sometimes more is more.
Not to take you back to this time… but this is where this story starts.
Fall 2021, the world was itching to return to a pre-Covid time or at least some semblance of normal. As with many industries, the contract furniture and interior design industries were slowly re-opening their doors, hesitantly welcoming back friends and colleagues. While delayed, Neocon, the largest interior design show in the US resumed, hoping to kickstart the return to office (RTO) phase and usher in the next generation of workplace design.
At Hightower, we took this opportunity to reinvent our Flagship showroom, giving our customers a sense of hope and burst of inspiration as a counter response to the bleak months we had all just experienced (as you can imagine, working from home and the millions of abandoned square feet in commercial buildings isn’t ideal to those that sell furniture to office spaces). But this time presented new challenges - more brands were introducing ancillary furniture, a category that was once considered less profitable compared to it’s desk and task-chair counterparts, and we knew in-person turnout for the show would be low, so we needed to “wow” from a flat one-dimensional computer screen. The experience needed to become digital.
With such major obstacles to overcome, we chose to stick with our original experiential strategy of “varmt välkommen”, lingering and unexpected, however this time we turned up the dial with the design. People were craving to ditch their athleisure and get back into heels, a trend referred to as “Revenge Dressing”. Color saturation, patterns and a nod to the 70s created a new experience, one considered bold for office furniture showrooms and a departure for Hightower. To maximize awareness, we partnered with LA-based artists for over-sized custom curated art and developed video content that told a story beyond the four walls of the showroom. Along with extensive photography and videos, the marketing team developed a “shop the showroom” website, allowing at-home customers the opportunity to have a self-service virtual tour at their leisure. A print and digital magazine was also developed to deliver the storytelling that had previously only been shared orally. Lastly, our independent sales reps were equipped with printed copies of the magazine and cans of branded champagne, to offer a physical taste of the Flagship experience across the country.
It was also not an oversight that most of our competitors were waiting for 2022 to remodel; we took the opportunity to refresh our space when costs were low and there was less competition with our contractors and vendors. We were honored to win Best Small Showroom and Best in Show again, although truthfully there was less competition as mentioned, but regardless we knew this space could stand on its own no matter what.
How we won:
We didn’t try to reinvent the wheel where it was already working and instead focused on the current obstacles at hand
Invested in the digital experience as much as we did the physical
Listened and understood the mindset of our customers at this period in time and met them where they were at
Strategic on timing for remodeling to maximize cost savings
We gave more when everyone else gave less
My role: I lead the strategy, project management, and execution from design to build out to marketing including vendor selection and management and budget.
Showroom Design by Casework. Imagery and videos © Hightower Group, LLC.
