Market

The mattress market is firmly in the grip of the unorganised sector, led by the street-side shop and the local ginner. Coarse cotton, the filler for these mattresses, is the cheapest of the many options that are now available and thus, the choice of the masses. No estimate is available for the turnover in this market but its safe to assume that they could run into several hundreds of crore. The organised segment, on the other hand, is beginning to develop and currently has a market estimated at Rs. 980 crore (US$ 204.20 million). As in several other segments in India, the pecking order is determined by costs. Coir is the overwhelming leader with a value share of Rs. 876 crore (US$ 175.20 million) and a volume share that could exceed 98% (Source: market data). The balance is divided unequally between spring and foam fillers. The former controls Rs. 70 crore (US$ 14 million) while foam makes up the balance Rs. 34 crore (US$ 6.80 million) (Source: market estimates). There are few national players, but for a market this small competition is surprisingly intense. It is estimated that over 150 regional brands and several scores of clones operate here, offering rock bottom prices compensated by modest quality. Kurlon is the category leader notching up sales of Rs. 380 crore (US$ 79.20 million) translating into a share of nearly 39% of the organised market. While sales happen year long they are subjected to spikes during the festive and marriage seasons. There is also an established correlation between housing development and the sale of mattresses. The recent downturn in the housing sector had an adverse impact on the mattress market. But this minor hiccup notwithstanding the organised market has grown 20% year-on122

year. Much of this is almost certainly attributed to improving life styles and consumer discounts and the high dealer incentives offered by regional players.

Achievements
Kurlons journey has been a long one, punctuated with the efforts of millions of manhours devoted to the ostensibly simple task of telling audiences the benefits and need for a good nights rest. The fact is that in a country where large swathes comprise people living on the margin its hard to sell comfort when the economics of eking out a living itself taken precedence. Despite this road block the achievements of Kurlon have been very significant: it accomplished the singularly difficult task of selling a concept that actually helped create an entire industry. Kurlon, today, has evolved into a company which offers mattresses in 126 different configurations and exports its products to the UAE, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain in the Middle East, to all SAARC countries as well as the markets of South East Asia and the Far East. In India it has a dominating market leadership; research has suggested that the brand enjoys a

top-of-mind awareness of a staggering 80%. Everything else being equal, this would mean that in a future purchase Kurlon would be in the consideration set of at least 80% of all customers, giving the company an extraordinary edge over other brands. For its fine achievements, awards have been quick in coming. The Coir Board of India has honoured Kurlon with many citations over the years. For the past 15 years it has won the Coir Board of India's awards for Outstanding Performance in Export of Rubberised Coir Products, Development of the Domestic Market for Rubberised Coir, Best Export Performance at the State Level and the award for being the Largest Domestic Trader of Coir and Coir Products. With a countrywide dealer network of 5000, Kurlon provides direct employment to over 1000 people and indirect employment to hundreds of thousands of coir workers across the sub-continent.

History
Kurlon Limited, a Manipal Group company, was founded in 1962 by Ramesh Pai, who on a trip to Germany discovered that car seat cushions were being manufactured with rubberised

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curled coir from Sri Lanka. On his return, he learnt that coir was a very basic industry in India manufacturing only retted fabric. He decided to value-add the entire business and set up a company to pioneer the rubberised coir industry. To put the concept in motion he chose Karnataka as the beneficiary state and brought in Austrian technology to extract fibre from coconut husk and curl it into ropes. A slew of opportunities now opened up. Rather than restrict himself to just mattresses he also developed an ancillary range of products such as cushions and mats. In 1962 the company was called Karnataka Consumer Products Limited but was renamed Kurlon Limited in 1995. With one part of the market showing signs of graduating to the next level, Kurlon tied up with Dupont and Sealy, both US-based companies for the manufacture of poly fibre and spring mattresses in 1998. A common manufacturing facility was set up at Dobersepet near Bangalore. In 2004 the company ventured beyond providing just the sleeping comfort of a mattress and extended its product range into the homecomforts segment. Today, Kurlon has an extended range that includes pillows, curtains, bolsters, bed sheets, carpets, underlays and doormats. At present, the company has five manufacturing units, one each in Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu and two near Bangalore. It has a hub at New Delhi.

