Viewpoints

From social media marketing to sustainability, we learn what’s working for our panellists…

talk TI: How much of an influence do influencers and social media personalities actually have in the homewares sector?

Sambonet: In terms of communication, these personalities have relaunched and reconfigured the entire home design sector, especially on social media.

Particularly as a post-lockdown effect, after the fashion, cooking and lifestyle industry. So, many influencers have opened the doors of their homes, or told us about their kitchen and tables.

All of this has certainly consolidated and accelerated this communication trend. Influencers, creators and any user as well are becoming spokespeople for these experiences and, at the same time, ambassadors for many brands in our sector.

Beatriz Ball: There are so many social media influencers, bloggers, and vloggers out there, it is hard to keep up. By sheer numbers they’ve become a force to be reckoned with, and one that none of us in the tabletop and housewares industry can afford to ignore. On the other hand, can we afford them? Whether a gifted collaboration, or a paid partnership, working with an influencer is not cheap—especially one with a broad following. The assets and benefits derived from collaboration must be very carefully explored, and the

ROI evaluated. At the moment we are not working with an influencer, but are more people are spending time at home. Consequentially, there is an uptick in Kitchenware & Homeware category. Aware consumers are putting in a lot of thought and money into decorating their kitchens & home as it is an extension of one’s personal style. The associations with the right set of influencers thus help us in reaching out to the potential buyer who are constantly looking at social media for design and décor inspiration to choosing the right kitchenware. At thinKitchen, we feel the relevance of social influencers and fitment to the brand are key success factors. For authenticity, identifying and commissioning a lifestyle influencer who recently purchased a new house to use the kitchenware and homeware offerings, makes more sense and feels like a natural fit.

TI: Which social media platform do you find most effective?

Sambonet: For our industry, the favourite channel is undoubtedly Instagram. It brings together generations that represent our target focus and encourages daily interaction with our audience. That’s why it’s perfect to expand the audience and increase awareness of our brands. Another strategic channel for home design is Pinterest, which is more inspirational and aimed at

Question time

always open to collaboration. an audience that is sensitive, akin to Denby: We are very lucky to have a the world of aesthetics and designdedicated influencer network who oriented. we love to work with. Influencers are Beatriz Ball: Our audience and an important aspect of social media demographic tend to gravitate to and they can help to bring awareness Facebook and Instagram, and we to brands through using products on concentrate our marketing efforts on an organic and collaborative basis. these platforms. We, of course, present They tend to have engaged followings stories and posts on products and and so working together to create trends, but these social outlets also interesting content can enable quality allow us to plan and track campaigns messaging which resonates. As home in detail. Employing analytical tools and interiors is such a growing interest, aid us in following consumer actions more and more people on social are like never before and guide us in our opening up their homes and sharing social marketing and advertising plans. their interior spaces online. Whether The rules tend to change with some they’re a micro or macro influencer, degree of frequency, but social media they help to provide inspiration to is a hugely important component of social media users. For example, our marketing mix. seeing how different influencers with Denby: Social media is a fantastic contrasting styles use and present marketing channel and it allows us our ceramics is great to see – we can to share the Denby brand through then share this with our community various creative formats such as still to showcase the beauty and versatility imagery, reels, gifs and live video. We of Denby. approach each platform differently thinKitchen: Research shows that and create content specifically for each over 70 per cent of brands use channel. You can find us on all social influencer marketing or have done channels from Facebook to Twitter and so in the past. An increased number Pinterest. As a design-led homeware of millennial consumers admire/trust brand, we find that the more visual their favourite celebrities or influencers platforms including Instagram, while making lifestyle purchase Pinterest and newly launched for us, decisions. Online shopping is on the TikTok, to be very effective. These social uptrend with social media acting as spaces give us the opportunity to a key decision driver for both men share our brand stories in a unique and and women. Due to the pandemic, inspiring way.

Meet the panellists

Kelly Wenzel

national sales manager, Beatriz Ball

Zoe Turner

head of brand development and marcomms, Denby

Andrea Sarasso

marketing manager, Sambonet Paderno Industrie SpA

Anand Baldawa

CEO, thinKitchen

Josh Rammell

marketing manager, Utopia Tableware

Kelly Wenzel

national sales manager, Beatriz Ball

Zoe Turner

head of brand development and marcomms, Denby

Andrea Sarasso

marketing manager, Sambonet Paderno Industrie SpA

Anand Baldawa

CEO, thinKitchen

Josh Rammell

marketing manager, Utopia Tableware

thinKitchen: Instagram works well as a social media platform as India is Instagram’s fastest growing market with over 230 million users. This popular platform offers unmatched reach, real time engagement and an opportunity to build brand preference.

