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Archive for the ‘Trends’ Category
Wordless Wednesday: Home Away from Home
Wednesday, May 16th, 2012Wordless Wednesday: High Contrast
Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012
Pinterest Picks: Keep Calm and Carry On
Tuesday, May 1st, 2012Keep Calm and Carry On. You’ve seen the signs – maybe you love them, maybe you’re empowered by its morale boosting message or maybe you’re just plain tired of the trend and think enough’s enough. Regardless of your stance on this now iconic slogan (and its countless spoofs), we can’t deny its staying power and recent presence in homes, offices and retail. Check out a few of our favorite off-the-wall examples in this week’s Pinterest Picks. Looking for more in calming décor? Turn to our IMRE Home IQ Pinterest page for inspiration.
High Point Market: Harnessing the Power of Pinterest for Your Brand
Thursday, April 26th, 2012Standing room only at the “Competitive Intelligence: The Power of Pinterest” event Monday night at High Point Market, proved that for brands, big and small, Pinterest is a platform with potential. Crystalyn Stuart, president of 5Loom powered by IMRE, provided insight on how best to turn that potential into power for your brand. Additionally, our four panelists provided diverse insight and best practices from the publishing, retail, brand and design industries.
7 Tips for Harnessing the Power of Pinterest for Your Brand
One of our pins from High Point Market
1. Understand and optimize for social discovery. Social discovery is adding a new layer of opportunity for brands to reach consumers in the discovery mode—before they’ve refined their want and conducted a keyword search for the item. This change in how users are acquiring knowledge is shifting the consumer-purchasing funnel. Social discovery allows users to discover products and quickly move to purchase with a simple click-through.
2. Identify industry influence. Sixty-five percent of top brands across the home category including furnishings and housewares are active on Pinterest. Look at how others in your industry are using the platform as well as how you can utilize the platform for your brand.
3. Create a balance of content. It is important to strike a balance with content that shows a brand’s personality while still promoting your business to customers. Boards can be organized in a myriad of ways depending on who is contributing, the seasonality of your boards, and what you personally consider to be important. Remember, however, that many followers don’t ever make it to your boards. Each pin is more likely to be viewed as a part rather than a whole of a themed board.
“At Furbish our ultimate goal is to build a lifestyle brand and to create an experience that people want to be part of and a lifestyle that they want to live. Throughout pins of rooms or funny sayings or dogs I will pepper in a piece of jewelry or a new pillow that we have, to engage someone who didn’t realize that I was a retailer. I’ve found that if I’m true to what I really like and continue pinning interesting images then the followers will come.” – panelist Jamie Meares, Owner, Furbish Studio
4. Attract a different audience. Brands are able to reach new readers, customers and influencers through Pinterest. Those who engage with your brand online may be a very different audience than those that gain information via traditional media channels.
“ Our online audience is traditionally very different than our print audience. The best part is when someone looks at a pin, clicks through and lands on Country Living and they’re like ‘I would never guess that this beautiful living room came from Country Living magazine.’” – panelist Rachel DeSchepper, Web Editor, Country Living
“We saw registration [for High Point Market] start to rise especially among those people we were trying to hit with Pinterest which were interior designers and small hip retailers.” – panelist Cheminne Taylor-Smith, Vice President of Marketing, High Point Market Authority
5. Get to know your customers, and let them get to know you. Pinterest provides a way for both the brand and the customer to get to know each other. The platform provides a space to express your personality and preferences allowing for a more harmonious relationship to be developed.
“Most of my clients follow me on Pinterest. If all of my kitchens I have pinned they find completely atrocious they aren’t going to hire me which is good because we aren’t going to work well together. On the flip side of that I’m thrilled if my clients use Pinterest to collect their dream kitchens because it’s a much faster and easier way than them sending me 1,000 emails of things they are interested in. I have the opportunity to look through their pin boards to get a better sense of who they are.” – panelist Traci Zeller, Associate ASID, Traci Zeller Designs
6. Mitigate your liability on Pinterest. Pin carefully. If you post original images, include a watermark on your image to retain your copyrighted material. As a brand pinning images that aren’t yours, we recommend placing a disclaimer on your profile and boards to state your intentions clearly. For more about Pinterest liability best practices, click here.
