Furniture Sketchbook

Furniture industry needs to hone its PR skills

Our industry is doing a lousy job of public relations. And that’s a real shame.

As a long-time member of the media, I’ve been observing the PR programs of a wide variety of home furnishings companies for many years. And I continue to be shocked at the basic mistakes that companies keep on making.

I’m not going to name names in this column – the list of guilty parties is, unfortunately, a lengthy one. And I am not saying there aren’t some PR standouts in our midst, because there are some companies who understand the value of PR and consistently execute sound PR strategies.

But, overall, it strikes me that our industry lacks PR sophistication. The result: Lots of wasted marketing opportunities. And some hard feelings that could easily be avoided.

The core of the industry’s problem: Lack of communication. Companies don’t understand what is newsworthy and what isn’t. They don’t understand why one company gets excellent coverage and another doesn’t. Rather than talking to those of us in the media and getting our insights on what is happening, they keep their own counsel and come up with some bizarre theories: We are out to get them. We love the other guy. We have a hidden agenda.

The truth, dear media conspiracy fans, is far simpler and less exciting. The companies who get the best coverage frequently understand the value of PR programs and know how to get us what we need to cover their companies. And, in many cases, the companies who complain about the coverage they don’t get aren’t doing the things they should be doing.

One key to better coverage is to establish a relationship with the editors in the trade press. We are, generally speaking, a friendly lot. Make friends in the press. The alternative – making enemies – is counterproductive.

It amazes me how some companies build up a reservoir of anger over perceived sleights, supposed mistakes, etc. That is not constructive. If you are bothered by something we write, call us. Don’t let your anger build. That only makes it harder to deal with the issues.

Another key is understanding what is newsworthy – and getting that information to us in a timely manner. We love clear, straightforward press releases. They make our job easier. And that makes it easier for us to tell your story clearly. But don’t think we should simply take your press releases and reprint them, word for word, in the paper. We are a newspaper, not a press release reprint service.

If something doesn’t go as planned, ask us what happened. Don’t assume we don’t think your story is important. Perhaps it got displaced by an even bigger story. Don’t get mad at us. Instead, talk to us. Communication is golden.

Dutch mattress recall more bad news for China

The China critics are getting their voice.

I’m hearing from them in my neck of the woods, the mattress arena. To the long list of Chinese product problems apparently one more should be added: Mattresses.

An Associated Press story earlier this month said that a chain of Dutch- based bedding stores was recalling more than 1,300 Chinese-made foam mattresses “amid fears they were sprayed with toxic insecticide.”

The story said the retailer announced the recall after tests on a container holding more than 700 mattresses found they contained poison, possibly as a result of being sprayed to kill insects. The exact nature of the poison has yet to be determined, the story said.

Now it is important to note that this story says nothing about possibly toxic mattresses being shipped from China to the United States. I have yet to hear anyone state, definitively, that such mattresses have been shipped to the U.S.

But that hasn’t stopped the critics from sounding the alarm. “I am sending this to you so that you are aware,” one U.S. bedding executive said to me, forwarding news of the Dutch company’s findings. “If you do anything with it PLEASE do not reference me or (name of company withheld) as a source. Very interesting…..lead paint, dog food, now mattresses.”

Said another U.S. bedding exec: “This looks like a really big story.”

My thought: It could be, but it isn’t yet.

But, having said that, I agree it is certainly bad news in general for those who import Chinese mattresses to the U.S.  The product recall news out of China lately has been grim. “Dangerous products” was among the catalog of problems cited in a cover story by BusinessWeek last month. “Can China Be Fixed?” was the headline of that story.

The bad news from China hasn’t yet affected importers of Chinese beds, some leading importers recently told me. But one said that could change if the drumbeat of bad news continues.

And now that scary story out of the Netherlands.

One bad shipment of Chinese mattresses sent to the Netherlands doesn’t constitute an indictment of the entire Chinese bedding industry. Let’s keep this story in perspective. But it is more unwelcome news for a country getting more than its share of it these days.

Tales from the beach: A lesson for us all

Welcome to this Tale of Two Furniture Executives.

Our first busy executive takes a week of vacation at the beach. I happen to check in with his boss and learn that the “vacationing” executive is dispatching 100 emails a day. I don’t know if his boss picked that number because it is a nice round one, or if the poor guy really is cranking out 100 emails. But you get the idea.

Our second busy executive also takes a week of vacation at the beach. He goes to a very remote beach on North Carolina’s Outer Banks. It is so remote that he gets no cell phone service. He briefly panics – how can he be out of touch with the office for a whole week? – but then he relaxes and lets work go. He has a great week of vacation.

And now, Dear Reader, I pose this question to you: Which of those executives are you? Are you the workaholic who views the beach as merely a great-looking office? Or are you the guy who can really unplug and relax?

My bet is that most of you, harried workaholics that so many of us are, fall in the first camp. And that, I think, is one of the casualties of our plugged-in, wireless world: We don’t really get away from work like we should.

I read somewhere that this is one of the problems with our high-tech work habits: Too many of us aren’t taking honest-to-goodness vacations where we let the waves wash away the cares of our lives.

Think how much more productive we might be if we really allowed ourselves the luxury of a vacation? Those little annoying problems that gnaw at us might slip away in the night. And those big problems that confront us might appear a bit less formidable. We might return to work refreshed and renewed and raring to go. Isn’t that a great thought?

So as the dog days of August pass by, and a final trip to the beach beckons, why not resolve to leave the office behind? Turn off the cell phone. Unplug the laptop. And experience the supreme joy of listening to the waves crash on the beach, one after another. Nature’s soothing concert awaits.