Ad firms go to the mattresses

In the Minneapolis ad agency world, sleeping on the job these days appears to be a virtue, not a vice.

On Monday, Carmichael Lynch unveiled its newest client: Tempur-Pedic, the giant mattress manufacturer that sells its products in 80 countries . The Carmichael win marks the third name-brand mattress maker to select a Minneapolis agency in the past 18 months.

Martin/Williams is the agency of record for Simmons, a market leader whose product line includes Beautyrest and ComforPedic, while Little & Co. is doing marketing for Sealy, the No. 2 mattress seller in the United States.

"What is it about Minneapolis and mattresses?" joked Joe Cecere, president of Little & Co. "Maybe it's the long winters with not enough daylight and we sleep more. Maybe we understand the industry better."

Whatever the reason, mattress clients are good for agencies.

Tempur-Pedic spends more than $100 million a year on media, according to Kantar Media, which tracks ad spending.

"We don't see very many $100 million clients," said Mike Lescarbeau, Carmichael Lynch CEO. "We're fortunate to be involved in something that big."

"The agency's work for iconic brands such as Subaru and Harley-Davidson struck a personal chord as they build upon each brand's loyal and fervent owner base to attract new users to each business," said Rick Anderson, president of Tempur-Pedic North America, in a statement.

The mattress industry is highly competitive, with some products that sell from $4,000 to $6,000.

The fight for consumer preference also is intensified by an industry model in which independent distributors sell competing mattress lines on the same showroom floor.

Martin/Williams' work for Simmons hit the airwaves last summer with a "fully charged" theme about the importance of sleep. "We charge everything else; maybe it's time to recharge the human battery," says one of the Simmons pieces prepared by Martin/Williams.

The goal at Little & Co. is to link mattresses to lifestyle. "The bedroom is the second-most-popular gathering place in the home after the kitchen," Cecere said in an interview last month.

"This is an emotional piece that people invest in," Lescarbeau said. "It's not unlike a car purchase. It's a decision that a couple makes together. It's also a fertile creative area."

The Twin Cities advertising market is known for attracting big-name clients from Cadillac at Fallon to Andersen Windows at Periscope. "Minneapolis has a reputation for selling products at the higher end," Lescarbeau said.