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High-Tech
Marketing
Experts shed light on the ins and outs of kitchen
and bath lighting.
By Phil Zaleon
 One of the greatest marketing
challenges facing today’s kitchen and bath professionals
is learning how to use technology effectively.
Technology can be a great tool to help market products
and services, enhance a firm’s reputation and increase
the bottom line.
However, some kitchen and bath dealers and designers
are still hesitant to commit to using technology in
their marketing plans. Some don’t fully understand it;
others are unwilling to commit to something so “new” –
even though the newness is what gives early adopters of
technology such a powerful marketing edge. Still others
worry about the cost.
In fact, one of the biggest objections people
frequently voice to using technology is that they
believe it’s “too expensive.”
Technology certainly can be expensive, yet there are
plenty of ways to utilize technology to market a kitchen
or bath firm without breaking the bank.
In today’s high-tech world, there are marketing
channels that fit almost any budget. Some are obvious,
others are less so, and still others require little more
than some imagination and vision to be coaxed into
reality. The beauty is, there is no wrong way to put
technology to work. Anything is possible, it’s only a
matter of time and resources.
Web Marketing
The first thing most people think of when they hear
the word “technology” is the Internet, and their
position on it.
One of the industry’s earlier adopters of Internet
marketing is Bill Camp, CKD, whose Triangle Design
Kitchens is located in the technology-rich region of
North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park. Bill went
online in 1996 with a basic site.
“All of our traditional advertising points to our Web
site,” he explains. “Our customers are Web-savvy. They
want to shop online first, then come in to touch and
feel product in the showroom. We have always used our
Web site as a 24-hour, 7-day-a-week showroom, selling
for us while we cannot be in the showroom. Our site
provides details about the staff, testimonials and
plenty of big pictures of jobs. People want to feel like
they know us and our capabilities before they hire us –
and our Web site lets that happen.”
Web sites can be as varied as personalities, and they
should be. They act as extensions of the showroom, the
owner and the business. Each day, Web technology seems
to take another leap forward, offering something new to
add to the Web site. Each new technology bring its own
positives and negatives… and it’s up to the individual
kitchen and bath professional to weigh the options and
decide the best approach.
Flash
Flash is one of the most popular software programs
for creating Web-based content. It allows users to
combine text, animation, sounds, video, photography and
one’s imagination in one “TV-like” online presentation.
On the downside, online searches don’t seem to like
Flash. They cannot read into the Flash content to find
sites. However, a savvy Web designer/marketer will
combine flash with HTML (the code in which Web pages are
written) to help minimize the problem.
Another potential down side is that Flash requires
the end user to have a Flash plug-in installed on the
computer in order to see the animation. While most new
computers are equipped for this, consumers who use their
computer primarily for fun may not upgrade their
computers as quickly as businesses do, so consumers who
don’t upgrade frequently may not be able to access Web
sites designed using Flash technology.
Viewpoint
Viewpoint has a series of products that enhances Web
viewing. Viewpoint offers, among other things, the
ability to create a 3D environment, for example a
kitchen. It can be used to render cabinets and
countertops and allow visitors to take a virtual walk
through a kitchen. It also provides the ability to
display smooth real-time video.
In addition, Viewpoint licenses ZoomView, which
allows kitchen and bath professionals to take
high-resolution photographs of their work and display
them in fine detail on the Web without a lot of download
time. It also gives users the ability to zoom in to a
specific area of the photo without losing any
resolution.
The downside of Viewpoint is cost, both on the
licensing side and the development side. ZoomView also
takes up more server space than a traditional image, so
users need to be sure they have a good Web hosting
contract with plenty of space if they’re going to use
this technology. Like Flash, ZoomView requires the end
user to have a plug-in player installed on their
computer.
