Conversation Pieces
Sales and marketing strategies for luxury furniture
B2B | New Product Development | Development processes
Situation
As in other luxury goods industries, producers of high-end designer furniture continually face challenges of trend changes in the market, lower-cost alternatives, and copies. A firm with a long-standing reputation for mid-century Scandinavian design was seeing healthy sales of classic design, but had concerns about long-term sustainability. Red Associates worked with them to apply insight into private buyers and contract specifies that to marketing, sales and product development strategy.
Approach
We began with an investigation into the role furniture plays in creating a home, spending time with private buyers in their houses to understand how people arrange their space to meet functional needs and express their values, and the role of iconic design plays for them across several cultures. The team uncovered three behavioral segments which represent distinct relationships to classic design: Designers, Seekers, and Connoisseurs, each with distinct habits and relationships to design furniture. The team also found distinctions based on life stage, and a set of universal needs for utility, comfort and self-expression that were not being met by much of the design furniture on the market.
A second phase of the project focused attention on the work contexts and culture of the Architects who specify furniture. The culture of Architecture seems to create a unique set of values and approach to specifying furniture: as conceptual thinkers who turn to theory to inspire the form, Architects prioritize design theory over usability or other functional aspects. The culture is also a highly inspired by academia, and estimation increases through being published. Analysis of the phases of an Architect’s project work revealed distinct modes of work, each with a separate focus and needs at each stage. Designers value early project phases for one type of thinking that prioritizes abstract and wide-ranging thinking, but inevitably shift to a distinctly different type of more practical mode towards the end of projects. These modes suggest different conversations to them, distinct contacts, and separate sources of information – and ultimately point to distinct approaches to marketing and sales.
Outcome
Insight into the distinctions between private and contract market led to a range of initiatives, from new divisions to shifted sales and marketing strategies. Sales have since increased by 53%.
As in other luxury goods industries, producers of high-end designer furniture continually face challenges of trend changes in the market, lower-cost alternatives, and copies. A firm with a long-standing reputation for mid-century Scandinavian design was seeing healthy sales of classic design, but had concerns about long-term sustainability. Red Associates worked with them to apply insight into private buyers and contract specifies that to marketing, sales and product development strategy.
Approach
We began with an investigation into the role furniture plays in creating a home, spending time with private buyers in their houses to understand how people arrange their space to meet functional needs and express their values, and the role of iconic design plays for them across several cultures. The team uncovered three behavioral segments which represent distinct relationships to classic design: Designers, Seekers, and Connoisseurs, each with distinct habits and relationships to design furniture. The team also found distinctions based on life stage, and a set of universal needs for utility, comfort and self-expression that were not being met by much of the design furniture on the market.
A second phase of the project focused attention on the work contexts and culture of the Architects who specify furniture. The culture of Architecture seems to create a unique set of values and approach to specifying furniture: as conceptual thinkers who turn to theory to inspire the form, Architects prioritize design theory over usability or other functional aspects. The culture is also a highly inspired by academia, and estimation increases through being published. Analysis of the phases of an Architect’s project work revealed distinct modes of work, each with a separate focus and needs at each stage. Designers value early project phases for one type of thinking that prioritizes abstract and wide-ranging thinking, but inevitably shift to a distinctly different type of more practical mode towards the end of projects. These modes suggest different conversations to them, distinct contacts, and separate sources of information – and ultimately point to distinct approaches to marketing and sales.
Outcome
Insight into the distinctions between private and contract market led to a range of initiatives, from new divisions to shifted sales and marketing strategies. Sales have since increased by 53%.