Interacting with followers on Instagram in real time is easy through direct message. Stories, Reels and IGTV are great to showcase video content. Followers also get a chance to explore products, click and buy them online. Utopia: There’s no doubt that Instagram and Twitter are the two main platforms that drive engagement with our customers. Our social media team uses Instagram primarily for the visual posts and Twitter for information, news and company announcements. It’s important to know how and what to post across these platforms, often they are the first touchpoint for a user or business to interact with your brand and products – it’s certainly not always the same profile of user on Twitter and Instagram, and you don’t necessarily want to be posting the same information. The last thing you want to do, having gained a follower, is to lose them because they’re not interested in what you’re posting. Having said that, both platforms have more and more crossover, so the demarcation lines are far from being clear cut. Social media is has tons of potential as a business tool, but as it’s developing all the time you have to keep your eye on the ball! Of course, with the new ownership of Twitter, we’ll need to keep a check on how that platform develops.

TI: How big is the sustainability factor for buyers and what efforts do you make to ensure your products/company is as eco-friendly as possible?

Sambonet: Although not all endconsumers have the ‘green’ factor as a primary purchase driver, all customers are increasingly attentive. Not just to the product, but also to the brand that offers it. In fact, for us product sustainability is the result of a supply chain in which we operate with reduced environmental impact. We only use clean and renewable energy sources only in our production site, and this year we inaugurated our new photovoltaic system. Our environmental commitment is also attested to by the publication of the company’s first annual Sustainability Report 10 years ago, part of a wider Group social responsibility policy. Starting with every one of our internal processes, our aim is always to improve. Beatriz Ball: We certainly want to inform buyers about the importance of sustainability, but for us, it is more a true commitment than a selling point. We proudly utilise sustainable and recycled materials in the making of our handmade metal products.

The aluminum that we use, as well as the special sand used for our sandcasting molds, is all recycled. At our zero-waste foundry, all miscasts are melted down to create new pieces, and we dispose of all other materials through eco-responsible methods.

Aluminum is a boon for the environment because there is no limit to how many times it can be recycled. Nearly 75 per cent of all aluminum ever produced is still in use today. Recycling aluminum saves around 95 per cent of energy needed to make the metal from raw materials, and 95% of greenhouse gas emissions. We are proud to have sustainability as part of our company’s DNA. Denby: Denby was the first UK tableware manufacturer to be zero to landfill on process waste and has an environmental officer to ensure Denby is taking all the opportunities it can to progress along its environmental pathway. By using local raw materials and completing the manufacturing process in house Denby are in a prime position to maintain as low a carbon footprint as possible. Denby is IS0 14001 accredited which means it has an environmental management system which is integrated into the manufacturing processes. The helps to monitor and control environmental issues enabling Denby to continually improve performance.

With sustainability and mindful living rising to the top of the interiors agenda and consumers thinking carefully about how their selected products are made and the impact on the environment, Denby is the conscious choice for ceramics..

The use of local clay enabled minimum transport of its main raw material - the land excavated is landscaped and returned to pasture. Any pieces at the first clay stage of manufacture which aren’t up to Denby’s high standards are recycled into new pieces which equates to 550 tonnes of raw clay a year. Denby makes its own moulds from plaster of Paris and at the end of their useful life they are recycled into plaster board. Each year Denby recycles a 100,000 litres of glaze which is sufficient to glaze a million pots. Denby also has its own water treatment plant and returns to the water cycle 20 million litres of process water a year. Denby is continually installing energy saving lighting systems and optimising gas usage in kilns and Denby’s energy usage is consistently below industry targets set. thinKitchen: As per The IBM Institute for Business Value survey across 14 countries including India, in March 2021, 78 per cent of consumers in India are most willing to change their purchasing behaviour to reduce a negative impact on the environment.

Likewise, as per Capgemini Research Institute’s 2020 report, Consumer Products and Retail: How sustainability is fundamentally changing consumer preferences, over 86 per cent of consumers from India state that buying sustainable products from organisations makes them happy. Nearly 88 per cent of consumers in India were willing to purchase a more sustainable product once they were made aware of the sustainability issues.

These statistics clearly indicate that awareness and adoption of pro -sustainability purchase behaviour is prevalent in the Indian market. At thinKitchen, the range of premium and quality cookware, tableware and kitchen tools that we showcase from around the globe to the modern Indian kitchen, keeps sustainability strongly in focus.

These ranges use material sourced from sustainable sources (eg: the Cole & Mason Capstan beech precision wood salt mill is made from 100 per cent prime grade natural beech sourced from sustainable forests). They also use recycled materials (eg: Our Kilner ranges use 30% recycled glass from kerbside collection services) and are BPA free (eg: our Zoku range of bottles). We also emphasise on the use of reusable products. Utopia: Sustainability has been key to the thought process behind our products and practices for some time and, over recent years, it has shot up the agenda for our customers, too. We were among the first to develop a range of paper straws that, as well as being greener than the plastic alternative, were robust and ‘suck-proof’. Now our Green Earth range of straws even offers metallic paper straws that are 100 per cent recyclable, made from 100 per cent bio-degradable paper, are EN13432 certified (the European standard for composability) and food safe .