Mary Helen Rogers talks about the BSC’s commitment to sharing consumer insights, and its strategy of keeping better sleep messages a priority for consumers
Transcript
Dave Perry
It’s Dave Perry, editor at large of Bedtimes and Sleep Savvy, and Mary Helen Rogers of the Better Sleep Council is a great person to be with.
Mary Helen Rogers
Always is a good time to talk about sleep and health and well, duly noted. It’s an opportunity for us to elevate awareness around the sleep health wellness message and the important role that a mattress plays in getting a good night’s rest.
Dave Perry
Well, sleep, health, wellness, that is an important triangle. Hasn’t COVID really emphasized that to people that maybe weren’t listening as much as they should?
Mary Helen Rogers
I think it has. You know, when you’re at home a whole lot more and you’re not traveling, you’re not out and about, you do have more time to sleep. And I think a lot of people realized how much better they felt when they were getting the right amount of sleep because they weren’t having to commute. They weren’t running around chasing their tail, trying to get where they needed to go because we were able to do things virtually.
We were spending more time at home. But now that, you know, we’re back to normal, if you will, people are out traveling. People are out doing the things that they used to do. They’re realizing how much more effective they are and making sleep a much higher priority in their lives.
Dave Perry
What do you see as a couple of the key messages that the BSC is going to have this month?
Mary Helen Rogers
Well, for the industry, what we’re doing is we’re really continuing to focus on consumer insights. What are they thinking? What are they doing? We’re really trying to not just say this percentage of mattress shoppers are behaving in this way. We want to separate that out and look at the demographics. Look at men versus women versus the different generations.
How can this information help our industry do what our sign behind here says? Help the world sleep better? We have new research out on accessories, and so we’re really excited to do that. We have continued our emphasis on social media, helping the consumer keep sleep a priority and keep them thinking that mattress shopping, pillow shopping, shopping for bedding is fine.
Dave Perry
You mentioned how men and women sleep. Who is doing better these days?
Mary Helen Rogers
You know, it seems to be even. A few years ago, it.
Dave Perry
Do women have the edge of the.
Mary Helen Rogers
Women have the edge. But a few years ago I was at an industry event and someone said, hey men sleep too. And we are finding that in essence there always is that key target market where a lot of brands are pushing their messages out. But what we’re realizing and what we’re finding is all generations are shopping and buying mattresses. All generations are shopping and buying accessories.
So we need to really think about who we’re talking to and how. We’ve got to be in all those different places. I know later you’re going to be launching your tick-tock channel, right?
Dave Perry
Exactly. Can we announce that right here?
Mary Helen Rogers
Yeah, right. Dave on Tick Tock.
Dave Perry
Dave on Tick Tock. All right. And finally, as we look at the year as a whole, what should we look for from the BSC for 2022 overall.
Mary Helen Rogers
For 2022, as I said, we’re really going to be committed to trying to track the trends in consumer shopping behavior. And then we’re going to up our game a little bit on social media. You know, try maybe a little more disruptive imagery, a little more energy and trying to attract a broader audience to our message.
Dave Perry
Sounds good. I am looking forward to seeing it along the way. Great seeing you. Let’s have a great year.