7. Build a promotional engine. Pinning great content is fun, but now it is time to get serious on Pinterest and build your promotional engine—the driver that takes Pinterest from a simple pilot to a top contributor to your marketing mix. This is your strategic plan for driving awareness, quantifying and increasing user engagement and building loyalty among your followers. A few ways to build a promotional engine include:
- Cross-promote across your branded channels – Link pins to your website and other social channels to activate the way users discover your online services.
- Loyalty Offers –Pinners collaborate and share with others for a special offer to unlock.
- Blogger partnerships – Leverage or build your relationships with bloggers by repining their content to a specific board on your platform, or allowing them to curate or contribute to a board.
- Contests and Sweepstakes – These are great for building excitement and increasing fan volumes but be careful to not overuse contests and sweepstakes. If conducted too frequently, brands can suffer high attrition rates and lower quality fan base.
Wordless Wednesday: Rubik’s Ottoman
Wednesday, April 25th, 2012
Having an accent piece like this patchwork cow hide ottoman from Nourison will create a new dimension to any room. It also brings back great memories of a classic childhood favorite – the Rubik's Cube.
The above image was taken at The High Point Market. Ottoman is made by Nourison
Wordless Wednesday: Go Bold
Wednesday, April 18th, 2012
This hot red-orange hue is brightening up homes and accessories everywhere.
Show us your Tango for your chance to win!
Photo Courtesy of HGTV.com
Show Us Your Tango Pinterest Sweepstakes
Tuesday, April 17th, 2012
Tangerine Tango, the 2012 Pantone Color of the Year, is bringing bright, bold and seductive rhythms into home furnishings. There is nothing like a dramatic hue to inspire design, and no easier way to collectively organize home décor must-haves than on Pinterest. Collect your favorite pins inspired by this trendy color and you could win Tangerine Tango accessories for your home!
Prizes:
- Vases and a ceramic tray from Furbish Studio
- 1 Year Subscription to Country Living Magazine
- Leather ‘tattooed’ Irezumi Dragon pattern pillow by Red Egg
- 10 yards of Burnt Orange fabric from Sensuede
- Riva chair from Lee Industries
Click here to see photos of all the prizes!
Entering is easy. See below for details.
OFFICIAL RULES
“SHOW US YOUR TANGO” PINTEREST SWEEPSTAKES
Sweepstakes dates: April 17, 2012 – April 27, 2012 Tangerine Tango, named Pantone’s 2012 Color of the Year, has already danced its way into home accents, furniture and so much more. IMRE invites you to show us your tango on Pinterest, for the chance to win tangerine décor for your home! Here’s how to enter: -Follow @IMREHOMEIQ on Pinterest -Create a board titled “Tangerine Tango Home Inspirations” -Pin at least five (5) inspiring tangerine images -Repin at least one (1) image from IMREHOMEIQ’s Tangerine Tango board http://pinterest.com/imrehomeiq/tango-sweepstakes/ -With each pin, include the hashtag #tangerine AND #imrehomeiq -Email your board link to IMREHOMEIQ@gmail.com with the subject line “Tangerine Tango” IMRE will randomly select four winners based on all eligible entries received. Have a look at our Tangerine Tango board for inspiration. Only one entry per person. Open to US residents only, 18 or older. Pinterest is invite-only, so if you haven’t already joined, you can request an invite from Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/about/help/
NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE WILL NOT IMPROVE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. By entering the “Show Us Your Tango“ Pinterest Sweepstakes (the “Sweepstakes”), you agree to comply with and be bound by the following official Sweepstakes rules. If you do not agree with the rules in their entirety, you are not permitted to enter the Sweepstakes.
ELIGIBILITY: THE SWEEPSTAKES IS OPEN ONLY TO LEGAL RESIDENTS OF THE 50 UNITED STATES AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA WHO ARE 18 OR OLDER AT TIME OF ENTRY. Employees of IMRE (“Sponsor”), any parent company, subsidiaries, affiliates, advertising and promotion agencies and their immediate family members (defined as spouse, siblings, parents and children) and/or those living in the same household (whether related or not) of each are not eligible to enter. Sweepstakes is subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations. Void outside the 50 United States and the District of Columbia and where prohibited by law. This Sweepstakes is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Pinterest. The winner will be notified via email on or around April 30, 2012. The information provided will only be used for the purposes of this Sweepstakes and as otherwise permitted by Sponsor’s privacy policy.
