Pergo Launches National Ad Campaign

Raleigh, NC, September 19, 2007-- Pergo is looking to reinvigorate sales of its laminate flooring with its first national advertising campaign in four years, according to the News Observer.

The newspaper quoted marketing director David Small as saying that marketing wasn't a priority for the company's Swedish owners, who in the past few years were looking to sell the company.

Sales had stagnated, even though the market as a whole saw strong growth before the recent housing slump.

Pergo invented laminate floors in the mid-1980s and practically had the market to itself when its manufacturing plant in Garner opened in 1996. But it saw its market share tumble to about 20% as competition proliferated. About 30 laminate-flooring companies go head-to-head with Pergo.

Now Pergo has a new game plan under a new owner. Pfleiderer AG, a German company, bought the business this year for $386 million.

"Pfeiderer bought the company with a goal of growing the North American business," said Small, who declined to disclose annual sales figures.

Pfeiderer, which also acquired Uniboard, a Canadian company that makes laminate flooring and wall paneling, employs about 5,800 worldwide.

The company's new ads, produced by Atlanta's Fitzgerald & Co., began appearing in magazines such as Better Homes & Gardens and Family Circle in August, and 30-second commercials began appearing last week on HGTV and Food Network.

The ads proclaim: "There's only one Pergo."

Actually, however, there are two. There's Pergo, the flooring, and Pergo the dog, a mischievous 110-pound Great Dane that is the brand's new icon.

"It's a nice way to separate ourselves from the competition," Small said. "We're trying to position ourselves that there is really one Pergo -- and a lot of copycats."

Small declined to say how much the company is spending on the ad campaign.

Santo Torcivia of research firm Marketing Insights/Torcivia in Reading, Pa., said it makes sense for Pergo to begin an advertising campaign, though he projects that sales of laminate floors will fall 2.5% this year to slightly less than $1.3 billion.

"This is the best time to advertise," Torcivia said, because fewer businesses are advertising.

The goal of establishing the canine Pergo as the brand's icon is to cement, in the public's mind, the flooring's durability and livability, said Chris Hooper, senior vice president at Fitzgerald.

"It connects with our target" audience, Small said. "A lot of our customers have pets."

The campaign also is aimed at re-energizing retailers, Small said.

Pergo is sold at Lowe's and Home Depot and about 3,500 specialty retail outlets. Pergo is encouraging retailers to feature displays that include Pergo the dog.

Some of the ads show the dog wreaking havoc around the house -- using a 3-foot ficus as a chew toy or knocking over a wine glass and chips and salsa -- without hurting the floors.

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