Retailers to get exposure from ‘Is It Home Yet?' program

NHFA dealer locator will tie in with campaign

Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, August 5, 2009

HIGH POINT — Members of the National Home Furnishings Assn., which is joining others industry groups supporting the World Market Center's consumer-oriented national advertising campaign, can expect national exposure from the tie-in.

Retailer members of NHFA and its affiliates will participate in one of the main components of the WMC's $20 million multi-year campaign, which launches with a September "National Home Furnishings Month" event.

The core of the national media campaign, with the slogan "Is It Home Yet?" is an online program that will be anchored by a "Room Design" section of MSN's Lifestyle Web site, which will run from Aug. 24 to Sept. 30. Consumers visiting the site can access NHFA's HomeFurnishings.com dealer locator as well as visit NHFA retailers' Web microsites set up for the event.

NHFA retailers also will be involved in the national event through store signage and advertising, NHFA said.

The microsites are free during the event to all NHFA retailers - some 2,500 businesses with more than 9,000 stores - regardless of whether they pay to participate in HomeFurnishings.com, the NHFA's own national marketing, consumer Web portal and certified dealer program that soft-launches in early October. HomeFurnishings.com will feature a full package of content and other tools designed to attract consumers to stores.

The microsites for the WMC program will be a "pre-launch" version of what's promised as part of the HomeFurnishings.com program, said NHFA Chairman Doug Kays. They will include a photo of the store, addresses and phone numbers, brands carried and other information, but they won't be as fully functional as the latter version coming from NHFA.

Nevertheless, Kays said the retailer organization sees the free tie-in as a great opportunity to transition members over to the HomeFurnishing.com program. He noted that the early microsites will stay up on the MSN site through October, when dealers can get the more enhanced version by committing to HomeFurnishings.com.

"This opportunity will be a great kickoff for us and exposure for NHFA member stores, plus the National Home Furnishings Month will get a direct link to the largest and strongest home furnishings group in the industry as it connects consumers with quality retailers in their shopping areas," Kays said.

For the event, a display and search program will run on MSN and elsewhere online via several display advertising networks, and through the Google AdWords platform. National print ads will run in Elle Décor and Metropolitan Home. Billboards will be used in several key markets.

Kays said he applauds the Las Vegas Market investors for financially backing the multi-year campaign, saying they understand, as does NHFA, that a prosperous industry starts with consumers buying more furniture and having confidence in their purchase decisions and in the retailers they're buying from.

More Las Vegas Market September 2009 Coverage