The global product launch heading out of this world

To demonstrate to employees how 15 new ranges can help people get a good night’s sleep.

“The future is here” was a 90-minute global launch event for mattress and bedding experts Tempur Sealy International. With 15 new product ranges to introduce to staff and retail partners, we delivered the biggest product launch in the company’s history. 

Watch the highlights video below.

The challenge.

Tempur wanted to hold its biggest ever internal product launch during a global pandemic. The aim was to reassert their market-leading position, excite the audience about their new ranges, and educate retail partners. 

Tempur also wanted to reinforce their goal to give customers the best sleep imaginable, at a time when growing numbers of people are aware of the physical and mental health benefits of a good night’s rest. 

Traditionally, Tempur product launches were always live events.  However, due to travel restrictions, they were looking for a different, “hybrid” solution. 

The intelligence.

The mattress market has become increasingly competitive, with new start-ups joining the market in recent years, while the pandemic was challenging for staff and retailers.

Our events, film, creative, and internal communications specialists worked together to craft an experience which celebrated Tempur’s impressive NASA heritage and reinforced their status as a creator of premium, innovative products in the market. In the 1960s, NASA scientists created a unique material to absorb the G-force pressure astronauts had to endure. Our client’s founders took this idea and used it to perfect TEMPUR® Material, the first viscoelastic mattress. The TEMPUR® pillow and mattress is recognized by NASA for improving quality of life and helping people to get a restful night’s sleep.

During the insights phase of the project, our Engagement and Communications Consultants got under the skin of what we wanted our audience to think, feel, and do. As well as understanding the product information and enabling staff to sell confidently, we wanted the audience to feel a sense of pride and excitement. This emotional connection was explored in all of the content to bring an added dimension to the broadcast. If a new product feature has been added, how does that make people feel? And how does it contribute to that all-important good night’s sleep?     

The solution.

We created a 90-minute launch show, a “global moment,” which was broadcast at a number of hubs across the world, or could be watched from home. We filmed in Denmark, the UK, the US, and Singapore, and the words of our 16 presenters were woven together with the stories of each new product.

This global event could be viewed on our platform heddle and included a social wall, where teams around the world could share their photos and feel part of a wider community as they got together to view the broadcast. 

A different approach.

Tempur knew what they wanted to say but needed our guidance on style and how to bring it together as a cohesive broadcast. As we knew their experience was in live events, our cross-departmental teams were able to talk to them in event terms about our proposed, high-production film. 

By speaking the client’s language in this way, our event experts had in-depth conversations with presenters about the key messaging that would need to be conveyed, as if refining a live presentation. This content was then taken by our Film Producer and distilled into a script that our non-experienced presenters were confident to showcase. 

The creative.

Tempur’s connections to NASA are a proud part of its heritage, so we suggested that our launch film should start in space and move through the layers of the atmosphere, all of the way into the molecular structure of the TEMPUR® Material itself, as it told the company’s story. Taking inspiration from the layers in the mattress, the concept was all about “going deeper” – not just scratching the outer layer, but uncovering the how and the why, the emotional as well as the functional. This theme continued throughout the launch event, with images of space and the atmosphere linking different sections, while the presenters often appeared to be speaking to us from space. 

The films.

Our in-house teams scripted, filmed, and edited the majority of the content for this launch. By creating a clear narrative thread, we were able to weave all of the films together without the need for a host. Producing the content in segments in this way also meant that we could produce a further 20 films for retailers, to run through the details of each product. 

The event.

Our teams provided assets and advice as the teams got together around the world to watch the global launch. Whether it was from an office, a local cinema, or from home, teams really made the most of this moment. We encouraged them to share their experiences on the social wall within the heddle platform.