With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, a very prominent retailer, Tiffany & Co., is using emotive marketing to spark feelings for loved ones on mobile sites, applications, banner ads and SMS. Tiffany most likely feels that by employing this game plan, they run a more desirable likelihood of driving transactions.

Scott Forshay, Austin, Texas, based luxury and premium brand mobile strategist says, “Successful mobile marketing to the recipient should be about seduction and the creation of desire.” He continues, ”In this instance, delivering compelling content specific to romance and love allows the merchant to transcend the status of simply a purveyor of fine jewelry and position it as a brand integrally associated with the experience of romance.”

Wouldn’t you want to benefit from motivating your customers by appealing to their senses?

This Valentine’s Day Tiffany & Co. is hoping to influence emotion and drive transactions through apps. What Makes Love True app by Tiffany & Co. does just this, by sharing True Love Stories of passion, devotion and proposals.

Tiffany & Co.&;s What Makes Love True app

What kind of stories can you share about creating an outdoor environment that will tempt consumers to come to your store to purchase outdoor furniture? Perhaps real life testimonials of how an outdoor room has changed the way that families spend more quality time together, or how an outdoor kitchen has enticed a husband and wife to cook extravagant dinners together, or how an outdoor room has enabled a family to spend time reading books or watching sporting events together outside instead of being cooped up inside the home. As Scott Forshay suggests, develop some mobile marketing plans that should be about seduction and the creation of desire.

People may not actually realize just how positively an outdoor room can impact the quality of their life and activities.

Consider emotive marketing as a new way to increase business.

Share some of your ideas on what stories you can use in your marketing to entice buyers to visit your store… leave your stories below.

And stay tuned for more retail-ol-ogy…

When choosing fabrics and finishes for your home, business or retail store, it’s of value to understand that all materials have attributes – textures and pattern- that tweak the way color is perceived. For instance, a high gloss finish on a wall tends to appear brighter. Similar to wetting something with water, a high-gloss sheen enhances color. Gloss often enriches and produces more fullness and richness to a color. If you have a muted sheen, the color is flatter.

Sunbrella Leaf Textured Pattern on Left Cushion

Closeup of Sunbrella Leaf Textured Fabric

The texture of a surface can change its observed color due to tiny shadows at the microscopic level. Very textured fabrics such as velvets, suede’s, chenille and pile may modify color when viewed at different perspectives because these textures absorb light, culminating in darker or lighter areas of color.

Textured Fabric on Top of Cushion

Closeup View of Sunbrella Textured Fabric

Small-scale patterns on fabrics, rugs or walls can alter the predominant color of a room based on how the patterns are observed. When looked at up close, small scale, multicolored patterns isolate the colors so that each color is well defined. But when observed from afar, the colors become blended and the outcome may be a surprising and perhaps unattractive third color. In interior and exterior design it is valuable to contemplate small-scale multi colored patterns from a distance so that you have a precise image of the colors your space exudes.

Small Scale & Textured Sunbrella Fabric Design

Closeup Perspective of Small Scale & Textured Sunbrella Fabric Design

Color is a very important element in design and there are many variables that influence how we see color, including light, pattern, texture and the other colors that are nearby. So take the time to identify your favorites, try to think about how they make you feel and why you find yourself drawn to them. These will be the colors and feelings that you want to convey in your home, business or retail store.

Stay tuned for more inspiring hues….

This photo comes from Sunbrella fabric designer Sara Hall.  While working her way back from a dive in very choppy water, their group completely lost engine power on the boat while quickly approaching a concrete pier.  Thanks to the quick thinking of Algrove “Smitty” Smith of Grand Turk Diving Co., they unhooked the Sunbrella Jockey Red bimini top and turned it into a sail held in place by divers!  They cleared the pier and sailed to safety!

Joe spoke about designs that inspired him from his trips around the globe. He offered design and color insights from some of the world’s top architects and designers and explained where he gets his inspiration for Sunbrella fabric designs.

After the talk, attendees were invited to the Webster Showroom to see and experience Joe’s designs.

Inspired by the patio furniture in his own backyard, Sanuk’s founder Jeff Kelley approached Sunbrella fabrics about collaborating on a project. As a result, Sanuk has created a unique footwear line for men and women featuring fade-proof, water repellent Sunbrella fabrics.

The collaboration includes a small collection of styles, ranging from the popular men’s Overboard and Pick Pocket to a completely new women’s slip-on silhouette called The Castaway.  Each Sunbrella-Edition Sidewalk Surfer is offered in several colorways, including basic solids and custom, funky, “Sanukified” patterns.