HOW TO ENTER: The IMRE “Show Us Your Tango” Pinterest Sweepstakes runs from April 17th, 12am EST to 11:59pm EST April 27, 2012. Only entrants who complete the rules required to enter the Sweepstakes during the aforementioned times are eligible to enter to win. Entrants can find the Sweepstakes on the IMREHOMEIQ Pinterest profile, located at pinterest.com/imrehomeiq/tango-sweepstakes/. Entrants must follow all online instructions to be eligible to win the Sweepstakes. Online entrants are subject to all notices posted online including but not limited to privacy policies of the Sponsor. Limit one (1) entry per person. Although subsequent attempts to create boards on a given day may be received, only the first complete board will be eligible; subsequent attempts by the same person to enter, including entries submitted with an alternate Pinterest profile, will be disqualified. All boards will become Sponsor’s property.
ADDITIONAL ENTRIES: Entrants may earn additional entries by commenting on the original contest image pin daily. Limit one (1) additional entry per entrant per day.
PRIZE & APPROXIMATE RETAIL VALUE (“ARV”): Five winners will receive tangerine décor for their home valued between $10 and $1,500. The prizes (one prize per winner) include a tangerine tango ceramic tray and two vases donated by Furbish Studio, valued at $71, a one year subscription to Country Living magazine, valued at $12, a leather ‘tattooed’ Irezumi Dragon pattern pillow by Red Egg, valued at $350, 10 yards of burnt orange fabric from Sensuede, value at $1,000, and a Riva chairfrom Lee Industries, valued at $1,234. The winners will be selected on or around April 30, 2012, and will be notified within 5 business days by email, and will be required to complete and return an Affidavit of Eligibility and Liability and Publicity Release (“Affidavit/Release”) within 14 days of the date specified on the notification, or alternate winners will be selected. Prizes will be shipped within 14 days of the winner’s selection. If potential winners cannot be contacted, or if Affidavit/Release is returned as undeliverable or if selected winners cannot accept or receive the prize for any reason, or he/she is not in compliance with these Official Rules, the prize will be forfeited and awarded to alternate winners in a separate random drawing. If winners are otherwise eligible under these Official Rules, but is nevertheless deemed a minor in his or her state of primary residence, the prize will be awarded in the name of winner’s parent or legal guardian who will be required to execute an affidavit on the minor’s behalf. No substitutions are permitted except if prize is unavailable, in which case a prize of equal or greater value will be awarded. Prize may not be exchanged. Prize is not redeemable for cash. Prize is non-assignable and non-transferable except to a surviving spouse. Winners are responsible for all federal, state and local sales and income taxes. Any other incidental expenses on prize not specified herein are the sole responsibility of winners. Entry and acceptance of the prize constitute permission to use winner’s name, prize description, hometown and likeness for posting online, advertising and promotional purposes without further compensation, except where prohibited by law. Subject to the terms and conditions provided herein, the prize is guaranteed to be awarded. By participating, entrants fully and unconditionally agree to these Official Rules and the decisions of the Sponsor, which are binding. Entrants agree that they release the Sponsor, Pinterest, any parent company, affiliated companies, and all other businesses involved in this Sweepstakes, as well as the employees, officers, directors and agents of each such company, from all claims and liability relating to their participation, acceptance and use of the prize. Winners assume all liability for any injury or damage caused or claimed to be caused, by participation in this Sweepstakes or receipt or use of the prize. Sponsor has not made nor is in any manner responsible or liable for any warranty, representation or guarantee express or implied, in fact or in law, with respect to the prize, including, without limitation, to the prize’s quality or fitness for a particular purpose. The Sponsor is not responsible for any typographical or other error in the advertising for the Sweepstakes, administration of the Sweepstakes or in the announcement of the prize. Sponsor is not responsible if Sweepstakes cannot take place or if the prize cannot be awarded due to cancellations, delays or interruptions due to acts of God, acts of war (declared or undeclared), natural disasters, weather, acts of terrorism, riot or civil disturbance, satellite or equipment failure, federal state or local government law, order or regulation, public health crisis, order of any court or jurisdiction, or other cause not reasonably within Sponsor’s control (each a “Force Majeure” event or occurrence). In the