SSB relaunches Simmons brand, targets Gen Z and Millennials

ATLANTA – Serta Simmons Bedding is relaunching its legacy Simmons brand as a playful, value-priced ‘first mattress’ line aimed at Gen Z and Millennials. The move is part of an overall brand refresh and innovation push that began in 2018, when SSB merged with direct-to-consumer brand Tuft & Needle, the company said.

SSB is promising to “disrupt the disruptors” with the new Simmons line. The company will continue to market its higher-priced beds under its Beautyrest banner.

Two beds in the new Simmons line, retailing at $299 for a memory foam mattress in queen and $349 for a hybrid in queen, will launch in early December at key retailers like Wayfair.com and Walmart.com, officials said. The beds will debut at Costco in January.

The collection will expand to additional models in 2020 that will be sold both online and with key brick-and-mortar dealers, the company said.

SSB officials said the new line represents a “radical relaunch” of the 150-year-old Simmons brand, which has been “reimagined for a world where beds come in boxes, quick-ship is demanded and life stages rule consumer mattress purchasing decisions.”

The new line is designed specifically for the way Gen Z and Millennials are shopping, buying and hanging out in beds today, the company said. It said it sees “unmet needs” in the Gen Z and young Millennial consumer groups that it is addressing in the new line.

Millennials are between the ages of 23 and 38 this year. Gen Z consumers are in the generation that follows Millennials, making the oldest Gen Z consumers 22 this year, demographers say.

The new brand will be accompanied by a new “Just for Fun-ZZZ’s” marketing campaign, which will present the mattress purchase experience as 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 at SSB. “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.

“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,” she continued. “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.”