Carolyn Haicl, the new senior vice president of marketing and brands at Shaw Industries, is a brand builder. Her experience as vice president of North America marketing at Electrolux included repositioning the venerable Frigidaire brand, and she was also responsible for marketing and branding products under the Dr. Scholl’s umbrella.
Now comes a new challenge: building a brand in an industry where brand recognition at the consumer level is still an opportunity. FCNews publisher Steven Feldman sat down with Haicl at the recent Shaw Flooring Network convention to get her views on the opportunity that lies ahead.
As someone with a fresh perspective from outside the industry, what goals do you hope to achieve from a brand and marketing standpoint?
For the past 18 months, Shaw has been focused on brand clarity and definition. We have four brands—Shaw Floors, COREtec, Anderson Tuftex and Philadelphia Commercial. We are hyper-focused on what each brand stands for because we recognize effective brands can’t be everything to everyone. In some cases, our brand promise is not clear enough, so they are overlapping more than we would like. My goal will be to further define and differentiate our brands.
We are investing more than ever in consumer insights to build brands that deliver what consumers want: high-quality flooring that makes a difference in their everyday lifestyle. Our goal is to exceed consumer expectations and make it easy for them to find the right brand and product for them, and we will accomplish that through brands that complement each other instead of competing with each other. We just got insights that focused on the home and what people want to create in their living space. So, we are taking a more holistic approach rather than only looking at flooring. Then, of course, we are working to understand how flooring ties into the big picture.
How do you want the world to perceive Anderson Tuftex?
Anderson Tuftex is a luxury, eco-conscious brand. If you want your home to feel like a sanctuary, these gorgeous products are for you. Often, this consumer segment works with interior designers. We will start building more brand awareness and relationships with designers to help our retailers increase their sales with high-end consumers.
How do you want people to view COREtec?
COREtec was innovation from the start—and we want to keep leaning into that. We know the COREtec consumer wants to showcase that they are accomplished and like to lead in trends. These consumers do a lot of research with purchasing decisions to feel confident in their choice.
Shaw Floors?
Shaw Floors consumers want their home to be a gathering place, with homey and comfortable vibes. They are the parents who host all the neighborhood kids after school and on the weekends. They are practical and want a good value but aren’t willing to sacrifice style or performance. Design within reach.
Philadelphia Commercial?
Philadelphia Commercial is a go-to, easy-to-work-with solution. Our vision here is around “work,” “gather” and “play.” Think about what happens in those spaces. While it’s not somebody’s home, it’s still a place where they’re spending a lot of time—at work or at school. We want to bring to life the vision of whoever’s doing the actual purchasing and the environment they want to create with the right products to do so.
What similarities are there in how you approach an appliance brand (Frigidaire) vs. a flooring brand from that lifestyle side?
Shaw Floors focuses on the benefits and innovations that the consumer will clearly see an impact to their day-to-day life and their family. Frigidaire is very similar to Shaw Floors in that way. It is the center of the home, all about the moments you have in your home. They focus not only on the product itself, but what that product enables and the experiences you have with that product. You’re making homecooked meals and gathering around them, that’s what matters to the consumer more than any product. In flooring, the same is true, the emotion comes into play when you think about all the life and memories that happen on that floor, not when you just think about the floor itself.
I’ll ask people if they’ve ever heard of Shaw and they’ll say no—because that’s every flooring brand. Is that a challenge or an opportunity?
Customers tell us COREtec is one of the only brands consumers come in asking for—that’s the power of a strong brand to help drive more business for our retailers and for us. That is our vision for all brands. So, I think it’s an opportunity for Shaw but more so for our retailers and us to win together as we build our brands in partnership.
We know approximately 40% of people opt out of the flooring purchase once they start that purchasing journey. They throw up their hands because of the complexity of the process. I think if people understand their local retailer’s brand, and our brands are tied to the retailer’s brand, consumers will feel more confident in making this purchase. A brand you trust from a business you trust is a winning combination.
Flooring brands have traditionally been retailer brands because the retailer and RSA control the sale. They more or less can trade any consumer onto any brand they want. So how can Shaw reach and influence that consumer?
The magic happens when we take what we’re doing nationally and drive it through the local retailer. I’ve seen this strategy be successful in the appliance industry, which also has many independent retailers like the flooring industry. We’d launch a national campaign, and then we work individually with the retailers interested in advertising to say, “Let’s build a plan. Here are the assets we can use.” With this co-marketing approach, the advertising is stronger, more effective and links the retailer with national brands. We build brands in partnership with our retailers. We help drive more traffic to their stores. The more people that come in, the better for them, the better for us and the better for everyone. There’s a lot of opportunity in that.
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