Sanuk footwear featuring Sunbrella fabrics are currently available on sanuk.com, with more styles for the Fall 2012 collection becoming available later this year.

Men's Overboard Sunbrella Charcoal Stripes

Men's Enduro Brown

Women's Castaway Sunbrella Teal Stripes

Women's Ember Grey

If you walk into a world-class spa you will immediately smell a scent that imparts a sense of soothing and relaxation. If you drive by an Italian restaurant the aroma emitted is tomato sauce with garlic, stroll past an Abercrombie and Fitch you will be pulled in with the fragrance that spills out of every corner and crevice of the brick and mortar store. Ice cream stores make fresh waffle cones that encourage you to order a few scoops, Trader Joes cooks up sample recipes to coax you to buy certain products and the list goes on and on.

Many retail establishments follow suit, Hollister is just like Abercrombie, Costco provides samples on a larger scale than Trader Joes, and fresh baked bread from Panera Bread smells so scrumptious you can hardly resist. Sensory Branding is linked to all of our five senses, smell is thought to be the most closely connected to emotion since the brain’s olfactory bulb, which recognizes odors, fast tracks cues to the limbic system, which associates emotion to memories. Retailers believe that making this quick link to our feelings may seduce us into selecting their merchandise over a competitor’s.

Our senses entice us to buy, the smell of vanilla, chocolate, cinnamon and apple this time of the year try to get you into the right frame of mind to actually spend. Music prompts memories from our past, and color influences many different reactions that all seduce us on a certain level to snap up products.

These scents appeal to our emotions as they put us in the frame of mind that allows a commitment to occur and buying is a commitment. Particularly over the holidays we see all sorts of scents used to prompt a purchase. Studies have shown that pleasant scents encourage shoppers to linger over a product, increase the numbers of times they look at it and in some cases increase their readiness to pay higher prices too.

So this leads me to wonder WHY the furniture industry doesn’t try harder to stimulate our senses to influence a purchase?

It really isn’t difficult or that involved, select some music that activates the customers sense of enjoyment, vacations and relaxation. Choose fabric colors that electrify and soothe, and try different scents to see which work best for your store.

Let’s share our experiences and thoughts on how to utilize sensory branding for the casual furniture industry. Write a comment to let us know if you have tried some of these tactics and if so which ones…

Then stay tuned for more retail-ol-ogy…

We hope you have a wonderful holiday season!

Oh the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful,
and since we’ve no place to go, let it snow! let it snow! let it snow!

Snow

Let’s recharge our batteries and move forward toward spring with the latest lively reddish orange, Pantone Tangerine Tango color of the year for 2012.

“Sophisticated but at the same time dramatic and seductive, Tangerine Tango is an orange with a lot of depth to it,” said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®. “Reminiscent of the radiant shadings of a sunset, Tangerine Tango marries the vivaciousness and adrenaline rush of red with the friendliness and warmth of yellow, to form a high-visibility, magnetic hue that emanates heat and energy.”

Orange is increasingly admired, recognized and approved of in the fashion world, as well as, amongst consumers. Tangerine Tango complements blue and green colors found in our outdoor world it also brings out amber when paired with brown. This up to date color of the year will energize interior together with exterior spaces and brighten up our homes with the use of decorative home additions. From pillows and cushions to table top accessories, this impressive color will add interest to any setting.

Tab Tangerine

Outside or in the home this wonderful orange shade can be incorporated with the use of Sunbrella fabrics. A playful ottoman, attractive throw pillows and a throw blanket made with Sunbrella threads will bring out the spark and vitality of a room.

Sunbrella Parkway Paprika

In the south and southwest this is not a new color in our outdoor world, so as the world embraces this fiery hot reddish orange hue we can all share in the energy enhancing abilities that will allow us to recharge and move forward in 2012.

Sunbrella Canvas Tangerine

While we contemplate a vitality that is certain to sparkle this coming year, let’s gather round the reddish orange fire and relish our time together.

For more inspiring hues stay tuned….

Joe Ruggiero shooting the Sunbrella decorating videos

Last week the Sunbrella Team finished shooting a series of videos with decorating idea for every room of the house with Joe Ruggiero.

Joe will show you how to update the look of your living space with ideas from his Sunbrella Collection.  Look for the videos in 2012.

To see more photos of the video shoot, check out Joe’s blog.

Pantone says tangerine is “Reminiscent of the radiant shadings of a sunset, Tangerine Tango marries the vivaciousness and adrenaline rush of red with the friendliness and warmth of yellow, to form a high-visibility, magnetic hue that emanates heat and energy.”

We love this new vibrant, energetic orange hue and can’t wait to see how it will be used in 2012.

