Serta's History at a Glance

In 1931, a group of independent mattress manufacturers met to discuss the impact of national brands on their companies. These entrepreneurs recognized that they couldn't compete individually with the national brands and their large advertising budgets. They knew that by banding together they could share information on manufacturing practices and advertising. Yet, they also wanted to keep their individual companies, customers and marketplaces.

These mattress manufacturers became the original stockholders in a nationally licensed company, originally called Guardian Knight, and then quickly renamed "Sleeper Products." By 1937, Fortune Magazine reported company sales of $10 million, while total industry sales totaled $85 million.

In 1938, a company executive led a successful campaign to rename the company Serta, a name that consumers would remember and grow to trust over the coming decades.

From the beginning, Serta licensees recognized the value of a strong national brand. What's more they had a product that stood for innovation and quality. One licensee invented the industry's first tuftless innerspring mattress. Serta's founders named it the Perfect Sleeper, what remains today the best-selling premium mattress in America.


The Story of the Serta Counting Sheep

For more than a decade, Serta has led all other mattress companies in its advertising investment. To be an industry leader, we believe we need to be in front of our customers and to let them know what our brand means, and what we stand for, before they go to shop for a new mattress.

In July 2000, Serta launched what has become the most popular advertising campaign in mattress industry history, the Serta Counting Sheep. Now, four years later, the Counting Sheep have garnered fans internationally in their hapless quest to regain clients lost to Serta's unbelievably comfortable mattresses.

The charm and endearing character of the Counting Sheep are the result of Serta's partnership with Doner, the world's largest independent advertising agency, and the creative genious of Aardman Animations, the Bristol, England, based studio that produced the Academy Award winning series Wallace and Gromit and Chicken Run.

Since the campaign's launch, there have been 11 total spots produced. From the first ad where the Counting Sheep showed up to a client's house only to find they had purchased a Serta mattress and subsequently reminding them "We do have a two year contract" to the over-zealous No. 8 tearing the "Do not remove under penalty of law" tag off a mattress and landing them in jail, the Counting Sheep have won the hearts of people all across the world.

But rest assured, the story of the Counting Sheep's quest to regain their sleepless customer base isn't anywhere near over. Look for new spots this year, and check back with us from time to time because we will post them to our web site.