SSB Relaunches Simmons Brand with “Just for Fun-ZZZ’s” Campaign

December 10, 2019  by Laurie Northington in Business Strategy, Industry   

First introduced as a luxury brand in the 1900s, Simmons has been reinvented as a value-priced, “first-mattress,” designed specifically for the way Gen Z and Millennials are shopping and buying beds today.

The company has debuted two new products and a new “Just for Fun-ZZZ’s” marketing campaign to showcase its understanding that the purchase experience can be an engaging life event for today’s younger consumers that’s driven with ease, powered by value and infused with fun.

“The market has been disrupted based on consumer shopping preferences for simpler choice and desired convenience,” said Melanie Huet, chief marketing officer. “With our expertise in product design and technology we are now disrupting those disrupters and re-establishing our brands as the undisputed leaders in delivering a great night’s sleep for every consumer, at every price point and through every retail channel. We are proud to be the first bedding company to actively target and market to Gen Z with products made just for them.”

“With Simmons, we knew we had to ‘innovate or die,’ so we relied on robust research, strong consumer insights and our 150 years of expertise of knowing how to create a great mattress to lead us to the right product for younger consumers in the market for their first mattress,” added Huet. “This approach brought the brand in sync with the unmet needs of Gen Z and young Millennials who were beginning to reject the greater direct-to-consumer mattress category due to lack of performance.

The first new Simmons products in the relaunch combine the brand’s design, technology and cooling expertise, with the convenience and unboxing fun that today’s Gen Z and Millennial consumers desire when they purchase a product online. 

“Gen Z is constantly breaking the rules set by previous generations, and as a brand that realizes that a bed can be much more than just a good night’s sleep, we are uniquely positioned to be their partner in bringing the fun back to sleep. The new Simmons line offers these disruptors a quick-ship, value-priced crash pad built for the way they live, whether that’s having a Sunday-funday, eating brunch in bed, mid-day napping, scrolling, streaming or even sleeping,” explained Huet.

The new Simmons line will debut with two offerings available in early December 2019 with key retailers such as Wayfair.com, Walmart.com and at Costco in January 2020. Prices start at $299 for a Memory Foam Queen and $349 for a Hybrid Queen.  Simmons plans to spread the fun by broadening the collection of products in 2020 that will be sold both online and with key brick-and-mortar partners.

The relaunch of the Simmons brand extends through the new, interactive winking eye logo, which will begin appearing on the brand’s website, retailer partner sites and statically on product packaging and marketing campaign, which will fully roll out throughout Q1 2020.  “We’ve not only completely reimagined our mattress offerings, but also how we show up to Gen Z and Millennials and where we connect with them digitally and socially,” said Huet.

A collection of banner ads and social content will fuel the brand’s ‘Just for Fun-ZZZ’s’ campaign, and will include entertaining videos, catchy sleep phrases (We’ve Got Foam-Oh, Keep Your Cool and Coil Up, anyone?) and engaging in-bed games. The content will live across the brand’s new Instagram, Facebook, Twitter accounts and retail partner sites in 2020.

“I’m particularly pleased with the social experience we’ve created for the new Simmons brand. We’re showcasing how delightfully different we are when compared to the greater mattress market and recognizing how our target consumer wants to live more than they sleep,” said Huet.  “Followers will be excited to find bed hacks, dance moves, jumping on the bed techniques and recipes for eating in bed – all which helps them break the sleep rules of the past.”

In addition, by March 2020, Simmons has plans to launch its own DTC website and will launch a series of brand acts, designed to inspire Gen Z and Millennials to continue to bring the ‘Fun-ZZZs’ back to sleep.