Want to start using this color?  We have looks for everyone.  Try Sunbrella’s Canvas Tangerine for a solid look.  Or, if you want just a hint of the hue, go with Sunbrella Bravada Salsa with a tangerine stripe.  Or try the new Tab Tangerine.

Sunbrella Canvas Tangerine

Sunbrella Bravada Salsa

Tab Tangerine

What do you think of the newly-minted Color of the Year?  Let us know in the comments below!

Backyard Retreat

The greatest thing that we can do, especially with the stresses of everyday living, is to help our customers, as well as our family and friends, is return to the simple things. We must return to nature and allow ourselves and encourage others to take time to breathe. Life gets crazy for all of us. Be it work, family, health, money, the list is endless and we are all overworked and overtired, especially at this time of the year. Why not help your customers create a retreat from it all and while you are at it create one for you and your family too. There is no reason that this special haven can’t be found in our own backyard.

Modern Retreat

The benefits of being outdoors and enjoying what our world has to offer are endless. The sun and its light invigorate and promote well-being, while fresh air can restore health and elevate your mood. Not only that, but being connected with our world allows us to take a moment and realize what is truly important. Taking five minutes to just be outside and let our senses take it in, whether it’s the breathtaking colors of a summer sunset, rolling green hills, your backyard flowers, enjoying the colors of fall or a snow covered landscape, it will all help anyone come down from the stresses and demands of our daily lives.

English Garden Retreat

We all must remember to use our outdoor furniture as it was intended as we encourage the customers that enter our store to do the same. There is nothing quite like taking five minutes for yourself and enjoying a little cat nap lounging in the sun on a comfortable chaise lounge or taking your favorite book and a cool cup of ice tea to relax in your favorite outdoor chair. Don’t forget the throw cushions and blankets for some extra added comfort. A firepit or fireplace along with a throw blanket will allow you to spend time outdoors even when the weather cools down. Want something a little more invigorating? Why not use your outdoor space as a focal spot for a party or simply having friends over? One of my favorite summer activities is simply having dinners outside with my family. In the warm summer months there is no excuse. Having a party in summer or during the winter holidays should not be the only reason you use your outdoor room. Make everyday a celebration! Having an outdoor environment that focuses on providing a haven for relaxation and revitalization will help all of us breathe just a little bit easier and will allow us to enjoy the beauty and tranquility that nature can offer.

Beautiful Flowers

Let’s make it a goal no matter the season, whether the sun is shining and the flowers are blooming or the sky is gray and there is a chill in the air spend more time outside. Inspire your customers to do the same. Whether it’s a quiet moment in the morning with a cup of tea or coffee, an iconic backyard BBQ with friends, or a winter holiday party with colorful lights and space heaters let the outdoor space be a part of your everyday life.

Outdoor Haven

I promise you and your customers you will reap the benefits winter, spring, summer or fall. That is the best part of Sunbrella fabric it performs well in all sorts of weather.

Do you use your outdoor room all year round? Let me know by leaving a comment below.

Stay tuned for more retail-ol-ogy…

reOrder 

reOrder Exhibit

This exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum, done by Situ Studio won the Large Exhibit/Installation category.  The beautiful exhibit features over 2,440 yards of Sunbrella fabric.  The exhibit is open until January 15.  To learn more about reOrder, visit the Sunbrella’s reOrder page.

Day Dream Collection/Sunbrella Contract with Defiance

Day Dream

The Day Dream Collection/ Sunbrella Contract with Defiance by CF Stinson won in the Healthcare Textiles category.  The easy cleanability, Antibacterial & antifungal properties, as well as its GreenGuard certification make this beautiful fabric ideal for the healthcare industry.  Visit the CF Stinson website to learn more about the Day Dream collection.

Indi Pop

Indi Pop from Silver State

Indi Pop from Silver State took home the prize in the Outdoor Textiles category.  The collection was inspired by Indian culture with its vibrant colors and designs.

Our well-established experiences, associations, and lifestyle interactions influence how we respond to color. Ordinarily, nearly all of us will react in an identical manner to the same colors, but certain memories can result in a love, or strong dislike, of a particular color.

This time of the year is one that brings back some very strong memories for me. I love the crisp cold air that fall brings, the wind blowing in my face and the colors associated with the changing of the leaves, red, yellow, and orange. Red and orange stimulate the appetite and increase energy, yellow is associated with sunlight and optimism. Seeing the changing leaves on trees in my neighborhood has me instantly recalling my youth when I went to High School football games wearing a bulky warm sweater, my cheeks would turn red from the cool wind and my appetite would increase as the cold set in.

