Shaw's Merritt, Mohawk's Lape, Armstrong's Mangas

How important is it for today’s consumer to recognize your floorcovering brand name?

Randy Merritt
President of Shaw Industries

Brand recognition is very important. When you hear or see a company or product name, you quickly get a feeling about it. That feeling is based upon your experience with the brand as well as perception based upon online reviews, what you’ve heard from friends, ads you’ve seen on TV, articles you’ve read in a magazine, everything you’ve been exposed to. Even when brand is not a primary driver, it can have an underlying impact.

At Shaw, we use a variety of channels to engage consumers, inform them of the key attributes of our products, showcase design trends, promote contests and savings programs, and highlight the causes we care about such as St. Jude. All of this showcases our brand personality and stands to create an affinity for consumers with the Shaw brand.

More consumers are spending a significant amount of time researching online and gathering input from their friends and family. The decision-making process can take months. Consumers are going into the retailer more educated, which makes our dealer channel a strong connection point for us with consumers. The dealers’ support of Shaw Floors and their local reputations are a key component of our success. And the amount of research being conducted in advance of a purchase makes the information we share and the reputation we create via ShawFloors.com, Facebook, Pinterest, national advertising, and all our channels increasingly important.

Tom Mangas
Executive vice president and CEO, Armstrong Floor Products Worldwide, Armstrong World Industries

As Walter Landor stated, “A brand is a promise. By identifying and authenticating a product or service it delivers a pledge of satisfaction and quality.” People select brands because they have some familiarity or relationship with that brand and know that it will meet their expectations. History and positive experiences with a brand over time creates an allegiance. Our brand matters because it translates to trust and confidence. With our 150 year history of building relationships, delivering quality products and delivery on our founder’s mandate “Let the buyer have faith,” Armstrong lives that promise.

Our partners, whether architects, designers, builders or retailers, work hard to build their own brands and our brand reinforces and amplifies the confidence their customers have in them. Armstrong gives them not one but two powerful consumer brands. Armstrong is one of the best-known brands in flooring, and the Bruce brand has a long standing history as the #1 most used brand by builders. This gives our customers and consumers an even greater sense of confidence in choosing our brands.

As the world grows smaller, emerging markets see increased growth and projects span continents, a strong global brand is an even greater asset. Year after year of independent research shows that Armstrong is the best known name in flooring, and that it is associated with the attributes that people hope to find in flooring: quality, performance, trustworthiness and good value for their money. In the flooring industry, as new generations come into the marketplace and new companies come and go quickly, it is even more important that there are strong brands with longevity that can be depended on and partnered with to drive success.

Tom Lape
President of residential business at Mohawk

For Mohawk, consumer brand recognition is important on many levels. Our brand is much more than a label. It represents the quality, reliability, expertise, innovation and style of the products we make. When we promote our brand to consumers, we consider the message we are communicating and the experience we want them to remember.

The Mohawk brand reaches consumers at every point along the purchase journey. We invest in our brand and capture consumers’ attention with fully integrated campaigns and real-life demonstrations. Through social media, we continue our conversation with consumers, educating and inspiring them in new ways, while keeping our brand message authentic and consistent. From social to digital, we focus on generating quality leads that drive consumers in-store, where displays and point-of-sale materials further strengthen our brand message and help retailers close sales.

We are also committed to winning the hearts and minds of the retailer sales associates (RSA) who influence the flooring purchase. We support RSAs with innovative products, superior service and a national sales team of 400+ employees. Both online and in-store, we give our retailer partners the tools they need to reach consumers and drive sales. We also build brand loyalty after the sale to retain customers and bring them back again and again.

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