Bedroom Magazine: Colonial LLC Dresses Beds to Improve Sales

SLEEP RETAILERS’ MAGAZINE
www.bedroomretailers.com
GREEN CERTIFICATION
MATTRESSES DRIVEN
BY SCIENCE
Q&A: SELLING PACKAGE
W FORMAT
NE
COLONIAL LLC
DRESSES BEDS TO
IMPROVE SALES
Spring 2013
IN THIS ISSUE
8
HIGH POINT
MARKET GUIDE
SEE PAGE 13
COVER STORY
Colonial LLC Dresses Beds to Improve Sales
DEPARTMENTS
6 Editors’ Picks
12 Marketing Update
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ADVERTISERS
Blu Sleep Products 37
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Boyd Specialty Sleep 23
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Chili Technology 25
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Colonial LLC 7
www.colonialllc.com
336.862.7380
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Fabrictech International 15
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Jamison Bedding 29
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IHFC M531
Kingsdown, Inc IBC
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Leggett & Platt 19
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IHFC C603
WorldBed Studio Enters Market
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Carolina Mattress Guild and “Going Green”
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Kingsdown’s Sleep to Live Institute Unveils
New Website to Educate Consumers and
RSAs on Sleep Research & Science
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Comfort Solutions Releases Retailer Video
About New Flare Mattress Advance
26 Features from the Editors
26
Mattresses Driven by Science
28 Materials Update
28
Hickory Springs Introduces New ProACT
Innerspring and Preserve Hi Flo Foam
30 Guest Column
30
Michael J. Breus, PhD
32 Accessories Update
32
Naturepedic Breaks New Ground with
Organic Adjustable Bed
18 Features from the Editors
33
Gold Bond to Feature Its Burgeoning Futon
Line at High Point
20 Mattress Update
Pure LatexBliss Introduces World’s Best
Adjustable Foundation
FXI Introduces Eco-Friendly BIOS Sleep
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18
The Certification Process
20
Simmons Steps into 2013 with Changes
and Success
34
22
Kluft’s New Collection Puts Luxury
Mattresses Within Reach
36 Features from the Editors
Jamison Brings English Garden Beds to
American Market
24
Naturepedic Introduces Essentials Organic
Luxury Mattresses
25
Gold Bond Rounds Out Mattress Lineup
with New “Classic Collection”
Pure LatexBLISS 3
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IHFC M528
Shifman Mattress Company 38
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Sleep Innovations Inc 31
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South Bay International IFC
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36
Q&A: Selling Package
38Back Page from the Publisher
Spring Air International BC
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Sustainable Furniture Council 21
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World Market Center (LV) 5
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702.599.9621
World Market Center (HP) 35
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cover
STORY
8 BEDROOM Spring 2013
cover
STORY
COLONIAL LLC DRESSES
BEDS TO IMPROVE SALES
“We want to know, what’s not working for you?” This, in essence, is the
key question Colonial, LLC, a display and branding company,
regularly asks the companies it serves.
By Christopher Schriever
“We want to know what our clients’ branding, marketing
and distribution problems are: whether it’s RSAs having a
tough time keeping up with changing product specifications, a shortage of or ineffective floor displays or simply
having trouble getting its brands to stand out from all the
others,” explains Colonial’s president, Mark Hobson. “Any
one of these areas can result in significant lost sales and
lower profits.”
Since 1982, Colonial has been working directly with clients to solve these problems, raise brand awareness, elevate
potential buyers’ perceptions about the value of their products, and find other ways to help both manufacturers and
retailers increase their sales.
The High Point, North Carolina-based company does this
in several ways. One way is to survey its clients to identify
weaknesses in three key areas: design strategy and brand
positioning, and sales effectiveness and revenue drivers,
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cover
STORY
Colonial’s experts work
with each client to
design an effective
branding strategy and
produce appropriate
display accessories...
to make the display
models eye-catching
and attractive at retail.
