SHOWIN’ OUR STUFF
The Story Behind Beautifully Responsible™ An interview with Dean Thompson, president and CEO of Resilient Floor Covering Institute, about the new consumer campaign Beautifully Responsible™ Q: Dean, as the president and CEO of the Resilient Floor Covering Institute, can you share with our readers what RFCI is about? A: W e are the leading industry trade association for hard surface flooring. Our mission is to help homeowners, designers, facility managers, and architects make wise flooring deci-
Beautifully Responsible™ is an exclusive social media, consumer campaign divided into three messages: Mindful Manufacturing™, Living Well™, and Made for Life™. Each of these messages address concerns consumers have about any purchase for home improvement— particularly flooring.
sions. Our members represent Resilient Flooring, whether it’s rigid core and flexible luxury vinyl, vinyl composition tile, linoleum, vinyl sheet, rubber, or cork flooring. Q: What was the role of RFCI in creating the Beautifully Responsible™ campaign? A: As a trade association for the Resilient Flooring industry, a key component of our mission is to educate the market about the advantages of resilient flooring ownership. While our member manufacturers do a great job communicating the benefits of their individual product lines, RFCI and its manufacturing members agree to the advantages associated with a common high-level message about this growing category. Q: How did the idea of Beautifully Responsible™ come about? A: Through recent research of the consumer market and valuable input from our members, we discovered some very compelling facts about all resilient flooring that truly resonate with consumer needs and desires. For example, we learned that 41% of Americans want to be seen as buying ecofriendly products but who don’t want to make trade-offs. We also found that all of us spend, on average, about 90% of our lives indoors, and so indoor air quality is important. And consumers want investments in their homes, such as flooring, to last and keep their beauty without the need for premature replacement. So, in a collaborative effort with Shelton Group, the leading marketing communications agency focused on sustainability and corporate social responsibility, and with the insights and leadership of our member manufacturers, we created a campaign called Beautifully Responsible™. Q: How is this being communicated to consumers? A: B eautifully Responsible™ is an exclusive social media, consumer campaign divided into three messages: Mindful Manufacturing™, Living Well™, and Made for Life™. Each of these messages address concerns consumers have about any purchase for home improvement—particularly flooring. Resilient flooring ‘checks all the boxes’ when it comes to these concerns.
30 Premier Flooring Retailer | Digital 4 2020
