Q] What motivated your decision to open the first Sleepyhead retail store in Bangalore, and how does this fit into your broader retail expansion strategy?
The entire idea was to give the consumers a superior experience. The retail store has been designed to provide a touch and feel of the product. It also increases the access points for the brand Sleepyhead. In the Indian context today, it’s a good idea to be an omnichannel brand. We strongly believe that opening a retail store will increase engagement with our target audience, helping them experience the brand firsthand and improving access. Based on our experience in Bangalore, we intend to expand our retail footprint for Sleepyhead within the city. Depending on our experience with Bangalore, we will scale up to other key cities in India.
Q] What specific benefits can consumers expect from the new 6D Hexagon Grid mattress and how will it revolutionise the sleep solutions market in India?
Sleepyhead primarily targets younger consumers largely in metros and tier-one cities. These consumers seek both comfort and convenience. All the offerings under Sleepyhead, whether it’s mattresses, recliners, or sofas, have been designed with our target audience in mind. The flagship product is the Technic Hybrid mattress with a 6D Hexagonal Grid, which we believe will revolutionise sleep by providing superior load distribution. It features three-zone support for uniform weight distribution across the mattress and over 3000 air channels, enhancing breathability. This improves heat dissipation and temperature regulation. Additionally, it offers orthopaedic support for spine alignment. We believe this combination will help us succeed with our target consumers.
Q] What inspired the futuristic theme with a comical twist in your new digital campaign featuring Ranveer Singh? How does it align with Sleepyhead’s brand identity?
Sleepyhead is fundamentally a new-age lifestyle brand targeting the younger generation. They aim to create experiences that make life fun and fabulous every day. It’s designed for the youth of India who seek trendy and comfortable products at accessible price points. Leveraging Ranveer Singh for the campaign helped us break through the clutter and create strong brand recall. Ranveer symbolizes dynamism, energy, and fun, which fundamentally resonates with the audience we aim to target with Sleepyhead.
Q] What are the key consumer trends you’ve observed in the sleep solutions category, particularly among millennials and Gen Z?
Awareness about health has dramatically increased, with the digital world providing consumers with abundant information. Consumers are much more aware of the role that sleep plays in overall health. Gen Z, being tech-savvy and experimental, drives the demand for advanced, smart sleep products and customised solutions. Social media significantly influences their purchase decisions, with reviews, content, and endorsements playing a major role. Overall, there is a growing recognition of holistic health, with sleep being a key component.
Q] How do the target audiences for Sleepyhead and Duroflex differ, and how do you tailor your marketing strategies to each brand?
The target groups for Duroflex and Sleepyhead differ significantly. Duroflex consumers are relatively older, seeking comfort, advanced technology, and premium aesthetics, while Sleepyhead consumers are younger, valuing convenience, style, and living room time. Sleepyhead’s campaigns, featuring Ranveer Singh, focus on fun and cheer, whereas Duroflex highlights better sleep for better health, with Virat Kohli as its ambassador. Duroflex’s partnership with the Inspire Institute of Sports (IIS) supports athletes by recommending Duropedic mattresses, endorsed by the National Health Academy. This collaboration, which includes a new digital film featuring IIS athletes, underscores that quality sleep is crucial for athletic performance, complementing training efforts.
Q] With increasing competition from new brands, what strategies does Duroflex employ to maintain its position as a market leader?
First, we must continuously invest in R&D to ensure we’re integrating the latest technologies into our products. Our goal is to offer a range of contemporary products that win with the consumer. We also conduct extensive consumer research to stay abreast of their needs, which helps us tailor our products and campaigns accordingly. Another key strategy is collaboration and partnership with the right ambassadors and partners. These are the broad areas we focus on to differentiate Duroflex from the competition and position it as a thought leader in the sleep and comfort space.
Q] Are there any sustainability initiatives or eco-friendly practices that Duroflex is implementing in its product development and manufacturing processes?
We have an eco-friendly range of sleep solutions under Natural Living, made of 100% natural latex, rubberised coir, and cotton. Secondly, under the brand Duroflex, all our premium mattresses use 40% recycled yarn from PET bottles. To make it simple, every Duroflex mattress roughly uses 20 PET bottles. We also launched a mattress exchange program in June, which is still underway. This program allows consumers to buy a mattress at a discount by exchanging their old ones, which are then recycled or upcycled. These initiatives demonstrate our commitment to driving the sustainability agenda for the company.
Q] Though known for mattresses, Duroflex is also present in the furniture segment, how is your furniture and home décor business faring in the market?
It’s doing quite well. In furniture, we are very clear that mattresses will remain our primary focus. The furniture market in India is vast, exceeding 2 lakh crores, so we must be selective about the segments we target, ensuring that we have a right to win as an organisation and a brand. We are in the process of refining our strategy to determine our approach in the furniture market. While furniture is a growing segment, we don’t want to spread ourselves too thin. There will definitely be a meaningful and substantial presence in furniture, but we are in the process of identifying the top 2-3 areas to focus on.
Q] What are your long-term growth plans for Sleepyhead and Duroflex, both in terms of product offerings and market presence?
We aim to be known as the best sleep and comfort solutions company in India. With Sleepyhead and Duroflex addressing two distinct consumer segments, we believe we can make a significant impact. In the Indian context, there is a shift from unorganised to organised sectors as the GDP evolves, a trend observed across various categories. With these two brands, we are positioned to make a meaningful impact across a broad spectrum of consumers. We will continuously invest in R&D and marketing to deliver superior products and value for both brands.