I love the deep hues of orange and yellow, so I have brought these colors into my home and my outdoor room. I have awnings in the color henna to match my Santa Barbara style house with red tile roof. The golden yellows are found in accents around my Tuscan style kitchen. These colors warm my heart and soothe my soul, so having them present inside and out is the perfect choice.

Warm color schemes create a cozy feeling, deep hues of orange, brown and red create intimate settings, and rooms without a lot of light benefit from walls painted a shade of yellow.

It is easy to evoke these feelings by using Sunbrella fabric inside and outside your home in colors that make you feel a special way.

What do autumn colors make you feel? What memories come instantly to mind when you see the colors in the changing leaves?

Write your answers below and stay tuned for more inspiring hues…

Schaefer Yachts reinvented the way Brazilians relate to the sea. Founder Marcio Schaefer expresses the spirit of conquest in his boats, and has built a pioneer brand without precedent in the nautical history of Brazil.

Created in the 1930’s, the Italian  brand Pininfarina has designed unforgettable car models for Ferrari, Maserati and Alfa Romeo, among others, that have enchanted the world. Now, in an exclusive and unprecedented project with Schaefer Yachts, the Schaefer 620 Pininfarina, combines the tradition of Schaefer Yachts engineering with the interior design of one of the world’s largest and most highly regarded design studios.

As part of the interior and exterior areas of this Schaefer 620, Pininfarina recommended some of the best Sunbrella fabrics for this unique series.  Sunbrella fabrics were used for outside deck seating, cushions, and in the living room areas on the luxurious yacht.

Like your best loved pair of well-used blue jeans, classic blue is predominant in a great many homes today. It expresses tradition and ageless contentment. Despite that classic blue is not simply dark blue and Country French. Modified versions of these hues have increased in scope the assortment available, giving rise to new modernized color variations and selections of blue fabrics.

Well Worn Jeans

If your design is traditional English or French, then blue is the ideal shade for you. However, like other quintessential styles, it will not go out of vogue, it blends nicely with numerous other hues, from bold to discriminating. Countless fabrics utilizing these long-established trends have blue as part of the design, contributing a beginning juncture for a color scheme.

French Blue Cabinet

Bold patterns, like a blue and white stripe on a sofa need to be offset in a room. If you situate pillows in the identical stripe on a solid sofa, your eye proceeds throughout the room by drawing awareness without deluging it. Adding another tone of blue keeps the palette from giving the impression of being too alike. Plaids and stripes can work in harmony, as long as the colors are well matched and the symmetry of the motif differs. Cheerful fabrics can add personality to a room.

Sunbrella Captain Navy/Natural Classic style

In a room that’s mostly a single color, attention with its opposing color will neutralize the color and add appeal. If the room is mainly warm tones add a cool accent, if the room is mainly in cool colors add a warm accent.

Highlights of soft blues like Robin’s egg, sky and blue gray are illustrations of calming, tranquil blues. Tinted with gray or shaded with green, these blues span from light to mid-value and blend nicely with complementary colors like peach or salmon. Tiny quantities of dazzling accent colors, like orange or bright pink, can blend harmoniously with these blues as long as the accents don’t overshadow the blue backdrop.

These blues can gravitate toward green, making it difficult to determine if they are green or blue. When the blue moves in the direction of gray they appear natural, particularly when joined with wood tones or other natural elements like stonework, tile and plants. Because these blues are occasionally described as “spa” colors, their deviations function appropriately due to their tranquil influence.

Using a basic solid fabric for a sizable piece of furniture creates strength in a room as well as a spot for your eyes to rest. For a room that utilizes various patterns, a simple fabric is necessary for the substantial piece of furniture, however it can be textured to increase the amount of complexity. Texture is a prominent new trend.

Selected as the best-loved color in America, blue’s popularity is unquestionable. Blue is a color that can be warm or cool in its own right. And without question takes on features of either based on its hue and tone as well as the other colors it is matched with it.

Blue is also a popular trend in apparel today, which usually leads the way for home color trends.

Ann Taylor Store

Do you have blue inside or outside of your home?

These are my inspiring hues….

Sunbrella Clarity debuted this week at IFAI.  Clarity is a fabric intended for hard-to-clean awning applications.   Sunbrella Clarity features technology that works in two ways to help maintain the “like new” appearance of the fabric. First,  is a photoactive ingredient which is fueled by UV light, even on cloudy days or in moderate shade.  This action creates a natural cleaning mechanism that decomposes organic material such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), grime, oils, mold and mildew.  Second, is a hydrophilic or moisture spreading component that allows the surface of the fabric to wet out with water, washing away particles of inorganic matter left on the surface of the awning.  Sunbrella Clarity also features a highly water resistant coating that prevents water from penetrating through the awning, keeping people and the area beneath the awning drier.

