Never underestimate the power of a name-especially that of a celebrity. Some bedding manufacturers teaming up with high-profile personalities have been enjoying positive exposure to consumers that they would not have gotten through conventional marketing.



Who doesn't like a wedding? Serta International asked that question and then asked why no other bedding manufacturer had tapped into this appealing, multibillion-dollar industry. So this past year, Serta licensed the name of noted bridal gown designer Vera Wang to produce a line of Vera Wang mattresses by Serta. According to Alan Kramer, vice president of merchandising for Star Furniture in Houston, the results have been spectacular. Star carries only one brand, Serta, so the cachet of a celebrity like Vera Wang really helps, Kramer said.



Therapedic Sleep Products has fully embraced its association with home furnishings stylist Kathy Ireland. After soft openings of the Kathy Ireland Home by Therapedic the past few months, Therapedic has started aggressively marketing the line. Gerry Borreggine, president of Therapedic, has been presenting the bed at trade shows with other Kathy Ireland products, particularly the bedroom suites by Standard Furniture. Ireland has gotten the reputation as a very hands-on designer who insists on tailoring each of her products to have reasonable price tags and for working women and mothers.



Cristina Saralegui, the multitalented Hispanic talk show host and author, has practically single-handedly opened the doors of the bedding world to the middle-class Hispanic consumer-and to Lady Americana.



For the past year, Lady Americana's four-bed Lady Cristina line has become a virtual magnet for the burgeoning Hispanic population looking to upgrade its bedding, according to James Copher, sales manager of the Lady Americana line at the Oklahoma City-based three-store Mathis Brothers furniture chain. He said Saralegui and her staff are very active in ticking selection, styling of the bed and the presentation. Ticking colors, for example, lean more to gold tones and darker shades than traditional vanilla beds. She also includes for each bed a blessing prayer on a ribbon she penned. The beds range from $499 to $1,299.



"A lot of times, people associate Hispanic people with low-end things," Copher said. "We don't feel, after our studies, that is necessarily true."



Select Comfort continues to enjoy high-visibility success with its spokeswoman, actress Lindsay Wagner. Her message is that busy working parents need their sleep-and can get it from Select Comfort. The company has gotten an extra boost of exposure in recent months from Garrison Keillor, a Select Comfort spokesman and host of the "Prairie Home Companion" radio show, which has been made into a movie starring Meryl Streep.



And Comfort Solutions by King Koil enjoys a close relationship with actress Jaclyn Smith, producing a line of bedding under the Jaclyn Smith Home brand.



And for the sports fan, Sleep Innovations launched its Marino Recovery System, a memory foam line last year, endorsed by football hall of famer Dan Marino. Sleep Innovations has become known for its ability to compress and box these foam beds into suitcase-sized containers with luggage wheels so consumers can transport them easily.