Thomasville's ads, stores to send consistent message
By Powell Slaughter -- Furniture Today, November 23, 2003
Fort Lauderdale, Fla. — Thomasville looks to use new advertising and its first published set of standards for store owners and sales representatives to ensure it consistently projects an upscale brand image as a home authority.
The company's new ad agency, The Martin Agency, is developing a campaign that will debut nationally next year.
"There'll be no more fragmented campaigns created by multiple local agencies," said Tom Tilley, president and chief executive officer of Thomasville. "We'll have a consistent message with all national and local advertising."
Martin Agency CEO John Adams said he's a strong believer in advertising icons like the Geico Insurance gekko and the "brown" theme of UPS.
"We'll be looking for opportunities to develop our own special iconography for Thomasville," Adams said. He said the agency has done a lot of work in marketing to women with brands such as Hanes Her Way and Gerber, and has experience with retailing through clients such as Alltel, UPS Store and Target.
One goal of the ad campaign is to shift Thomasville's "brand footprint," the five or six words the brand brings to mind for consumers.
"Currently, consumers say Thomasville is traditional, dark wood, craftsmanship, formal, masculine and stodgy," Adams said. "We need to add more humanity to that footprint. What would we like our footprint to be? Great experience, home authority, confidence, distinctive, comfortable, trustworthy and easy."
Along with a single message, Thomasville seeks unified presentation at retail and consistent operations through its first written set of operations standards.
"No matter where or when we interact with a customer, it must be a positive experience," said Eric Easter, senior vice president of sales and marketing. "There can be no dissonance between our brand image and our store experience. Standards will lead to a more predictably positive experience."
Standards will focus on seven key areas: brand positioning, advertising and marketing; store location; store environment; staffing and training; display requirements for product; operations and technology; and financial performance.
"For a brand to increase in value, there must be reinvestment, and we will no longer live off our brand equity — we will feed it, nurture it and watch it grow," Easter said. "Everything the customer touches must deliver on our brand promise."
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