“Why yes, Mrs. Jones, the box spring is very important. The foundation of your mattress is similar to the foundation of your house; they are both critical to the durability of what they support.”

That is what we used to say, anyway. How about these days? How often is the box spring talked about in a sales pitch to the consumer? From my recent interviews with RSAs, I’ve found it isn’t being talked about as much as it was in the past. Why is that?

Back in the day, we had all kinds of foundations available at retail:

1. The traditional box spring that had coils and actually did something.
2. The good old 8-way hand-tie, which was incredibly expensive but had a great story.
3. Adjustable beds that have been around a long time and are finally starting to pay off in a big way.
4. The Semi-Flex that might have been too good for our own good.
5. And, of course, the lowly wood build-up that does its job, but isn’t going to be taken to prom anytime soon.

The way I see it, a mattress foundation either does something or it doesn’t. Yes, the static space-filler is important, and I would make several arguments the Semi-Flex version of that is by far the better option. (Visit www.Steel-Strong.com for more color on that.)

Instead, I want to talk about what the foundation could be or should be. Consider all of the technology being placed in adjustable beds today. You can operate them with your phone or tablet, use them as hot spots and entertainment centers, make them move to promote a better intimacy experience, or even adjust to be able to make them easier to make up or clean under. What else should they be? Do we talk about the bottom half of the set enough? Should a box spring that measures our biometric feedback be something that we consider, similar to the concept bed Starry Night? Should the box spring become the gun safe, or storage bin, for the bedroom? There are many concepts out there that have just not achieved mass appeal, so I put it to you, this great audience of mine: What is the next best foundation for the mattress?

While you are thinking about that one, check out the video for Simple Life, the newest box spring from Leggett & Platt. You have seen different versions of this in years past, but we think we have improved it in a big way. If you want to save space in a store, warehouse, or truck, minimize damage while delivering to a customer’s home, or want to save money shipping products over the internet, THIS IS FOR YOU! Yes, this is my attempt to plug a product for my company but they are paying, so I think slipping something like this in every now and then is the right thing to do!

Watch the Simple Life video here

So how do you talk about the foundation? Is it relevant? Do you have an idea for the next big thing?

Just in case you need some inspiration, here are some creative college students that incorporate a mattress foundation to show the best way to share a Coca-Cola Classic.

http://youtu.be/KEBJmZL8G1E