Got furniture?
Editors Letter
Jenny Heinzen York -- Kids Today, 8/1/2009 12:00:00 AM
The Las Vegas World Market Center is planning to launch a $20 million, multi-year national advertising campaign in September to stimulate consumer interest in home furnishings.
This is a bold and ambitious move by the market organizer, reminiscent of the highly touted Got Milk? campaign by the dairy industry. The reason that worked – beyond being really clever and getting some really great names to support it? It did not brand one particular dairy or brand of milk. It almost felt like a public service announcement to convince you that milk is a necessary part of the American diet.
Imagine if we can capture some of that feeling for the furnishings industry? A well-managed message that emphasizes the importance of home, and how having a nice home, with nice decor, is really a fundamental need in our crazy lives.
Think for a second about what home means to you. Maybe it’s a place to raise your family. Maybe it’s the one place where you can really unwind. Then think about what home means to your kids. Maybe it’s their favorite place to be, because their room is so cool and so perfect for sleepovers. Maybe it’s the place where they can’t wait to come home from college to visit. Whatever it is that home means to you – that’s what this campaign can capitalize on.
This is something the car industry figured out a long time ago. Think of all the car ads that don’t say a word about the functions or benefits of owning a specific vehicle. They tout the experience and the feeling that owning that car can bring. The bond that people feel when they find a car that they love is a powerful force. That’s why everyone knows you never go window-shopping for a car, because it makes you hungry to buy, and you won’t be window-shopping for long.
I’ve always marveled that Americans spend, on average, $28,000 for a new car, and keep that car between three and four years. We all know that the minute you buy it, it loses a substantial amount in value. Yet people are still buying cars. But when it comes to furniture, people buy, for example, a sofa, where they will sit every day for several hours a day for 10 or so years. And complain about the $999 price tag. The same goes for a kid’s bedroom – where a child will spend the bulk of his or her childhood, and maybe even keep that bed or furniture set through college and beyond. That has to be worth something.
Of course, the nursery in many ways serves as the example that the rest of the furnishings business could use as a model. Think about it – how often does any other room get a complete makeover – from the walls to the floor covering to the furniture to the textiles to the accessories to the window treatments?
This is where the ad campaign that WMC is proposing can come in. It’s an idea that I have long subscribed to – that we all need to work together to help this business grow. And maybe all we really need is a unified message to get people feeling about their homes – and the furnishings that go in them – the same way we feel about our cars, or our baby’s room, or our glass of milk.
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