Furniture Today,
HIGH POINT — Home furnishings companies looking for a way to breach the boundaries of past marketing efforts will find insights at the American Home Furnishings Alliance’s Annual Marketing Meeting in August.

“Breakthrough Marketing” is the theme of the event, slated Aug. 15-17 at the Marriott Waterfront Hotel in Baltimore. The meeting is open to all industry manufacturers, retailers and marketers.


“Companies must get past worn-out customer perceptions and discover new ways of connecting with today’s diverse marketplace,” said Jackie Hirschhaut, AHFA’s vice president of marketing and public relations. “The trend insights offered at this year’s program promise to fuel business growth for companies that attend.”   

One key presenter is Andy Hines, director of consulting for Social Technology, a research and consulting firm and co-editor of the book, “Thinking About the Future: Guidelines for Strategic Foresight,” which takes insights from 36 senior forecasters and distills them into strategies for action.

Making his third appearance as a key speaker at the marketing meeting will be Charles Kennedy, senior vice president of social trends for DYG Inc. His presentation this year will spotlight the nation’s “exhausted affluents” — a consumer group with special significance to the home furnishings market.

Other speakers include:

+ Kate Alini, marketing communications manager for MiniUSA, who will describe how Mini Cooper creates a “zero-to-smile-in-under-two-seconds” online consumer branding experience.

+ Tracy Chapman, a marketing expert who has snooped in strangers’ closets, medicine cabinets, refrigerators and even under beds to find out what makes consumers tick. She is now the co-director of brand insights at Just Ask A Woman, a marketing firm that touts its ability to uncover women’s hidden agendas and translate what they hear into actionable business strategies.

+ Sean Wargo, senior industry analyst with the Consumer Electronics Assn., will provide insights into the home entertainment market with an outlook for 2015 and beyond.

+ Michelle Moore, vice president of communications for the U.S. Green Building Council, will present, “The Future Is Now: Environmentally Friendly Homes.”

+ Jennifer Ganshirt, co-founder and director of strategic planning at research firm Frank About Women, will carry on with the environmental theme with “The Greener Side of Female Consumers.”

+ Maria T. Bailey, founder and CEO of BlueSuitMom.com, will address the challenges of gaining the attention of busy mothers searching for the information and tools to help them make smart home furnishings buying decisions.

A bonus public relations workshop will take place just before the Marketing Meeting in a session from 1 to 5 p.m. on Aug. 15. An Editor’s Roundtable will feature representatives from consumer newspapers and magazines sharing their experiences in covering the home furnishings industry and providing practical insights for gaining their attention. Ann Bryan, head of internal communications at agribusiness company Syngenta, will speak about reducing the number of e-mails companies send and improving their effectiveness,

There is no charge to attend the PR workshop for those attending the marketing meeting. To attend the PR workshop only, registration is $100.