Paul McDonald, president of the Hillsborough,
NJ-based Royal Cabinet Co., is a kitchen professional
who uses ZoomView on his site (www.RoyalCabinet.com). He
explains, “The success of our business hinges on
details, and we need to show potential customers how
well we execute various details in our high-end
projects. Many people start their search for new
cabinets on the Web, but conventional Web technology
won’t let you show much detail because of the limited
resolution available for showing the pictures. ZoomView
is a technology that enables prospects to see full
kitchens on our Web site and then selectively zoom in to
see any small detail of particular interest – for
example, a chamfer on a frame, or a carving, or even
antiqued glass used in the doors. We were so happy with
the enhanced viewing capabilities offered by ZoomView
that we created a CD with a large portfolio of work for
our dealers to share with their prospects.”
Audio/Video
Traditional audio and video can be added to Web sites
to allow kitchen and bath dealers and designers to
market themselves beyond the reach of their initial
audience. For example, dealers and designers can add an
existing radio or TV commercial or an HGTV or local show
that features their showroom or design online to their
Web site. In addition, dealers who market themselves
through local seminars can tape them and offer them
online – either for free, as a way to attract new
clients, or for sale as a way to generate additional
income.
The downside of audio and video online is still
bandwidth and quality. Utilizing Flash or Viewpoint to
deliver the message may make the end product better, but
it will also make the cost greater.
360° Panoramic View
QuickTime offers the technology of being able to view
any scene in a 360° panoramic view. With this
technology, Web site visitors can “virtually” stand in
the center of a kitchen design or showroom and see that
beautiful kitchen or showroom from almost any
perspective. While this “virtual viewpoint” may not be
as effective as seeing it live, it’s certainly more
effective than viewing ordinary pictures.
The downsides include additional production costs and
photographs, and the visitor’s need for a plug-in viewer
to be able to utilize this feature.
Expertise
While the Web provides a great opportunity to
showcase visuals, it’s not just about pictures. Equally
important, the Web provides Web site owners with an
opportunity to interact with visitors to the site.
Savvy kitchen and bath dealers or designers can use
the Web to market themselves as industry experts,
fielding questions from online visitors through the use
of a discussion page, e-mail links or bulletin boards
where anyone can chime in with their thoughts and
opinions.
In addition, using a Web site to post weekly or
monthly tips will draw traffic and help establish a
reputation as an industry expert. Kitchen and bath
dealers or designers can let consumers know what to
expect during a remodeling project, how to choose
cabinetry, or the best ways to use lighting – all by
posting information on a Web site.
This serves a number of purposes: It keeps the Web
site fresh, it provides more keywords for online
searches
to find, it increases the owner’s stature as an expert,
and ultimately can help to bring in additional business.
The downside to this is the time commitment required
to keep the tips fresh. Likewise, an online bulletin
board requires monitoring to ensure undesirable comments
are removed in a timely manner. However, this is a great
and inexpensive way to connect with consumers by
providing a valuable service that will enhance the
owner’s reputation and help to bring in business.
E-mail
Everyone hates spam, so why would kitchen and bath
professionals even consider using
e-mail to market themselves? The answer is simple: If
done correctly, e-mailed marketing pieces aren’t spam,
they’re a way to provide useful information. Of course,
one person’s useful information can be another person’s
spam. So it’s important to ensure that you are only
sending e-mail to those who wish to receive it.
E-mail campaigns can also be a great first step to
creating a Web-based e-mail newsletter program. Kitchen
and bath professionals can begin by sending a list of
tips or other relevant material to clients, vendors and
friends. They can then grow this list by having a “sign
up” opportunity on line where the firm’s tips are
posted.
Marketing
One of the most exciting aspects of marketing
technology is that it provides the ability to mass
communicate individually.
No business should be without a database, which
should include as much information as possible. It’s
important to have more than just names, addresses and
phone numbers. It’s useful to track what clients
purchase, how they make their decisions, whether the
husband or wife takes the lead, etc.
Prospects will often reveal much of this information
during the course of a conversation. When they leave,
it’s easy to make notations in a database.
