Event marketing provides edge for stores, vendors

Trunk shows, wine tastings, product demonstrations, fund-raising sales, free samples, table-setting parties ... more and more home furnishings vendors are taking their marketing efforts out of the showroom and on the retail road to drive sales in their customers' stores.

Last year, OneCoast Sales Manager Barb Toback assembled an in-store events guide for her sales team that included not only vendor and product descriptions, but rep testimonials about successful promotions as well. Toback said the role her fellow sales reps play in helping retailers promote their products on-site is what separates them from others in the selling field.

Toback also notes the results of a survey by the Promotion Marketing Association in which 71% of 3,500 respondents said they purchased a product after receiving a demonstration, and 69% said product samples and demonstrations influenced their purchasing decisions.

For the independent retailer, connecting with customers on a personal level offers an invaluable marketing advantage, and one that Kelly Portmann, vice president of sales and customer service for The Thymes, said starts with the store's sales staff. Because of this, Portmann sees sales reps serving in a stronger consulting role with retailers.

"We'll come in and do seminars as many times as necessary, on any topic, for any length of time," Portmann said. "Our sales reps enjoy these seminars and the retailers find them helpful, especially at holiday time when they add more temporary employees."

Portmann said successful selling of The Thymes' products involves getting the sales staff to experience them firsthand. "We believe in layering our fragrance products, so we give them a range of full-size products — a body lotion, body wash and perfume, with a candle or home fragrance mist, for example — and encourage them to take them home and create their own experience. They're thrilled with the gift and almost always step up to the selling of our collections."

For some vendors, the very uniqueness of their product plays especially well to in-store promotional events. Julia Knight has found great success with "Five Minutes to Fabulous," the name she's given to her demonstration of artful entertaining with food presentations — on her serveware made from combinations of pearlized enamel, Indian marble and mother-of-pearl on sand-cast aluminum. The idea, Knight said, is to show customers how they can use her products to bring an easy, catered elegance to food presentation and casual entertaining.

Designer Janelle Jarous Lampp is also getting ready to take her show on the road. Lampp was a design and color consultant to the rug and home textile industry before launching her own brand, Janellestyle Designs, in 2003. This month, she's busy finalizing plans for her first in-store trunk show of pillows and accent rugs. "I've done something similar in the past, when I was with another company, but never a full-fledged trunk show," she said. "I think it's a wonderful way to support retailers and to educate the consumer about the product."

Others are relying heavily on multimedia to reach their retailers, such as Midwest of Cannon Falls/Colonial Candle. "We produced a DVD packed with unique holiday and candle display ideas, as well as several trend, display and event PowerPoint presentations," said Shelli Lissick, the company's brand communication specialist.

The DVD, a component of Midwest's "Sparkle" marketing program, is designed to help retailers "catch the sparkle" and pass it on to customers. The DVD features displays and ideas from Midwest showrooms and retail locations, trend forecasts, holiday retail display secrets "from the pros," and a section called "Event-Based Retail: Secrets for Success."

"We've received more than 13,000 requests for the DVD, which we've been distributing to customers since January," Lissick said. Midwest also provides free product images, artist bio cards and advertising postcards, and offers retailers an option to buy promotionally priced giveaways and door prizes for in-store events.

Obviously, there are lots of great ideas and promotions taking place all over the home furnishings retail marketplace, and thanks to our robust Web site, you've got a great venue for commenting on your favorites. Log on to homeaccentstoday.com, look for this article in my Retail Update blog, and tell us all about it.

To comment on this story, please write to me at susan.dickenson@reedbusiness.com or share your thoughts on my blog at homeaccentstoday.com.