SA WHITE PAPER: Marketing Trends and Insights in the Home Sector for 2016

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1 SA WHITE PAPER: Marketing Trends and Insights in the Home Sector for 2016 Objective Uncover emerging trends and insights in the home products/services sector designed to help SA clients translate this data into business opportunities. Methodology Identify key trends and insights via research techniques including dealer/ distributor surveys for various home products companies. Where possible, validate against existing research data and other third-party sources. Goal Identify key business trends and insights with actionable marketing/ advertising to accomplish specific business metrics; i.e., increased brand awareness, improved lead conversion, enhanced growth/profitability in key areas, etc. Actions Share market insights/actions/benefits with SA clients and prospects to help these businesses grow. SA Home Products White Paper 1

2 Survey Field/Dealer/Distributors. SA designed and tested a series of 11 questions with ten clients in various home products categories to determine: Industry Key Performance Indicators (KPI) how they are specifically defined as data points and where they may exist on the customer path to purchase journey The increased significance of the web experience, including online purchases and showroom importance toward shaping consumer path-to-purchase decisions Relative importance of brand, promotion, service, dealer reputation and other factors from consumer s perspective Important and possibly disruptive trends to observe as marketers How to better understand and apply the increased volume of data from trends such as home automation What manufacturers and corporate marketers can do to better equip and enhance field effectiveness, i.e. sales growth Overview. Home. It s a place where memories are created. A place where families grow and experience life. A place where products are personal expressions of their good taste and values. A place that is more energy efficient. And so much more. The home products and services sector is unique, and now distinctly in flux. Unique in that the home environment is where consumers reside with the people who are most important in their lives. According to a 2015 Forrester Research study, the route to offline purchasing for a large number of products, services and brands begins online. This study concluded that 71 percent of women and 52 percent of men research online prior to buying offline. It was determined that the two primary barriers to shifting the entire purchase cycle online is that A) consumers are impatient to wait for the product and B) they want to see or touch the product in-person before purchasing it. Home is a special place for brands. Regardless of whether your brand is in a high- or low-interest, or a high- or low-visible category, simply being invited in is a privilege. It s not a place where hucksters are welcome. Trust is a major factor in getting the door open because home connects with family lifestyles. The need for comfort. Protection. Revitalization. A desire to be an inviting place for friends and guests. A place of personal and family pride. How does your product or service address the tangible features and benefits they are looking for? How does it make them feel by blending those cognitive and rational benefits with emotional appreciation? Refining the customer journey. The path to purchase is critically important today. Homeowners have seized control of the process to gain relevant information. The result is an empowered consumer. Efficiency, alignment, momentum toward purchase and satisfaction are key. Today s customers do not want digital versions of the same manual, bureaucratic processes they faced yesterday. They search, download, pay for and listen to music all in one go, so why should their service still make them run a gauntlet of separate steps for searching, price quotation, purchasing, invoicing, delivery, payment and activation? Streamlined, simplified journeys show impressive results quickly. McKinsey Reports SA Home Products White Paper 2

3 Growth of ecommerce with omni-channel validation at retail. The most unreported story of this year s Black Friday weekend is that much of the ecommerce growth came from bricks-and-clicks retailers, not pure-play e-tailers. The reason: Physical stores offer a critical customer experience and serve as a brand anchor, supporting ecommerce for traditional retailers. Street Fight Daily Home automation is evolving. A major force digitization and specifically, home automation is already moving into a second phase with personalization and style. Lighting, home appliances, security, HVAC systems and more can be programmed remotely or adjusted from an app on your smartphone. Watch these potential disrupters digitization and Internet of Home. New, but not really. IoH is already moving into a second phase of development with personalization and a focus on home style. Lighting. Home appliances. Mobile devices. All can activate individual and family settings automatically. Gartner recently reported that smart homes those using smart devices will be growing from 179 million to 339 million in A doubling in size. This growth trend of greater home personalization, and the resulting data made available, reflects the consumers desire for easy-to-use technology that will make their homes more personally distinctive and valuable. For marketers to homeowners, these are huge opportunities. This personalization speaks to a hunger for technology experiences that make homes feel distinctive. The human-centered apps made popular of early IoH adopters generally relate to home activities. But today s larger trend of personalized services that take up residence alongside us, so to speak, and learn from our behaviors is context-agnostic. People at work, no less than people at home, are going to want this. So maybe the way to think about these human-aware home applications is that we re looking through a peephole. What we re getting a glimpse of now are digital services that will increasingly live with us at home or at work, anywhere in the future. Harvard Business Review Homeowners are different than general consumers. As a homeowner, a higher bar is put into place, different from their traditional consumer patterns. They require a higher level of respect and security. They are protecting what is often the most valuable asset they own. And they want the best possible service and long-term value for the category of home purchase they re considering. They expect more, including a local delivery of the brand promise. And when they receive it, they can become customers for years, if not for life. Family is central to the home environment, which means that shared decisions are often factored into the sales process. What marketers should know. 1. A higher standard is expected. As a considered purchase, value is factored into price and service. And in the sale process, astute listening is expected. Taking customer cues is essential as they ve already done their online research. 2. Brand must be aligned and delivered reputably at the local level through trained and professional dealer service. 3. Confidence and trust accrue if the above are properly addressed or not. Homeowners aren t shy about sharing poor experiences with neighbors, friends, etc. SA Home Products White Paper 3

4 4. Technology is becoming an increasingly important element, both as a value and a disruptor to the current competitive mix. This is especially true with the transformative IoH. And as a result, data is available in greater volume than before. 5. Equipping local dealers with effective processes, platforms, data and marketing strategies to succeed in this new environment will be more important than ever. About SA For more than 35 years, Strategic America has focused on marketing products and services for the home. Additionally, SA s expertise in field marketing working with dealers and distributors across the country has allowed us to be a leading agency-marketer across America. SA s technology solutions include Metis, our patent-pending field marketing platform that provides tailored options to corporate marketers and dealer partners at scale. It provides unique opportunities to drive success in the channel. Also, SA offers other unique marketing solutions, including Marketsnare, which allows for highly effective local search optimization and maximum opportunity for dealers in every market across America. SA s talented team provides extensive, high-level creative, branding, digital, and direct and data marketing and field marketing specialists, in addition to strategy and planning. All are supported by a culture of service and support for corporate and dealer clients. Call , ask for Mike Schreurs, CEO or Jim Stafford, VP of Client Services for more information. Review other relevant research for validation and greater dimension to this study. SA Home Products White Paper 4

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