24 Sep The science of sleep
Sleep has never been straightforward. The opinion used to be ‘less is more’. Former PM Margaret Thatcher famously only had four hours a night. In 80s England, sleep deprivation was a badge of honour worn proudly by successful people. The message? Too busy to sleep.
Fortunately, 30 years on we realise that more means more. Studies into everything from mental health to the average life span throw up the same information time after time – that sleep is one of the most important and controllable variables to good health. We have control over how much we get and when we get it. And as digital innovation grows fiercer, our slumber suffers. Kept up by digital devices, our dreams are interrupted by thoughts of unread emails and we can be reached at any time of the night. People are crying out for remedies for restlessness. It has never been a better time to be in the industry of sleep.
Brands have had a field day creating products that will trick all the senses to power down for the night. Eye masks, ear plugs, lavender ointments, meditation apps, comfy sleepwear and cocooning bedding. The options are aplenty, catering for a whole spectrum of snoozing.
Today sleep is cool. Almost overnight, brands like Simba, Hyde & Sleep and Casper – all past Product of the Year winners – made something as innocuous as a mattress seem like a must-have item. Suddenly beds have become like buildings, a fine architecture of memory foam, springs and pockets of air. Why would you want a lumpy old model when you could sleep on a bed crafted to your body’s needs? Some brands even offer a 3D cultural mapping of the body to provide the perfect slumber. But it’s also about convenience. Order online and have your mattress delivered within 24 hours. Gone are the days of bleak showrooms, customer service reps upselling products you don’t need and struggling to transport your new mattress home on the top of your car…
The products are voted for by over 10,000 shoppers which yield interesting results every year. We’re able to uncover the products that are the true innovations, the products that improve our lives. The iconic red Product of the Year logo is a stamp of approval that helps brands sleep well at night.