LA-Z-BOY Upholstery Group Names New Marketing Head

Furniture World Magazine

La-Z-Boy Incorporated announced that its La-Z-Boy Upholstery Group has named Bradley J. Simmons to the newly-created executive position of vice president of marketing. He will report directly to group president John J. Case. In making the announcement, Case said, "This new position will allow us to leverage the brand and marketing expertise that has been the signature of the powerful La-Z-Boy brand with other Upholstery Group companies," explained Case. "Our ultimate goal is to provide consumers with a consistent brand experience, regardless of whether they are dealing with La-Z-Boy or one of our other upholstery subsidiaries. " In this new role, Simmons' primary responsibility will be to provide marketing direction to all of the Upholstery Group companies - including Bauhaus, Centurion, Clayton Marcus, England, HickoryMark, Sam Moore, La-Z-Boy Residential and La-Z-Boy Contract Furniture Group. He will identify and maximize marketing synergies, research and pursue new marketing initiatives and develop content for a new Upholstery Group intranet site. Simmons also will oversee the marketing of the La-Z-Boy brand outside of North America, including retail support, trademark usage and compliance and graphic standards, as well as legal issues related to international marketing. Case noted, "Brad has a long and successful history of providing marketing counsel to La-Z-Boy and our retailers. He brings a valuable combination of outside industry perspective and an intimate knowledge of our business. We are excited to have him on our team and look forward to his contributions in this important role. " Simmons has more than 20 years of experience in branding and retail support. Most recently, he was president of Simmons & Partners, a marketing and advertising agency based in Plymouth, Mich. As the firm's principal for the past 10 years, Simmons provided clients with business analysis, strategic planning, marketing segmentation development, research, advertising and promotion, direct marketing, public relations and sales training. The firm worked on several projects for La-Z-Boy Incorporated and the La-Z-Boy Contract Furniture Group. Several individual La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries owners were also among its client roster. In 1998, Simmons helped form Loeffler & Simmons, LLC, another full-service marketing/advertising agency with offices in Plymouth and Bingham Farms, Mich. Prior to forming his own agencies, Simmons worked for Ross Roy, Inc., an advertising agency based in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. At the time, Ross Roy was the agency of record for La-Z-Boy and Simmons served as vice president and account supervisor. Simmons earned a bachelor of arts degree in communications from Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Mich., and also studied journalism at Michigan State University in East Lansing.