Case Study for Agency
03-1033727-529

Situation: Art Van is one of the largest independent furniture stores
in the Midwest, with 29 stores throughout Michigan. Home furnishings
used to be a regional business - customers grew up with their parents
shopping the local store, and remained loyal when it came time to
furnish their own homes. Now the local furniture store competes with
national chains on both the high end, such as Crate & Barrel and
Pottery Barn, and discount big-box retailers like Costco and Ikea.

Art Van was feeling the pressure, most critically in the bedding
department, which represents a significant portion of their sales
volume, and their highest margin.

Marketing Challenge: Art Van was in the retail rut of price and
item ads and finance sales. "Sofas on sale for President's Day, just
1999!" and "Buy now and don't pay until 2009!" Nothing more. Their
salespeople were ranked slightly above vultures in consumer
perception.They
needed us to extol their brand virtues, which had been overshadowed by
these omnipresent sles, and change consumers expectations of an Art Van
shopping experience.

We started with the mattress department. We dug into the shopping
experience - which typically takes less than 10 minutes, for a product
that outlasts most marriages! We studied consumers sleep habits, and
their relationship to their mattress. Turns out, most of us aren't
satisfied, and are looking for a better way to find the perfect
mattress.

The mattress harmony idea was born. Using singles websites such as
e-harmony for creative inspiration, "Bedding Specialists" became
"Mattress Matchmakers," positioning Art Van as the ideal
matchmaker between sleeper and mattress.

Application of Solutions
The campaign started with a microsite, mattressharmony.com. Visitors
created a profile that defined their preferences, taste, price range,
and a bit about their lifestyle. They could print their profile and
take it to the store, email it to a sales rep, or purchase online.
Either way, consumers had fun with the Art Van brand and were
encouraged to spend some time thinking about their purchase.

TV was the mass media vehicle for the campaign, and drove traffic to
the site. As the first branding spots for Art Van, (or any other
furniture retailer in Michigan) the work really broke through. People
were talking about and considering Art Van for the first time in a very
long time.

We also developed launch training materials for Art Van's sales staff.
It was the first time they'd given them an idea of what
the brand stood for, let alone how to talk about it in the store.

Results: The campaign generated a huge amount of publicity and
awareness for Art Van. Web traffic to mattressharmony.com exceeded
projections by a wide margin, mainly from first time visitors. Hits to
the Art Van site increased by nearly 200%.

Sales reps reported customers with mattressharmony profile in hand,
which made the sales process seamless and easy. And the numbers show it
- what had been a declining sales trend turned positive, with retail
traffic up considerably, even with the struggling Michigan economy.