With this information, dealers can set up a mail
merge document that keeps them in touch with the Smith
Family and Jones Family telling them different things,
but letting the computer do all the work. Whether
wishing clients a happy birthday, sending notices of
special buys based on what they purchased previously or
inviting them to wine tastings or open houses, simple
programs on many of today’s computers can keep
communication lines open.
Even the latest kitchen management software takes
this into account. President of The Kitchen Pond, Brian
O’Rourke, CKD, says, “We took database marketing very
seriously when determining features for our Kitchen
Manager software. It allows the designer to track useful
information about clients – some we have predetermined,
such as name, address,
e-mail, etc., but we also allow designers to create
their own data fields. The program is easily used with
common word processing programs, so creating mail merge
style letters is simple.”
In addition to database information, consider the
following:
- While visiting your showroom, potential clients
could be viewing a DVD of your firm’s portfolio on an
HDTV positioned in an entertainment unit (that they
could buy). The production cost, which could include
movement in all the photos, a music background,
descriptive text on the screen and perhaps a
voice-over, is a one-time investment, while the
marketing benefits can continue for years. This
production can be delivered to clients on DVD, video
cassette or online.
- In addition, showroom visitors could be engaged by
a kiosk or computer allowing them to learn more about
the remodeling process, specific vendors and your
firm’s history (this information should be more
extensive than what they’ve already seen on your Web
site). This can be interactive, allowing each visitor
to view what he or she wants, or it can continually
provide information on a loop.
- As you sit with the client around a table, let
technology enhance the experience. Use your computer
to augment your discussion with information on a
PowerPoint presentation. Clients can then be supplied
with print outs to take home in a pocket folder, along
with a copy of the DVD (or video) that was playing on
the HDTV. Notes taken during this meeting can be used
later for database marketing.
- When the potential client goes home, or you are
ready to reconnect with a former client, let
technology supplement your contact. The personalized
approach of database marketing is an excellent
beginning, but use your own experiences to dictate
your next steps. Would you be more likely to read a
post card, open a letter, watch a DVD or
videocassette, or put a CD in your computer? Each has
its own benefits and drawbacks. But, when selling a
high ticket item with a long sell cycle, the more
personalized the approach and the more high-end the
experience, the better.
Today’s technology also makes some tried-and-true
marketing and advertising techniques more effective. For
instance, our 500 channel world allows us to narrow a TV
advertising focus to specific networks or cable stations
that have finite geographic boundaries, or that cater to
a specific interest area.
Radio today allows users to reach specific audiences
based on genre and geography. Even Google now has the
ability to let users advertise geographically, as well
as by key word, utilizing this ever-changing technology.
There is still a place in the industry for business
cards, letterhead, brochures and other printed
collaterals, and each should contain a firm’s e-mail and
Web address. Television spots should have a Web address
included right next to the physical address. Web
addresses are also the perfect tool for radio
commercials. While most people listen in their cars,
they’re hardly in a position to write down or remember a
7-10 digit phone number – but a memorable Web address is
easy to recall.
Technology is only a conduit allowing people to
market to more people, faster. In and of itself, it
won’t make kitchen and bath professionals more effective
communicators, nor will it craft a better message. The
ability to effectively use the tools of technology and
communication to market in the 21st century is still as
personal and as hand-crafted as a lovingly designed
kitchen. Using technology as an effective marketing tool
requires, above all else, something kitchen designers
possess in abundance – creativity.
Philip D. Zaleon is founder and president of Chapel
Hill-based Z promotion & design – a full service
integrated marketing and creative agency focusing on the
kitchen and bath industry.
Prior to founding Z promotion & design in 1996,
Phil held the position of v.p./research &
development for a new technology-based communications
firm.
He can be reached at Z promotion & design, P.O.
Box 17291, Chapel Hill, NC 27516; Telephone:
919-932-4600; Fax: 919-932-4447;
E-mail: phil@kitchenmarketing.com
Web site: www.kitchenmarketing.com
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