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NHFA making progress on furniture consumer Web site

Awareness campaign will promote shopping, buying

Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, November 11, 2008

HIGH POINT — The National Home Furnishings Assn. said it is making progress on its plan for a consumer awareness campaign, without the help of HGTV or any other co-branding effort.

NHFA's board recently approved a plan for developing an easy-to-navigate Web site portal designed to take consumers through the furniture shopping and buying process - from determining what they need to fit their tastes and lifestyles to finding it in NHFA member stores.

Early this year, the association announced plans for a Preferred Retailer Program that was to be co-branded with HGTV in an effort to build consumer awareness and drive traffic. Stores would have had to sign on to help fund the program.

HGTV pulled out of the program this summer, after it didn't garner enough early commitments to generate the hoped-for $20 million marketing budget.

NHFA later said it would seek a "new name-partner," but this effort is not taking the same form as the HGTV arrangement.

"We don't want a partner that is going to tell us who we can solicit ads from or (one that) is taking some of the proceeds or telling us how the proceeds are going to be spent and reinvested," said NHFA President Doug Kays.

That's why any major name partners are now expected to be sponsors of the Web site and the program as opposed to business partners, Kays said. He said NHFA has seen interest in the new plan from "some of the largest publishers in the country and some of the largest Internet providers in the country," but declined to identify them.

Kays said the new program NHFA is working on is "bigger and more powerful" than what was planned with HGTV, but added that it's too early to set a launch date. Program details probably will be disclosed at the end of the year.

The NHFA has hired consultants Strategic Marketing Solutions and JG Sullivan Interactive, led by Ron Carpenter and John Sullivan, to help develop the Web site and its business plan.

Kays said NHFA will be the sole owner of the program, but suppliers, vendors and other industry members can participate and benefit from the marketing.

"We remain very excited about the vast possibilities in the program," he said. "We are not simply developing another Web site for furniture. NHFA's Web site will provide the consumer, supplier and media with the richest resource for education and information, drive sales directly to the retailers' stores and provide the entire industry with a sales boost."

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