10 BEDROOM Spring 2013
followed by cost efficiencies and ROI. The
survey is designed to assess a broad array
of key activities, ranging from whether
a manufacturer is providing stores with
marketing materials that appeal to customers
to whether RSAs have enough easy-to-absorb
information to explain to consumers the
merits of the mattresses on display. The
questions are also designed to evaluate a
manufacturer’s ability to track marketing
costs and the effectiveness of the display
materials it provides to retailers. Together,
the answers to these strategic questions
guide Colonial’s assessment of how it could
help a manufacturer grow by selling more
mattresses at retail.
After the initial meeting, Colonial’s experts
work with each client to design an effective
branding strategy and produce appropriate
display accessories, such as pillows, shams,
foot protectors and headboards, to make the
display models eye-catching and attractive at
retail. And, the company prides itself on being
agile and versatile enough to serve its clients’
needs efficiently. Colonial is set up to conduct
each step required to provide the display materials—designing, manufacturing, packaging
and distribution—in-house. This ensures that
its entire array of Top of Bed products and dis-
plays (which can include flaps and pockets for
price cards, information sheets and more that
provide RSAs and consumers with sales information) reach retail outlets simultaneously
with the floor samples.
Hobson points out that Colonial’s approach
is unique in that it also conducts expert
marketing research to help understand what
causes consumers to decide which bed is right
for them. For example, a recent, ground-breaking consumer-reaction study it commissioned
revealed that an attractively dressed bed is
far more likely to appeal to consumers than
an unadorned one and also increases their perceptions of its retail price. For example, the
study showed that many consumers found one
bed, dressed with pillows and a foot protector
42% more appealing and of 59% higher quality
than the same bed, undressed. As a result, if
they are pleasantly surprised to learn that the
bed’s cost is less than they had expected, they
are far more likely to buy. The study also indicated which variations of pillow design and
fabric colors tend to increase these positive
perceptions even more. But the survey also
revealed that some styles, designs and color
selections could actually make a dressed bed
look less appealing than even a bare one. In
other words, beauty (and appeal) is most certainly in the eye of the beholder! “These findings give credence to one key company philosophy: that consumers decide to buy things
that trigger an emotional response before they
justify their decision intellectually,” Hobson
points out. “Consumers equate an attractively
accessorized bed with elevated quality and appeal and that equates to more value.”
He adds, “Our understanding of the mattress industry, and what influences customers’ buying decisions, along with more than
25 years of experience in helping mattress
manufacturers create compelling branding
and sales presentations makes Colonial the
leader in our category. We don’t just offer
our clients attractive display options. We
also help solve problems that may be hurting their brand recognition while delivering
profitable, sales-building solutions.”
Visit www.colonialllc.com. ✤
cover
STORY
COLONIAL’S EXECUTIVE TEAM REFLECTS AND EXTENDS
ITS MOST IMPORTANT ASSET: EXPERIENCE
Since its establishment as a family-owned-and-operated company in 1982, Colonial
has become the leading provider of and innovator for display and branding products in
the mattress industry. Today, the company employs more than 300 sewers, manufactures products in multiple factories in the United States and offshore, and operates up
to three shifts daily to ensure it has the capacity to meet growing client demands.
The company prides itself on its simple, direct, approach to meet its clients’ needs:
Its experts hold detailed, one-on-one conversations to understand each mattress manufacturer’s or retailer’s unique challenges, discover their objectives and help them to
develop effective marketing and branding solutions.
Colonial’s record of success has helped it to both develop and recruit top-level manag-
Colonial’s record of
success has helped it to
both develop and recruit
top-level managers with
extensive experience in
the industry.
ers with extensive experience in the industry. Mark Hobson, who became the company’s
president in January, after joining the company at the start of 2011, previously worked for
Sealy, filling a variety of senior sales and marketing roles for more than 25 years.
Also in January, Wes Keever, formerly vice president of sales, was promoted to executive vice president of sales while Jimmy Keever, who had been vice president of marketing,
was promoted to chief operating officer. Both are new positions, as is Hobson’s.
“As integral participants in Colonial’s growth and expansion in the industry for many
years, Wes and Jimmy have acquired an enormous amount of knowledge and experience across all aspects of this unique and growing business,” Hobson explains. “Their
new roles will allow us to make the most of their skills and talents and are an example
of the resource investments Colonial is making to identify and solve our clients’ display
and branding challenges and, thereby, help them to sell more mattresses.”
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