Sunbrella Clarity

In this display, the water stays above the Clarity fabric.

The Sunbrella booth also featured the “Recycle my Sunbrella” program.  The program takes Sunbrella material waste from the field and from shops and reuses them for other applications.  Some are made into new industrial products.  Others are  broken down and and mixed with virgin Sunbrella fibers to make Sunbrella Renaissance fabrics and new consumer fabrics.  Fabricators can be a part of the RMS program by mailing in their Sunbrella scraps.  Learn more about the Recycle My Sunbrella program and how you can be a part of it!

How the program works

New product made from recycled material

Sunbrella Renaissance Collection

This is just a taste of what was at IFAI.  We had a great time in Baltimore and enjoyed meeting many new people and seeing familiar faces at the the show.

A review of what has been Hot in Outdoor Living for 2011 shows us that Resort Style outdoor living that conjures up images like romantic balmy summer nights while relaxing in the roomy deep seating, coupled with convenient, coordinating chaises and tables has been high on the horizon.

Spa Retreat

Spa colors such as shades of blues, like Aqua inspire the feelings of calm, tranquil, invigorating and refreshing “Private Retreat”. Chenille and textured fabrics in cream and earth tones also shine bright.

Sunbrella Earthen Collection With Textures

Oversized umbrellas that provide shade and architecture are popular. “To sit in the shade on a fine day is the most perfect refreshment.” Jane Austin

Large Outdoor Umbrella

Modular seating, chairs, loungers, sofas configured into a variety of seating arrangements continues to excite. Multi-use, attractive and comfortable, these modular seating arrangements provide lounging by the pool during the day and vibrant alfresco conversation while dining at night. This is outdoor seating that adapts perfectly to the occasion.

Modular Seating

We’ve seen wide flat weave with antique color that provides subtle texture and ageless warmth on synthetic wicker. The synthetic coloring has a much more natural look and feel with soft taupe and silvery gray color which gives it a warm gentle aged look with lasting durability.

Coronado Collection for Sunset West

My favorite is always the outdoor accessories that add for stylish pulled together looks. Finishing touches that feel like home: lamps, decorative toss pillows, throws, drapes, tabletop and rugs.

Finishing Touches

Table Top

Outdoor Couture Throws

Help your customers to let their imagination be their guide whether they dream of adding a spa like private retreat, elegant dining space or beyond casual comfort to unwind and enjoy the fresh air with family and friends or a solitary personal escape.

Stay tuned for What’s New for 2012… retail-ol-ogy…

During the event, Joe spoke about his new Italian Classico line and presented his Sunbrella and Miles Talbott collections.  His presentation took the group of designers on a worldwide tour of his design inspirations, showing how different pieces all around the globe inspire him.  Thanks to everyone who helped to make this such a wonderful event!

Joe with Bobbie Cox, program chairman and Barbara Eldridge, President of Charlotte IDS chapter

Event goodie bags, made of Joe's collection of Sunbrella fabrics-- Tie Dye Denim

Beautiful centerpieces

Joe's presentation

The event brought out home improvement industry leaders, as well as actors, singers, and athletes. Sunbrella provided tote bags made of Sunbrella fabric for the party’s attendees. Some familiar faces at the party were Extreme Makeover: Home Edition designer Paul DiMeo, home improvement expert Karl Champley, and actress Tatyana Ali, all pictured below with their new Sunbrella bag!

Paul DiMeo

Karl Champley

Tatyana Ali

The 500-kilowatt solar array generates about the same amount of  electricity that 47 typical homes use in a year.  The arrays weigh only 3 pounds per square foot and are easily installed by essentially snapping together.  Because air flows through open-design modules, the arrays are self-ballasting and do not require anchors drilled into the roof, yet can withstand winds up to 130 miles per hour.

A new ultra-white roof atop the plant enhances the solar panels’ productivity.  Conventional solar panels only collect energy from the surface facing the sun, but Norlina’s arrays are tube-like and collect solar energy from sunlight coming from 360 degrees, including roof reflections.

This solar project was made possible by Progress Energy’s SunSense Commercial Solar PV program, designed to encourage the development of renewable energy by offering a premium price for solar power developed on commercial rooftops.

You can also view the amount of solar energy that is being generated by the Norlina facility and learn more about the solar panels.

Solar panels and ultra-white roof

The tube-like structure of the arrays

Aerial view of the panels