1. When did the campaign launch?
The campaign was launched on Wednesday 20th October 2010, with date stamped pillows available in retailers nationally from the morning of Thursday 21st October.
2. Why did Tontine decide to do this?
We know that on average there are 9 pillows in every Australian home, and that the average age of the oldest of these pillows is five and a half years.
Given we spend up to a third of our life in bed, overtime, different types of fungi, dust mites and their faeces, build up inside your pillow which creates a hygiene issue.
While we place anti-bacterial properties in all our pillows, we recommend that on average, the lifespan is around 2 years for synthetic filled pillows.
These freshness stamps will provide our customers with a reminder that they need to look at replacing their pillow around this time.
3. What’s the cost to the business/the customer?
There is no increased cost to the customer. There have obviously been some costs involved for Tontine, but we have absorbed this. We believe that it is a valuable part of doing business and we won’t be passing this cost onto the customer.
4. What sort of research have you done to justify doing this?
We have conducted extensive research over the 53 years we have been supplying Australians with Tontine pillows. Most recently, we have partnered with Galaxy Research to conduct research into Australian consumer’s behaviour with pillows. Before introducing the freshness stamp, we spoke to our customers, and the overwhelming response has been really positive.
5. What makes your pillows fresh?
A number of factors make our pillows fresh - it's a combination of the quality of the fill, the pillow cover, and the other value-adds We make our polyester pillows with anti-bacterial treated fill and in some ranges, with anti-microbial treated fill that inhibit the growth of bacteria, dustmites and mould.
Once a customer takes a pillow home and takes it out of the packaging, the freshness is impacted by how they use it, clean it, care for it, and ultimately, how often they replace it.
6. How important is sleep education and the impact it has on our every day life?
Sleep is a basic human need. Quality sleep is essential for developing and maintaining good health along with enduring mental and emotional well-being.
The Tontine Fresh Pillow campaign focuses on one specific area of achieving a better night’s sleep but there is a lot of excellent advice available from sleep experts. Links to this information include:
http://www.woolcock.org.au/
http://www.sleep.org.au/
http://www.nationalasthma.org.au/
7. When will all stores have stamped pillows?
Tontine pillows with the freshness stamps will be available in retailers nationally from, Thursday 21 October 2010.
8. Will I be able to get all pillows/fill types with a Tontine Fresh stamp?
At this stage, our research has focused on the typical synthetic fill pillow. We know this is the type of pillow most Australians sleep on every night. For now, only Tontine synthetic filled pillows will be date stamped. Foam, latex and feather & down pillows will not be stamped, but this is something we may look at in the next stages of our research.
9. What happens to your pillow over a two-year period?
The most obvious thing to pillow users is the stains and discolouration which are visible when pillow slips/covers are removed. But inside the pillows, there’s a lot more going on. Given we spend up to a third of our life in bed, over time, nasties build up inside your pillow which creates a hygiene issue. These are things like dust mites and fungi which feed off sweat, dead skin cells and other things that end up in your pillow. The freshness stamp will provide our customers with a reminder that they need to look at replacing their pillow.
If there are stains or discolouration on your pillow, it’s a sign that it’s time for a new one.
10. What is so bad about dust mites and dead skin cells building up in your pillow? What sort of impact can this have on your health and well being?
House dust mite faeces contain a number of extremely potent allergens that can lead to allergic asthma, allergies and other respiratory diseases.
We know that “7 million Australians are living with asthma and allergies” , and that looking after your environment – including the pillows in your bedroom – can help prevent additional suffering. For futher information please visit http://www.nationalasthma.org.au/
- Kristine Whorlow National Asthma Council of Australia
