AFMA seeks $20-30 million for advertising initiative
By Gary Evans -- Furniture Today, November 24, 2003
Sarasota, Fla. — It was sidelined this year because of the import antidumping issue, but a home furnishings advertising initiative spearheaded by the American Furniture Manufacturers Assn. is back in the "go" mode again.
The AFMA's goal is to raise $20 million to $30 million for a multi-year campaign.
Farooq Kathwari, chairman of Ethan Allen, who heads the initiative, said it didn't seem appropriate to push the campaign until the antidumping petition was filed by a group of U.S. manufacturers on Oct. 31. But the AFMA board agreed during the annual meeting here that the effort should now move forward.
The campaign subcommittee has asked advertising companies for proposals on how the industry can tap into the emotions consumers have for their homes. Members were shown a film with the theme, "no place like home," produced by the Grey Agency in New York, to get an idea of what is being considered.
The AFMA is looking at an institutional advertising campaign similar to the diamond industry's "Diamonds Are Forever" campaign, the dairy industry's "Got Milk?" the cotton industry's "The Fabric of Our Lives," and the poultry industry's "The Incredible Edible Egg."
Kathwari heads a subcommittee that includes Pat Norton, chairman of La-Z-Boy, Mickey Holliman, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Furniture Brands International, and Alex Bernhardt, chairman and CEO of Bernhardt Furniture. La-Z-Boy, Ethan Allen and FBI have each pledged $1 million for the campaign and Bernhardt has also made a pledge.
Kathwari said that the group would seek a consensus on the campaign's direction in order to gain wide support. He said that the AFMA will spearhead the effort, but would like support from everyone in the home furnishings industry, including manufacturers in Europe and Asia.
He said that the campaign must tap into the feelings the consumer has for her home and include "a call for action." That call would suggest how much the consumer might spend (the diamond campaign specifies two months' salary for a ring) and encourage her to decorate one room of her home a year.
"The message we create has to make an impact," said Kathwari. He added, "Continuity is important. We must do it for three or four years to make it relevant."
He also said timing is "all-important" and that with the economy improving, 2004 would be the right year to launch a campaign.
