Merillat Case Study
HY Connect was presented with the marketing challenge to create breakthrough marketing, advertising and public relations for Merillat cabinetry in a low awareness product category in a tough economic environment with a limited amount of resources.
In order to better understand the changing home remodeling market and the evolving female consumer needs, HY Connect conducted consumer research to determine the best positioning for Merillat in terms of what their target consumers of women 25 to 49 needed from cabinetry, as well as where the whitespace existed.
The research revealed that no one within the cabinetry industry was highlighting functionality and storage, which is preciously what the female consumer was demanding. The market was saturated with cabinetry companies discussing beautiful kitchens.
To capitalize on this and the strength of Merillat’s functionally innovative products, Hoffman York developed positioning for Merillat which encapsulated that kitchens not only need to beautiful, but functional to maximize life in the kitchen. Women want much more from their kitchen than beauty.
To capture this idea, HYC developed the tagline:
The dream kitchen for the real world changes the idea of the dream kitchen to one that is functional and easy to use, while still being beautiful.
To bring the idea to life, Merillat hired celebrity chef Curtis Stone to demonstrate the absolute in kitchen functionality because who better to bring that to life than a professional chef who knows his way around the kitchen and has worked in some of the best kitchens in the world. Curtis brought life, energy and youth to the brand and connected well with the female target audience showcasing that you can have a kitchen that works.
The campaign is a fully integrated marketing effort that includes television and interactive advertising on the nation’s leading home and food networks and Web sites, national public relations, social media , personal appearances and a newly designed intuitive Web site that helps the female consumer to design their kitchen online before going to a dealer.
Every element of the campaign tied to the functional innovation of the Merillat product and connected with the female consumer on a level that they desired from their kitchen and in a way no one had done before.
The client was thrilled with the overall idea of the campaign from the new brand positioning to the use of a spokesperson which they had never done in the past. They were ready to make a serious change in their marketing effort to become a leader. The idea was not only well received by the marketing clients within the organization, but the executive team, sales team and Merillat dealers where energized by the campaign. The campaign proved to the dealers that Merillat has a great desire to connect with the female audience and build a brand.
Results:
Although the campaign is in the early infancy running for only two months, the marketing efforts have exceeded expectations. To date, the interactive advertising is receiving click through rates of eight to nine times industry averages driving consumers to the Merillat.com Web site. The public relations efforts specific to the campaign have generated over 9 million consumer impressions. Social media participation and mentions among the female target audience is up over fifty-percent in just two months of the campaign.
Overall, the campaign is continuing to build momentum in the marketplace as well as creating excitement internally.