event of a dispute over the identity of an online entrant, entry will be deemed submitted by the “Authorized Account Holder” of the Pinterest profile and/or e-mail address submitted at time of entry. Authorized Account Holder means the natural person who is assigned to a Pinterest profile email address by an Internet access provider, online service provider, or other organization that is responsible for assigning email addresses for the domain associated with the submitted email address. Entry materials/data that have been tampered with or altered, or mass entries or entries generated by a script, macro or use of automated devices are void. The Sponsor is not responsible for: (i) error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operations or transmission, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to or alterations of entry materials, or for technical, network, telephone equipment, electronic, computer, hardware or software malfunctions of any kind, or inaccurate transmission of or failure to receive entry information by Sponsor on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any web site or any combination thereof; or (ii) any injury or damage to persons or property, including but not limited to death, which may be caused, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, from entrant’s participation in the Sweepstakes or receipt or use of the prize. By participating in the Sweepstakes, you (i) agree to be bound by these Official Rules, including all eligibility requirements, and (ii) agree to be bound by the decisions of the Sponsor, which are final and binding in all matters relating to the Sweepstakes. Behavior which is intended to disrupt or undermine the legitimate operation of the Sweepstakes, or which is intended to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other person, or any failure to comply with these Official Rules, may result in disqualification from the Sweepstakes, and Sponsor reserves the right to seek damages and other remedies from any such person engaging in such behavior to the fullest extent permitted by law. The Sponsor reserves the right to: (i) permanently disqualify from the Sweepstakes any person it believes has intentionally violated these Official Rules; and (ii) cancel, suspend and/or modify the Sweepstakes without any liability if any fraud, virus or other factor beyond Sponsor’s reasonable control impairs the administration, functioning or proper play of the Sweepstakes, as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion, and withdraw the online method of entry if it becomes technically corrupted (including if a computer virus or system malfunction inalterably impairs its ability to conduct the Sweepstakes), and to select winners from among all eligible entries received prior to withdrawal. Inclusion in such drawing shall be each entrant’s sole and exclusive remedy under such circumstances. LEGAL WARNING: ANY ATTEMPT BY AN INDIVIDUAL, WHETHER OR NOT AN ENTRANT, TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE, DESTROY, TAMPER OR VANDALIZE THIS WEB SITE OR INTERFERE WITH THE OPERATION OF THE SWEEPSTAKES, IS A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS AND THE SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES AND DILIGENTLY PURSUE ALL REMEDIES AGAINST ANY SUCH INDIVIDUAL TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. APPLICABLE LAWS AND JURISDICTION: This Sweepstakes is subject to all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations. Issues concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules shall be governed by and interpreted under the laws of the State of Maryland without regard to its conflicts of laws provisions. By participating, entrants agree that any and all disputes arising out of or relating in any way to this Sweepstakes shall be resolved individually, and without resort to class action, exclusively by a state or federal court located in Baltimore, Maryland. Should there be a conflict between the laws of the State of Maryland and any other laws, the conflict will be resolved in favor of the laws of the State of Maryland. All judgments or awards shall be limited to actual out-of-pocket damages (excluding attorneys’ fees) associated with participation in this Sweepstakes and shall not include any indirect, punitive, incidental and/or consequential damages.
WINNER LIST: For confirmation of the prize winners’ name and city of residence, send a self-addressed stamped envelope, to be received by June 1, 2012, to: IMREHOMEIQ Tangerine Tango Pinterest Sweepstakes List Request, c/o Social Media Team, 909 Ridgebrook Road, Suite 300, Baltimore, MD 21152 SPONSOR: IMRE, 909 Ridgebrook Road, Suite 300, Baltimore, MD 21152.
Time for the TV to Come Out of the Cabinet or Entertainment Center or Mirror
Thursday, April 12th, 2012It seems to me we have been trying to hide our television sets since the day TV was first invented. Will we be able to continue with this tradition? No.