Product
With nearly a third of peoples lives spent sleeping it would seem important that sleep and sleeping habits and postures be extensively studied. As a leader in the mattress business, Kurlon has done just that. Its range of sleep comfort products offers several choices many providing therapeutic solutions for chronic aches. Aware of the cost constraints faced by people, Kurlon ensures their welfare through its lower end mattresses which include Apna, Budget, Apsara and Furnobed. The Super Deluxe, Super Deluxe Ultra, Spinekare, Ortho, Romantique, Klassic, Klassic Plus and spring mattresses which include Angelica, Marvel and Tiara, serve the upper end of the market. The companys portfolio also includes a range of polyurethane foam mattresses as well as bolsters, cushions and mats.

The Kurlon Luxury Series consists of mattresses and pillows that provide unsurpassed, world-class comfort. Made from quality materials like memory foam, latex, spring and rubberised coir they offer not only luxury but the comfort necessary for a good nights sleep. Valentino, Triazo, Angelica Klassic, Marvel LX, Ecobana and Ecobana Klassic, Aspire and Latx make up the mattress menu while the luxury pillows include Grazel, Grazel Premium, Chimera and Latx. Kurlon home furnishings come in polyester- and viscoseblends and in cotton with chenille yarn running through the warp and weft to give the range a distinctive look. Kurlons bed linen is available in a huge range of enchanting colours and designs spoiling customers for choice. In this offering is Desire, a collection of co-ordinated premium bed linen which adds a touch of glamour to bedrooms. The Bonita single pack comes with two bed sheets and pillow covers. Erasio is Kurlons stain-resistant range of bed sheets brought to India for the first time. The product is easy to wash and doesnt crease like cotton.

sleep on Kurlon position the company as the complete home-comfort solutions provider. The campaigns themselves have stressed on the importance of the correct sleeping posture and how a good nights rest impacts not just the day after but has a long-term effect on health in general. Kurlon television films have typically been problem-solution commercials. One showed people, in different situations, yawning during the day obviously, the result of a poor nights sleep; enter Kurlon, the panacea that can rid people of this disquiet and provide a restful night. The companys spring mattress commercial propagated the concept of Sleep like you stand, taking-off from the proven fact that the most comfortable position to be in is standing. This 2008 effort won for the brand a place of pride in the international advertising bible, Archives. The transition of the company from the restricted confines of the bedroom into the more pervasive home-comfort space was underscored by its Makaan Ban Jaye Ghar (from a dream house to a dream home) commercial. Kurlon promotions also include year-round deals which offer pillows, bed sheets, blankets, holidays, jewellery, motorbikes and ipods as rewards. The promotional activity is upped substantially during the festive season.

Brand Values
Kurlon stands for quality, trust, value, comfort and relationships. These values are reflected in every Kurlon product. The company stands by an old-fashioned belief that every product that a consumer interfaces with is a brand ambassador for the company while every promotion must value-add to a customers purchase so it ends up as an extension of the brand.

Recent Developments
Kurlon has recently made the transition from being a sleep comfort and furnishings company to one that now also offers a wide selection of furniture in the latest designs. Exotic to look and superb to the touch Kurlon Cesare are Italian sofa sets. These authentic masterpieces combine comfort, luxury and elegance in truly stunning looks. Named after and designed by the famous Italian furniture designer Cesare, the sofas come in three categories Elite, Classic and Essential.

www.kurlon.com
Things you didnt know about

Kurlon
Kurlon pioneered the rubberised coir industry in India Kurlon mattresses are made of millions of tiny coir fibres which keep the body at a static temperature Kurlon uses vertical compression technology to give more spring action to the coir in a mattress Aspire, a special Kurlon mattress uses the unique memory foam that senses body heat and adjusts itself to the contours of the spine

Promotion
The companys payoff lines Siton, Stand-on, Sleep-on; Kurlon and A third of your life is spent in sleep so

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