La Grange, Ga.—In its report to resilient flooring manufacturers, the Resilient Floor Covering Institute (RFCI) and Shelton Group, a leading marketing communications agency focused on sustainability and corporate social responsibility, validated the strong consumer preference for a healthy environment in the home. RFCI, along with 22 leading resilient flooring makers, launched the Beautifully Responsible consumer digital media campaign in November of last year. The campaign has been focused on three messaging pillars: Mindful Manufacturing, Living Well and Made for Life. The report showed that for over the past 90 days, Living Well has been the most popular message of the three.
“People ‘vote’ with their clicks, and messages that are health-focused under our umbrella of Living Well with resilient flooring surpassed the online engagement of our other messages by a wide margin,” observed Kris Hesson, digital services director for Shelton Group. “While all three messages are important and accurate descriptions of today’s resilient flooring, Living Well outperformed Made for Life (about durability and performance) by a 2-to-1 margin and Mindful Manufacturing (about responsible processes and standards) by 3-to-1.”
Dean Thompson, president and CEO of RFCI, urged flooring retailers to take note. “Retailers should definitely tout the total RFCI Beautifully Responsible message to their customers when selling resilient flooring, but in particular the Living Well message, since we’ve demonstrated in our campaign that it is so popular with consumers.”
Living Well with resilient flooring means that consumers benefit from FloorScore standards for indoor air quality and that rigid core flooring is Assure Certified and free from orthophthalates and heavy metals. It also communicates that advanced wear layers reduce the necessity for harsh chemical cleaners and that no adhesives are required in many residential settings. Living Well with resilient flooring also means increased access for those with limited mobility and reduced sound transmission.
“We weren’t surprised by the consumer embrace of our Living Well message, but we were all very impressed with its performance,” Thompson said. “Resilient flooring certainly answers a desire for a healthy indoor environment, especially during a pandemic. Home-bound consumers are attracted to that and want to know more from their dealers.”