Broyhill To Develop Consumer Model For Testing Products Prior To Introduction

Furniture World Magazine

At a VIP breakfast for gallery dealers, Broyhill Home Furnishings announced the company is leading an initiative to conduct consumer insight testing and market research prior to launching new products into the marketplace. BASES, a premiere marketing information company and the world leader in sales forecasting and initiative optimization, has been engaged by Furniture Brands International (NYSE:FBN) to help build a market research and consumer insight model specific to the furniture industry. BASES is a service of The Nielsen Company, the world’s leading global research organization. Broyhill has spent the last six months working to build the new model and has already started testing this market’s new product introductions among consumers. It is the first of several research initiatives integrating different methodologies in order to provide multiple insights into consumer attitudes and behaviors. “Beginning this Market, new Broyhill products will be more strategically and scientifically linked to consumer insights, preferences and trends,” says Jeff Cook, president of Broyhill. “Not only are we bringing more new products to market than ever before, we have greater confidence that the products we’re introducing are what consumers want and what they will buy.” As part of this new program, Broyhill is building in-depth and highly specific consumer profiles such as Empty Nester, Comfortable Country and Young Transitional. A variety of attitudinal and behavioral measures will be incorporated by ACNielsen to develop actionable consumer profiles based on compelling demographic, psychographic, geographic, and other lifestyle consumer segmentation information. “Broyhill can then take these highly detailed and in-depth profiles, backed by strong research and factor all this information into developing products that are precisely aligned with what consumers want,” he says. In addition, Broyhill is analyzing its past product development portfolio to better understand why certain products have been successful and others have not. “We’re getting at the root causes of what makes a product sell in the marketplace,” Cook says, “and gaining new insights into consumer buying patterns, trends, and most important, their wants and needs.” According to Cook, the new program has already started to pay off. “The model identified potential enhancements to some of our new product introductions and just as important, it’s pointed out areas of strength, which reaffirms that we’re on the right track,” he says. “Our consumer research and pre-testing is just one more example of the steps Broyhill is taking to regain its dominance in every product category.” Broyhill Home Furnishings offers wooden case goods and upholstery for every room in the home, including the living room, dining room, bedroom, family room, home entertainment area, home office and youth bedroom. Sold in retail stores in all 50 states and 35 foreign countries, Broyhill is one of the largest home furnishings producers in the world. For over 100 years, Broyhill continues to be the most recognized furniture brand. Headquartered in Lenoir, North Carolina, Broyhill is a subsidiary of Furniture Brands International (NYSE:FBN), which produces, sources and markets its products under six of the best-known brand names in the industry – Broyhill, Lane, Thomasville, Henredon, Drexel Heritage, and Maitland-Smith.