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‘Da Vinci Code’ moment puts focus on Kurt Ling’s winning eye for detail

‘Da Vinci Code’ moment puts focus on Kurt Ling’s winning eye for detail

Bedding veteran Kurt Ling has an eye for detail, and those details are paying big dividends for his company.

The co-founder of Posh+Lavish, a luxury bedding manufacturer, sets his company apart in the highly competitive bedding arena by focusing on matters large and small. All of the details matter in this marketing-driven marketplace, he says.

I’ve been impressed with Ling’s work in the almost quarter century that I’ve worked with him, and I’ve found that he sees things that others miss. A great example of that was on a business trip we embarked upon together several years ago, one that took us to various stops in London, including a pilgrimage to the hallowed halls of Harrods.

Between appointments, we had a few hours for sightseeing, and we found ourselves in atmospheric Temple Church, a church so beautiful and historic that Ron Howard brought Tom Hanks there to film a key scene in “The Da Vinci Code,” the blockbuster thriller released in 2006. Hanks studies the famous effigies on the floor of Temple Church, built by the Knights Templar 800 years ago, looking for clues that will help him unlock the mystery of Da Vinci’s code.

Ling and I followed in director Ron Howard’s footsteps, trying to capture the magic and mystery of the church with our own photos. He was using his cellphone camera, while I had the Samsung camera that I used in those days. And it was then, as we compared the photos we had just taken in that hidden church, that I saw his eye for detail.

He captured slices of scenes that eluded me, like the picture of the staircase leading to the lofty Temple Church pulpit. I love the sweep of the wood handrails, the sunlight illuminating the side rails, and the shadows falling on the steps. That is a stunning picture, and great photos, like great businesses, are built on foundations of great details.

As I look at Posh+Lavish today, I see that same attention to detail at work. Start with the name. Posh+Lavish describes the beds the company makes, which are filled with natural materials and retail from $1,999 to about $10,000.

Many mattress brands today bear the names of their founders (Simmons and Stearns & Foster), or the cities where they were founded (Sealy and Corsicana, two cities in Texas), or they got their name by spelling “mattress” backwards and dropping some of the letters (Serta). In contrast, Posh+Lavish evokes the signature features of its beds. Where better to tout the look and feel of your beds than in your name?

Yes, many of its beds are latex beds, and, yes, Ling has years of experience with latex beds, but Posh+Lavish employs the word “latex” sparingly, although it is in common use in the mattress industry. Instead, the company says it produces beds crafted from “natural rubber.”

Ling says that when consumers think about latex, they often think of latex gloves, or latex condoms or latex allergies — none of which are helpful from the standpoint of mattress marketing. “The baggage,” he admits, “is not great.” 

But rubber is another story, and a good one. “Rubber says strong,” Ling says. “Latex doesn’t.”

Another key point is that consumers often purchase mattresses based on how they feel, not on what they are made of. And it is there, with its beds fashioned from natural rubber, wool and cotton, materials that provide “supreme comfort and long life,” that Posh+Lavish stands out, according to Ling and his partner, Steve Baumberger.

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They say Posh+Lavish uses best-in-class materials at every step of its manufacturing process. “Our beds are made with completely different materials,” Ling says. “We are all about being different.” 

Those differences extend to design details, too.

It was back in 2018 that Ling and Baumberger conducted consumer research suggesting that consumers were looking for a new type of customization in their mattresses. That led them to launch split queen and split king models, which were an immediate hit and are now key products throughout the marketplace.

Posh+Lavish also marches to its own drummer with its distribution policies. Its mattresses are only sold in brick-and-mortar stores. That move is designed to better support those retailers, helping them boost profitability in their businesses. And Posh+Lavish beds must be experienced to be fully appreciated, and that is only possible in a physical store, Ling says.

Those are some of the details that are winning the day for Posh+Lavish. Its beds, like a great picture, tell a story.

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