First, we tried to camouflage the television as a piece of furniture… a large piece of furniture. The television was built into a counsel that you could actually choose in either a Victorian or Mediterranean designed cabinet. People used the top of the TV as a display area for the family photos. I can still see my mom’s graduation picture sitting on top of my grandparent’s TV. This is the same picture I knocked off by throwing a block at it. Don’t ask me why I did it or why I still remember it.
Later in life, when TV’s got smaller and more affordable, people decided they needed more than one in the home and they should match the decor of the room. I got a 13” black and white TV for my bedroom. It was bright red since the color scheme of my room was red and black. I remember watching Friday Night Videos with Ahmad Rashad, the precursor to MTV. I took this TV to college where it was promptly stolen. Damn portable TVs.
Televisions didn’t seem to change much over the next decade or two but our creativity in hiding them improved – I think. People began building walls of bookshelves with a special space for the TV. We are calling these entertainment centers today. In my house, my antique loving wife found a large cabinet for the TV with a door we could close when we were not watching the Vikings or the Twins. Now that I think about it, we built our own counsel TV.
Today, the TV’s are flat and hung on the wall like a painting. Of course, designers and manufacturers alike are finding ways to hide these televisions. There is the TV framed with one-way glass that shows the picture only when the TV is on. You can have your television pop up from a half wall or a cabinet and return to be hidden when you are done watching. These are both clever ways of hiding the TV.
So what is next? Based on our time at the Consumer Electronic Show this January, we will need to break the decade long tradition or obsession of hiding our televisions and come to grips with the fact that TV’s will be the hub of our communication and, possibly, the control center in our home. The same technology that we are embracing on our smartphones and tablets (aka hand-held TVs) like the Internet, social media, remote controls, and video chatting are all coming to the television in your home. Further, if the experts at Sony, Panasonic, Samsung, and all the others at CES are correct, the TV will soon become the center of all home systems controls. You will be controlling your lighting, heating and cooling, and security of your home from the TV. Add to this all the things we are doing online today and hiding the TV will be next to impossible, or will it?
No matter how dependent we become on our televisions, we will always find a way to hide them. Soon, we will hide them in countertops in the kitchen, in windows and patio doors, in appliances, and most everywhere else we can place glass today.
Now, where did I place the remote?
Universal Design is Creeping Into Our Lives
Thursday, April 5th, 2012Universal Design is becoming more and more important in our homes, whether we like it or not. And most often, we don’t like it.
Face it. The idea of living in a “Universal Design” home does not sound appealing to you. People don’t want to be faced with their own mortality, and no matter how well-designed a home can be, mention the words “Universal Design” and all you can think of is a nursing home.
Fortunately, the Universal Design philosophy is subtly making its way into the mainstream. Even if we don’t call something by that term, products and homes are being designed to be easily accessible and usable by a greater number of people. That’s when “Universal Design” becomes just good design.
Induction cooktops, which are gaining popularity in the United States, provide a great example of this concept. Using magnetism to transfer heat directly to a pan, induction cooktops work faster and waste almost no energy. But their primary Universal Design benefit is safety. The cooktops themselves stay cool, virtually eliminating the risk of accidental burns – an important feature for households with small children.
Homeowners are also choosing to incorporate automation and technology in their homes – lights that turn on and off automatically when you enter and exit a room, security systems that integrate with smart phones and tablets, heating and cooling systems that know when we’re home and when we’re away. These may seem like modern conveniences, but they are examples of Universal Design at work. As less manual work is required to perform simple functions in a home, it becomes safer, easier to use and more accommodating to everyone.
No matter what our age is, we can all benefit from the principles that Universal Design advances. As home builders, remodelers and product manufacturers continue to embrace these principles – without the stigma the term Universal Design carries – our homes will become more comfortable and livable.
Pinterest Picks: Man Cave Madness
Tuesday, March 27th, 2012In the spirit of March Madness, the HomeIQ team is celebrating this week’s Pinterest Picks, Man Cave style. Whether it’s a garage, spare bedroom or a basement, every man dreams of his own space in the home to call his own. HomeIQ man cave expert, Chris Thiede shares his a few of his favorite examples of excellence in Man Cave design that we hope will inspire you to construct your own personal hangout (woman caves included).
