Last January, my friend and associate Brad, (president of SleepTrust, but I call him, “Boss”), attended the Las Vegas Home Furnishings Market. With much hype and publicity, we were drawn by curiosity to see a presentation from Leggett & Platt unveiling their new (sit down, I mean, lie down) $27,000 bed, “The Starry Night”. Check it out for yourself: www.starrynightbed.com

I thought surely it must sleep for you while you go do something productive. But, you still have to lie on it yourself and go unconscious losing awareness of the cost for at least a few hours a day.

Mark Quinn, also a friend and VP of L&P, did a great presentation, as always. He said the purpose of this new (I, guess it’s still called a bed) was to change how consumers viewed the mattress industry.

It seemed like a good idea at the time to whisper to Brad, “Yeah now instead of thinking we are corrupt, they will think we’ve gone insane.” Of course, this causes us to start giggling like schoolgirls, disrupting the presentation. You’d think I would have quit doing this somewhere around third grade. But I just can’t help myself.

In all seriousness, this is a genius idea. While maybe “over the top”, it is right out of the playbook for the auto industry. Of course, cars’ real function is transportation. But if we bought them for that purpose only, they would cost under $10,000. The industry has done a great job, appealing to the emotions of consumers. People willingly pay that many times over for something they spend much less time in than a bed.

I applaud Leggett & Platt for taking the initiative to “Sticker Shock” the consumer into a new realm of thinking. Involving the imagination can create the emotion that motivates people to action. And just like that high-ticket car in the showroom window, customers may think, while I can’t afford this one, I’d sure like to get as close to it as I can.

I can’t think of a more important consumer product to invest in than a top quality mattress. (I may have to settle for a “Partly Cloudy Night” version though.)