all this great stuff—but that’s not what Nature’s Rest really was,” Bates con- tinues. “It was always teetering the line of be- ing natural without being a fully natural brand.” By anchoring the new program within the
context of its history, Spring Air been able to find a way to build upon its legacy without get- ting stuck in stagnant or old-fashioned ideas. This careful balance is an essential part of the company’s retail support. “We are a brick-and- mortar retail brand, not an upstart, so we rely heavily on our retail sales associates and our buyers to introduce us to the customer,” Mor- genstern explains. “I think the heritage, espe- cially in that context, plays an important part in getting on the retail floor.” For the retail sales associates who may already have a working memory of a certain brand, a revival can be a major asset to them—as they’re already com- fortable speaking on it. By taking that history and coupling it with more modern feels and styling, Spring Air can elevate the collection to something new and exciting that consumers will be immediately drawn to. With both goals in mind, the company be- gan to paint a picture of how the refreshed line would fit in today’s marketplace. This includes looking for “white space” in the industry: what is a look or a message that hasn’t been seen before? By zeroing in on the natural but not organic element of the line-up, the team iden- tified the target consumer as someone who
Nature’s Rest is equipped with a meaningful branding story that helps the consumer better understand and connect to this category in a more authentic way.
enjoys and appreciates the wonders of na- ture—but is maybe not especially interested in really roughing it. By drafting a series of ar- chetypes and mood boards, the company was able to build upon these insights to sketch out a branding program that expanded upon a recreational State Park theme. Once the rough outline of the branding was set, it was thrown back to the Product De- velopment Committee to figure out all of the product and operations-driven decisions—ev- erything from the logos and linen fabrics to the latex materials, comfort feels and suppliers. As the process neared the finish line, both com- mittees were working together to finalize the entire program. “It’s a lot of handing back and forth,” Bates says, “but one hand can’t work without the other.” Fourteen months after the initial meeting, the new Nature’s Rest was unveiled at mar- ket in a major way. When market attendees arrived at the Spring Air show space, they walked right into the “Nature’s Rest State Park” experience. The standard reception area had been replaced with lush outdoor greenery, 15-foot “Sequoia trees” decorated with real moss and flowers, built out signs— and a new Nature’s Rest mattress nestled amidst the forestry. The goal of this rede- sign was to really immerse visitors into the branding story before they even got to the products. “Then when you bring them into the product section, it makes it that much easier to explain and show them why certain things are that way,” Bates explains. “So when you’re able to see that vision and where we’re com- ing from and then you see the marketing ma- terials, the signage, the pictures on the wall, the names of the beds, why we used linen fabrics, it helps tie it all together.”
Establishing new nationwide brands like Nature’s Rest not only helps support the uni- fication of the licensee organization, it also directly benefits the retailer as well. While a typical licensing structure can lead to confu- sion by offering multiple variations of a line-up across different territories, this more cohesive approach allows for clearer messaging and more effective marketing tactics. “Because all the licensees have bought into all the process that we’ve created, through the Product Development Committee, the national products that we’re showing at mar- ket are the same national products that our licensees are taking out to retail. That means the consumer can do research on one of the brands in the Spring Air house of brands, find out about our product and then go into retail and ask for it,” Bates explains. Since its debut, Nature’s Rest has already
begun securing placements all over the country. More than just a visually appealing program, the line-up provides retailers with a valuable spe- cialty option in today’s marketplace: while the memory foam and innerspring categories have been steadily driven down in cost, latex is still holding price point at retail. And Nature’s Rest is equipped with a meaningful branding story that helps the consumer better understand and connect to this category in a more authentic way. After a busy few years, Spring Air is plan- ning on taking its time when it comes to developing any new products. Instead, it is focusing on its retail partners, ensuring they have the support to make the most of each unique brand. And after seeing the benefits of restructuring its US business, the company is now looking to expand that approach to its international licensees as well. While product features and styling will always vary region to region, the next goal is to fortify a more singu- lar Spring Air brand across the globe. Today, Spring Air stands as a model of how to evolve without erasing your history. Over the past three years, we’ve seen the company build upon its legacy by streamlining its fo- cus and infusing it with fresh ideas, youthful energy and bolder messaging. Armed with a stronger-than-ever house of brands and a unified team of creative thinkers and makers, Spring Air has built a reliable roadmap for en- during success. Visit
springair.com
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