Leading KBB brands join our virtual roundtable to discuss the sector’s future
A first for our agency, we recently hosted our inaugural roundtable event, looking at how brands and retailers in the home interest sector can unlock success post-lockdown.
It goes without saying, that the impact of Covid-19 will be felt across all aspects of our lives for a long time to come. But as many businesses start to find a way forward after lockdown, what exactly will the landscape look like for brands in the home interest sector over the coming months and years?
To help give us a picture of how businesses in this vertical have been impacted by the pandemic and how they must react and adapt accordingly, we teamed up with Mustard Research to chair a virtual roundtable event.
Hosted on Zoom by Client Services Director, Will English, and Mustard’s Colin Auton, the discussion featured senior figures from across the KBB (kitchen/bedroom/bathroom) world, representing some of its biggest brands including Blum, Franke, Moduleo and Ideal Standard.
Kicking off with a summary of the latest research and commentary on the outbreak, the panel went on to discuss a number of topics – from assessing the economic impact, changing consumer behaviour and Covid-19’s impact on living and working spaces, to rebooting retail channels and defining a future marketing strategy and brand messaging.
From a conversation that covered the growing importance of digital marketing, the ongoing evolution of ‘bricks and mortar’ retailers and why brands shouldn’t go dark – despite a looming recession – five key insights emerged:
- The customer journey is evolving – as consumers spend more time researching renovation projects at home, brands should consider dialling up digital activity.
- The acceleration of digital marketing looks set to continue even as lockdown eases – home interest brands and retailers must work together to create ‘digital showrooms’ to inspire and educate consumers.
- The crisis could see a further evolution of home interest retail models with the ‘remote studio’ concept set to disrupt the market.
- Bricks and mortar retailers must provide unique store experiences to lure customers back to the high street.
- Don’t pause marketing activity – evidence from previous recessions suggests that brands which under-invest take years to recover.
These findings are important as they will help to inform how the agency can support our KBB clients going forward. As Will put it: “By gathering senior figures from the industry on one call, we were able to share insights and ideas that we believe can act as a rudder for other home interest brands and retailers to help navigate them through these uncertain waters.”
Informative, insightful and beneficial to all those who took part, this inaugural roundtable was a success and we look forward to hosting similar events in the future – whether virtually or face-to-face.
To download a report of the key take-aways from the roundtable and the original research presentation, please complete the form below.
