Rugnews.com Guest Editorial:
GOOD MARKETING TACTICS ARE TIMELESS KEYS TO BUILDING CONSUMER TRUST
By Bud Wyman
Believe it or not, I do read my wife's editorials and not because I may be quizzed at home.
First, let me say that I started in the floor covering business 60 years ago. Many of today's "problems" (or "issues" as they are now called) have occurred through the years in one guise or another. They include slow sales, price competition and poor profitability.
The solution to those problems is always the same: Good Marketing.
That is, marketing which dramatizes the product benefits to the consumer.
There are too many bare floors today. Consumers are brain-washed to think that bare floors are good. They see more advertising and editorial coverage featuring hard-surface material. Carpets and rugs are barely on the radar screen.
The vast expanses of wood, ceramic, laminate or vinyl are supposedly today's beautiful floors. Never mind that they are boring and unsafe. These floors are not only boring and dangerous, they allow dirt and dust to fly around in the air. In fact, when properly vacuumed on a weekly basis, carpets and rugs actually keep DOWN dirt and dust.
Even though hard surface floors are supposed to stimulate rug sales, it's really not happening. The rate of growth of hard surface floors far surpasses the rate of growth of rugs. (According to Floor Covering Weekly, sales of laminates, hardwood and ceramic each grew at a rate of 7.3% in 2005 over 2004. The trade magazine estimates that rugs grew 4.6% in 2005 compared to 2004.)
In short, rugs are not being sold, merchandised or publicized properly, or even at all.
Look at the rug ads in newspapers (if you can find one). Only price is featured. There are exceptions, of course. New York's Einstein-Moomjy and Florida's Rugs As Art come to mind. Incidentally, those two stores are also considered a couple of the best retailers in the business. Must be a reason.
Perhaps more important is the fact that rugs get very little consumer editorial coverage.
People do read the articles in the consumer home furnishings press and they are influenced by what they read. Unfortunately, rugs are way down the list of featured products. And hand-made rugs are way-way down the list. In fact, the only publicity hand made rugs get is negative. People in the US have been hornswoggled into believing that all hand made rugs are made by the slave labor of ten year-old children.
So what's the answer to the problem?
A strong, consistent, informed public relations program supported by a rug marketing association may be one way to bring a positive message about rugs to consumers.
The consumer needs information and education, not a sales pitch. The ads they see should say something besides "70% OFF!!!!" That message sounds like an invitation to haggle over prices. And give the consumers some credit for intelligence. They know a store can't stay in business by offering products at less than a third of the regular price. Or maybe the price was too high to begin with?
Maybe the industry's retail ads should give the consumers real information. Why are some rugs worth more than others? How do rugs work with other home furnishings categories? How do you choose the correct size? How do you place a rug in a room to show off furniture to its best advantage?
A little education will make for a more confident rug customer. A more confident rug customer means more sales at every price level and more business for every channel of distribution.
10.2.06
ED NOTE: We welcome your response. We also welcome guest editorials from our readers. Contact Lwyman@rugnews.com.
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Guest editor Bud Wyman is the founder and former president of The Rug-Hold Co. He is currently an industry consultant and chairman of Wyman Marketing |
Bud Wyman
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