Brand Loyalty

In Marketing 101, people learn that the whole point of marketing is to raise brand awareness and create brand loyalty for your products. (Sorry for going back to b-school on you folks..) So, I get the concept in theory. But it has never been enough to get me to pay more for an item just because of the brand. Marketers tell us that the improved quality, smell, taste, ease of use, cleaning power etc justify the additional price you would pay for the item. Some items are priced higher because of the status assoicated with having them. But I come from a line of bargain shoppers and label readers. It is very rare that I buy something just because of the brand. I have no problem buying a store brand. In fact, sometimes store brands are actually better! I will pay a premium for actual quality differences, but not implied ones (which means I will actually test/compare, weigh the pros and cons etc.) But the other day, I was presented with one of the most distinct brand loyatly questions i have ever confronted in my life as a purchaser or consumer of good and services.

I am looking to buy some new flooring for my rental unit. I wanted to get some nice neutral carpet tiles that I could install easily myself. I knew about this company called FLOR who make carpet tiles in all these cool patterns and colors so I was considering purchasing some of them.

They are even produced not too far from here so shipping time does not take long. However, I was looking back at an email I had gotten from the company and I noticed this little one line ad served up at the top of the mail message. As many of you may know, Google has made adserving a science. When you do searches, in the gel on the right hand side, they serve up related links that sponsors have paid for Google to present. They also apply this concept to email. If an email contains certain words or comes from a certain company, they can ad serve similar content right above the email message you are looking at. Anyway the add was for icarpettiles.com a company that sells small lots/leftovers/overstocks of carpet tiles online. And it is MUCH cheaper than FLOR, like 1/3 the price! I was concerned that this might be because you have to install them with carpet glue but they also have double-sided tape that you can use as well. It might not be as nice looking but, come on!, this is a rental property. It just needs to be something neutral.

So, this is a no brainer, right? But the cheaper ones online!....

But here is the dilemma... FLOR is owned by the Interface Flooring company, which is dedicated to promoting sustainability as part of it's business model. For those of you who don't know what sustainability is, and I didn't either until I ended up majoring in it in bschool, it is the concept that

Interface bases its sustainability plan on Seven Fronts through their Mission Zero effort:

Eliminate Waste: Eliminating all forms of waste in every area of business;
Benign Emissions: Eliminating toxic substances from products, vehicles and facilities;
Renewable Energy: Operating facilities with renewable energy sources – solar, wind, landfill gas, biomass and low impact hydroelectric;
Closing the Loop: Redesigning processes and products to close the technical loop using recovered and bio-based materials;
Resource-Efficient Transportation: Transporting people and products efficiently to reduce waste and emissions;
Sensitizing Stakeholders: Creating a culture that integrates sustainability principles and improves people’s lives and livelihoods;
Redesign Commerce: Creating a new business model that demonstrates and supports the value of sustainability-based commerce;

Traditionally, the carpet industry is one of the more environmentally taxing industries there is. Carpet fibers are spun out of petroluem and old carpets have a ridiculously long half life. By 2020, Interface has a mission to reduce it's negative environmental impact completely and this is reflected in the FLOR products. (You can read more about their sustainability mission here.)

FLOR tiles are not stuck to the ground. Rather, you lay them out and stick them to other tiles with these adhesive circles called FLOR Dots so there is no toxic glue or waste left behind. 1 dot goes in each corner of the tiles but because the entire layout is so large and you cut it to fit your space, the carpet doesn't move. The recycled content in their products has been increased to about 16%. Their R&R (return and recycle) will take back old and unused tiles to turn them into new carpet tiles, and they pay the shipping!

So it is a cool company that is in line with my value structure. And for the first time, I think I might buy something that costs much, much more because of the ideals the company. espouses....