Moderated by RC Willey’s Stu Peterson (far right), FMG’s logistics panel included Ali Ashraf of CH Robinson, Mike Campbell of Leather Italia and Cameron Wanek of Ashley.
LAS VEGAS — For the first time since COVID was embedded in day-to-day life, Furniture Marketing Group held its annual Symposium in person at Caesar’s Palace here.
Those who attended the event — which took place Jan. 20-22 before the Las Vegas Market — got to network with their peers, learn about vendor partners’ latest products and services, and were served up plenty of actionable items in marketing, innovation and more.
Prior to hearing from speakers, FMG held a tribute to Crest Furniture CEO Simon Kaplan, who passed away days before the event. Kaplan was one of the key figures in the formation of the organization.
Doing business better
In the first of two keynotes, Jeff Havens delivered humorous and insightful remarks about the importance of innovation.
“There are two reasons you should care about being innovative,” Havens said. “The first is so people don’t make fun of you. The ones who don’t innovate are the ones people make fun of, like Blockbuster. The second is it’s the best way to keep from being bored. If you don’t do anything new, you’re doing the same ol’ stuff every day.”
Havens noted that innovation happens all the time in people’s lives. Simply coming up with solutions to problems is the root of innovation. He said all it takes is three steps: Ask a question, think about the possible answers and do whatever you thought of. “Ask, think, do, repeat,” he said.
Kelly McDonald spoke about selling to people outside of your demographic. She opened remarks by noting that in 1980, the probability of two people chosen at random would be of a different race or ethnicity was 34%; by 2020 it was 61%, with the rate of change growing more rapidly every 10 years.
“There are two macro trends: We’re becoming more diverse, and we’re becoming more diverse more quickly,” she said.
McDonald said when people think of diversity, they tend to think in five general terms: age, gender, race, ethnicity and sexual orientation. She said diversity should be expanded to include those with kids vs. childless people and other considerations. “We can look the same but be very, very different,” she said.
McDonald offered eight strategies to grow business with people who don’t look like you. She said of the eight, there were five that should be tackled immediately: Identify and eliminate customer pain points; use diverse imagery in marketing materials; use consumer insights to sell differently; promote FAB (features, advantages and benefits, but always start with benefits); and help vs. sell.
The Lion’esque Group’s Melissa Gonzalez spoke about using experiential retail to attract consumers. She noted that we, as humans, crave in-person experience, and she cited statistics that 43% of shoppers are likely to spend more money with a retailer that offers meaningful shopping experiences in store, and 58% of digital devices shape in-store sales.
She cited a few examples of retailers in the home space that are succeeding in creating experiences, such as Kathy Kuo Home’s work with mom groups and like-minded brands to create a community and RH’s use of restaurants to bring in consumers even when they’re not shopping for furniture.
“I want to shop every time I eat there,” she said.
Focus on marketing
A pair of sessions focused on digital marketing and targeting. Jared Brody from Resident spoke about how the imminent elimination of tracking cookies will change the way marketers generate leads.
He said the fragmented nature of media consumption today makes it difficult to determine how effective advertising can be. He set out an example showing a consumer who visited several sites on numerous devices that led to a sale, but when each channel was considered individually, an analyst might think that it was a failure.
“It takes time, money and understanding,” he said. “It takes a companywide ethos to believe in tracking, attribution and testing. What is the initial interaction with a brand that can drive a sale?”
Later, Jay Prasad and Gabe Greenburg spoke about accessibility and LiveRamp’s use of personas to track people through various streaming TV apps, citing a program they did with Big Sandy Superstore as proof of concept.
They likened the old way of advertising on TV to the shotgun approach, while the persona approach is more like a sniper. “You’re not changing the ad; you’re optimizing the schedule,” Prasad said.
Added Greenburg, “The benefit is you’re using data segments to target. You don’t have the waste.”
Miskelly Furniture’s Alan “Dr. V” Vonder Haar held two state of the bedding industry sessions with officials from Tempur Sealy International and Serta Simmons Bedding.
Talking with TSI executive vice president Steve Rusing about his thoughts for 2022, Rusing said he believes good times lay ahead. “The takeaway I would have is underlying consumer trends continue to be favorable. There’s a consumer focus on health and wellness and people are looking better sleep and they’re willing to spend.”
In Dr. V’s session with SSB’s Derek Miller, and the focus was about how the pandemic has changed the way products are planned. “The pandemic rewrote the rules for everyone,” Miller said. “The just-in-time model worked for years and years, but it got upended.”
A look at pain points
The first of two panels focused on logistics and the ongoing strain from factories in Asia to ports and beyond. Ali Ashraf of CH Robinson noted that % to 98% of cargo ships are currently deployed and that there are 100 vessels outside of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which takes about three weeks to anchor out.
Ashley Furniture Inds.’ Cameron Wanek noted that usually Ashley negotiates its shipping contracts in April, but that process has begun earlier this time out. He also said that Ashley has started looking at charter vessels as an alternative.
The second panel was from the retail perspective. Adam McDaniel, from Walker’s Furniture in Spokane, Wash., said that the ongoing price increases have made it difficult on the promotional tier.
“We’re bringing in more middle and high-end product now,” he said. “Promotional has always been important, but when a bedroom goes from $999 to $2,799, it’s tough for consumers and associates. They know it’s the same product.”
Joseph Beiter of Beiter’s Home Center in Williamsport, Pa., said as prices go up, it’s become paramount to stay in touch with consumers, particularly those who have been waiting on product and are considering letting their orders go.
“The pandemic has taught us to be as transparent as possible,” he said. “If the customer is informed and they understand, they’ll hang onto it.”
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Strategy, synergy served up at FMG Symposium - Furniture Today
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