DALTON—Michael Phelps winning eight gold medals. Man landing on the moon. Bobby Thomson’s game-winning home run against the Brooklyn Dodgers. What do these and other memorable events have to do with flooring? They are part of the motivation behind the Stainmaster Carpet Great Performance promotion.
Running through May 31, the two- month consumer and retail campaign is one of the largest ever by Invista, maker of Stainmaster fibers and centers on the 
theme, “Put Stainmaster carpet in your home and let it give you a great performance every day.”
Gary Johnston, Invista’s senior manager of promotions, said when people see a great performance, they remember it and talk about it. “And when a Stainmaster carpet is installed, it impresses everyday with its style and performance. So we felt it was one great performance for another.”
As such, Invista will be giving away 10 luxury trips—five to consumers, five to retailers—along with a multitude of “$50 Great Performance Movie Vouchers” to consumers and HDTVs to dealers and their sales associates.
“The Great Performance promotion is designed to help dealers be more successful by generating national consumer excitement and demand for the high performance of Stainmaster carpet,” Johnston noted. “This is a perfect way to kick off the selling season. We feel there is some pent-up demand—the winter was tough, the economy has been tough—and people are starting to open their wallets.”
Invista is investing in a national TV advertising campaign on cable stations such as HGTV, DIY, The Food Network, Fox News and CNN, and the major networks, to grab consumer attention and steer them to the Stainmaster website where they will find participating dealers, promotion details and be able to enter the Great Performance Sweep- stakes for a chance to win one of the five trips. Johnston noted a complete
POP kit is available, allowing participating retailers to tie-in to the national advertising by running tagged TV commercials, radio spots and “synergistic” print ads in their local markets. The kit also includes numerous in-store items to help draw attention to the promotion.
The trips, he added, were designed to give winners an experience that will last a lifetime. There is even a sweepstakes for all individuals who are employees, independent contractors or service providers of an independent flooring retailer to win a great performance trip for two to the same locations as the consumer sweepstakes. They are:
- London Getaway. Seven nights of luxury accommodations at the Crowne Plaza, London St. James, along with two tickets to a “great performance” of your choice at the famous Opera House.
- Hawaiian Holiday. Seven nights in Honolulu with deluxe oceanfront accommodations at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort & Spa, along with a spa package and cultural center event.
- Mediterranean Cruise. Set sail on the Norwegian Gem for a round-trip cruise embarking from Barcelona, Spain.
- New York City. Seven nights of deluxe accommodations at the New York Palace and tickets for three Broadway performances.
- Las Vegas Extravaganza. Seven nights at the Signature MGM Grand, along with tickets to Terry Fator, Cirque du Soliel Blue Man Group and O. Plus, a deluxe tour of Hoover Dam, a Vegas night helicopter tour and Grand Canyon airplane tour.
In addition, any consumer who purchases a minimum of 70 square yards of any Stainmaster carpet during the promotion will receive a $50 Great Performance Movie voucher. This voucher may be redeemed for movie gift cards good at all Blockbuster video stores, AMC theaters and Regal Entertainment locations.
As an added incentive for stores to sell Stainmaster carpet, retail sales associates and owners will have a chance to win 26-inch HDTVs. All stores are placed in one of five performance groups based on market size and pervious performance, Johnston explained. The store that records the best performance with Stainmaster carpet during the promotion in its respective group will receive a 26-inch HDTV for every sales associate on the floor and store owner.
To up the ante even more, Johnston said all Stainmaster styles listed in the spring 2010 Buyer’s Guide will receive double credit during the retail performance contest. And, many carpet mills are offering promotion specials on selected Stainmaster styles.
The Great Performance promotion is open to any dealer selling Stainmaster branded carpet. For more information, contact your local rep or visit stainmasterlink.com to order promotion materials and register for the performance contest and sweepstakes.