Confidence and partnerships
Economists across the country continue to bemoan the nation's lack of consumer confidence and its impact on the domestic economy, but can this be turned around? Can the furniture industry do anything to reverse the negativity?
Consumer spending has historically accounted for over 60% of the economic engine of America and there is no doubt that this engine continues to sputter. The financial debacles of the home real estate market and the domestic auto industry lead the pack in recognizable failure, but fears of financial institution failure, the escalating threat of unemployment and government's over-the-top spending have crystallized the consumer's lack of confidence.
The best near-term solution may be as close as an adjacent market or a complementary product, but is more likely to be the expanded use of recognized brands that will enhance consumer confidence.
Retailers' use of private brands was intended to provide channel exclusivity while optimizing margins. This has had some success, but in furniture this strategy has struggled to create consumer value, other than price, thus has done little to drive consumer confidence.
Retailers and other resellers should look to expand the use of brands that resonate confidence in specific demographic groups. Selectively target a specific consumer category with focused brand values that address the identified needs of that consumer group.
A good example is Kathy Ireland Worldwide and her focus on the working mom; her brand is highly targeted to the needs of the 24-55 year old female, especially with children. Her endorsed products provide a balance of fashion, quality assurance and cost that specifically targets this consumer group... and it sells. (My company, Bush Furniture, just signed a licensing partnership with Kathy Ireland Worldwide aimed at providing solutions for home and commercial office settings.)
As I look around the Las Vegas Market this week, I notice others are aligning themselves with recognizable brands. Serta is promoting its partnerships with Donald Trump and Paula Deen. I also see that Michael Amini is collaborating with Jane Seymour on several furniture collections and Ty Pennington, of ABC-TV's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" has partnered with Howard Miller Total Home.
There's no question that partnerships are springing up around us. I only caution those who are seeking partnerships to ensure that your values are in line with that of the brand with which you are partnering and the consumers you are targeting.
The thinking cat commented:
When has the CEO of Bush, or anyone else in the company, spent time in a store, that sells their product, and simply asked customer what they like or dislike about the products ?
Get this feedback to the designers, the engineers, and the workers that build the stuff.
Knowing your customer is 90% of the game.
Once you have what they want, they buy in drones.
Think about using Social marketing, Viral marketing is the hot new thing (this makes for good traffic flow into stores). Show the furniture, tell them about it, the ask them to buy it.
Never forget, the rules never changed, you just forgot how to play.
www.drafly.com commented:
Bush furniture is not so famous, we just heared about Ashley, Thomasville, brohill, lane etc
mewsmistress commented:
Way to go educated industry veteran - mind you; branding and great design can go hand in hand. Celebrity endorsements are pretty lame - agreed - especially when they is less than what they claim to be - a story for our times sadly. We in the west certainly need to stop griping about cheap imports and get real about creating great products that are superbly well designed, well made and appeal to a global market.
kip20 commented:
It would be my assumption that the teaming and collaboration mentioned by Sherbert can only be a good thing. What is wrong with blending the design ideas of two top-shelf organizations to produce designs that people want.
kip20 commented:
It would be my assumption that the teaming and collaboration mentioned by Sherbert can only be a good thing. What is wrong with blending the design ideas of two top-shelf organizations to produce designs that people want.
Jon consumer commented:
Want to sell some furniture? On your website tell me who stocks it in my neighborhood. Bush does a poor job of this. However, their online shopping site is top notch. As a 64 year old male, the KI branding would steer me away (Just my initial reaction).
snookie lansin commented:
The K.I. brand is a laugh.She failed with Standard Furniture,Martin has not done much with her, and of course Vaughn Furniture is on life support.They will not exist in 2011.K.I. might be good for womens cloth or linens ,but not furniture.
Laura Newman commented:
I think Educated Industry Veteran makes a very valid, and overlooked point about the quality of design. This has been going on for so long now in the furnishings market, its the norm. And sadly, much of it is badly designed or just rehashing of the same old. I've worked with some of these manufacturers who would have gotten much more out of hiring a good consulting designer than paying a celebrity to put their name on it. But -- as Astounded eludes to..it works and it sells. But hey - we're talking about a public that feeds the high-paying salaries of the shallow Snookies and Lady Gagas of the world. Who do we blame?
Heather Bailey commented:
Way to Go BUSH Furniture
There is no better way to market your products than to link up with someone such as Kathy Ireland. This is a major success. Plus, it provides a gateway to create new products that meet the customer’s wants and desires.
Bush Furniture is the best in the industry … and the best service. I know, I am a customer
There are a number of reasons companies embark on co-branding programs. To begin with, they're a powerful way of introducing one company's products and services to the loyalists of another. Perhaps the best example of this is the now-legendary "Intel Inside" campaign, which launched a brand that few consumers had ever heard of into the stratosphere by piggybacking on the equity of big computer makers such as IBM (IBM) and Compaq (HP). Within a year of the program's launch, Intel (INTC) was co-branding with some 300 computer manufacturers.
I say, Go Get'em Bush …. Creative and it works!
Industry Observer commented:
The comments afore noted are constructive but lacking for not seeing the intrinsic value of furniture branding in the current furniture and home fashion brands marketing and sales. Granted that some companies make vapid choices based on their marketing department's propensity to 'celebrity'. That ,however, is their right. We, Industry professionals can continue to criticize based on our personal and professional experiences...but branding as we are seeing it is here to stay. The best advice we can offer is to read Sherbert's last sentence carefully. It resonates well. We all need to look at the Industry with understanding and with constructive critical depth. We can't allow ourselves to criticize just to be critical. If we see problems we should set ourselves up to help, not hinder the future of the furniture industry in the US.
Astounded commented:
How can the CEO of such a large furniture manufacturer have the temerity to espouse the opinion that Paula Deen has done anything for the furniture industry other than bring it a collection of junk that is as ugly as her food is unhealthy. Is there one intelligent dietician who could possibly say that eating ham was healthy for you? Ham aesthetics falls into the same category. But who can say?: "When there is nothing but ham to eat, people eat ham". As long as the industry feeds the buying public junk, people will buy it because they have nothing else to buy. In no way does it substantiate the fact that the branded furniture has any intrinsic value.
Educated Industry Veteran commented:
Wow!!!! Free advertising for Bush Industries. Do you need to be a potential paying advertiser in FT to get to have a blog? And he even believes this branding mania. Those who cannot read the unspoken needs of the market and those who are clueless about product development and design are the touters of branding. They will pay for a nationally known pretty face but they will not pay for good design. And they will not depart from what they have done forever. Ireland supports everything that has been in the market for the past 25 years but she has brought absolutely nothing new that has created new markets. The lemming law adhered to by CEO's with this mentality is what is shuttering US furniture factories daily. It is not "cheap Asian labor" which is killing us. It is the clueless MBA leadership of the companies that is pushing the industry over the cliff to oblivion.
