LAS VEGAS - Simmons put a lot of brain power into its ComforPedic iQ launch this week at the Las Vegas Market.
The company hosted a lavish dealer party inside the swirling metal curves of the Cleveland Clinic's Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health here, hosting almost 300 of its retailers and showing off its new ComforPedic iQ mattress, a "smart" mattress design that self-adjusts to each sleeper. (See the video introduction.)
Andrew WeilThe featured speaker was Dr. Andrew Weil, a pioneer in the field of integrative medicine, who is endorsing the ComforPedic iQ line. He said he has made it the first and only mattress he has endorsed "because I believe the Smart Response technology provides a practical and effective sleep solution."
The design utilizes 16 Smart Response foam chambers that automatically calibrate to each individual's body weight and sleep position - without motors, buttons, plugs or electronics, Simmons said.
In his after-dinner speech, Weil described ComforPedic iQ as "truly a revolution in sleep technology and mattresses." What's it like to sleep on one? "It feels like it embraces you. It is very welcoming. The next thing I knew, I was waking up" the next morning.
Weil also said he hopes that the ComforPedic iQ line can give the mattress industry a stronger voice in talking about better sleep.
Simmons President Tony Smith was another speaker, describing the ComforPedic iQ line as "revolutionary and transforming," and adding: "We really believe it will change the way we sleep."
When Jeff Willard, executive vice president of marketing, introduced "The Bedroom of the Future," a curtain dropped and the audience was treated to an acrobat show, with a couple executing a variety of moves on, over and around a ComforPedic iQ sleep set.
The setting for the launch - a stainless steel structure designed by noted architect Frank Gehry - was chosen to call attention to the smart attributes of the ComforPedic iQ design, officials said. The Lou Ruvo Center is a medical center dedicated to the pursuit of more effective treatments for brain diseases. It is across the street from the World Market Center, but hasn't previously hosted a market event of this nature.
