Daily News
From Home Furnishing Business
Beautyrest to Headline Sponsorship for 8-Hour Overnight Concert
March 12,
2018 by Larry Thomas in Advertising, Business Strategy, Industry 
German composer Max Richter is partnering with Beautyrest for the U.S. debut of his critically acclaimed eight-hour piece, “Sleep,” which will be performed beginning tonight at the South by Southwest concert venue in Austin, Texas.
As part of the partnership, Beautyrest mattresses are replacing traditional concert seats for this overnight performance, which begins shortly after 11 p.m. tonight and ends at 8:30 a.m. tomorrow.
The composition, which already has been performed in Berlin, London, Sydney, Madrid, Zurich, Paris and Amsterdam, literally is designed to put concert-goers to sleep, Richter said.
Scored for piano, strings, electronics and vocals, the composer described it as his “personal lullaby for a frenetic world,” and “a manifesto for a slower pace of existence.”
“One of the most pervasive misconceptions of sleep is that it’s simply our bodies ‘turning off,’” said Warren Kornblum, interim chief marketing officer at Serta Simmons Bedding, parent company of Beautyrest. “Together with Max Richter, Beautyrest is celebrating sleep as an active state, when we restore and repair our bodies overnight in order to reach our full potential tomorrow.
“At Beautyrest we are dedicated to continued innovation and have been researching sleep and developing unparalleled mattress technology for close to 150 years. And we know that only when we achieve optimal sleep can we be our best awake selves.”
Following the performance, Beautyrest will wake attendees with a unique experience that highlights the upcoming Beautyrest marketing campaign's "Be More Awake" message. The company has arranged for an instructor from well-known app Yoga Wake Up to lead attendees in in-bed yoga and meditation sequences.
Following this, Kornblum will introduce the "Be More Awake" campaign and provide a preview of the new Beautyrest commercial.
After the event concludes, Beautyrest has arranged for the beds from the event to be donated to two local charities -- SAFE Austin and the Austin Disaster Relief Network.
Richter has written widely for ballet, opera, and film. His 2012 record Recomposed By Max Richter: Vivaldi, The Four Seasons topped the Classical charts in 22 countries.
His music is also featured in Damon Lindelof’s cult HBO series The Leftovers, Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island, Ari Folman’s Waltz With Bashir and as the opening and end theme in Denis Villeneuve’s Oscar-winning film Arrival.