Videos promote soy-based foam in furniture, bedding

Cargill launches Web-based campaign

Gary Evans -- Furniture Today, July 13, 2009

Broyhill President and CEO Jeff Cook speaks on one of the online videos promoting environmentally friendly BiOH polyols, a soy-based cushioning product.

MINNEAPOLIS — Cargill, which provides soy-based BiOH polyols for foam used in seat cushions and bedding, has launched a viral video campaign featuring furniture manufacturers telling how their businesses are becoming environmentally friendly.

The campaign, one initiative in the BiOH polyols marketing strategy, will begin Monday, July 13 and run through July 26 at www.ExperienceBiOH.com. The video is called, "Soy Style: Did You KnOH?"

"Consumers increasingly want to know what goes into the products they buy for their homes," said BiOH polyols Marketing Manager Jessica Koster, who conducted the video interviews during the spring High Point Market. "Our goal with this campaign is to let them hear from the furniture manufacturers directly, and then to make it easy for them to find out where they can purchase."

The first video presenter will be Jeff Cook, president and CEO of Broyhill Furniture.

He will be followed by executives of American Furniture Mfg., American Leather, Bauhaus, BKind3, Cisco Bros., Comfort Design, C.R. Laine, Harden Furniture, Lane, Lee Inds., Precedent, Willem Smith and bedding manufacturer Natura World.

Visitors to the ExperienceBIOH Web site will be eligible to participate in a comment contest, with cash rewards for the person who submits the most interesting or engaging comment each day. Daily winners will receive a $100 Visa gift card. An RSS feed option allows for notification of updates to the site.

Koster expects to add content from furniture and bedding manufacturers to the site throughout the year. The company said results of the campaign will be measured and will influence future promotions.