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Ethan Allen finds the right showcase in a high-visibility cable promotion

Ethan Allen furniture used to be the safe bet our parents took when they wanted something solid, long lasting, and, most likely, maple. Not any more."Our core audience used to skew 45 and up," says Lenora Kirkley, vice president of advertising sales. "Today, we sell a variety of styles in a variety of price points to buyers who range from their late 20s to their 80s. "Ethan Allen's main audience, however, is women 25-54. That's a wide enough range to warrant buying broadcast, but for the past two years, the company has placed a "substantial" amount of money in cable, Kirkley says. Much of this spending has gone into a lifestyle network sweepstakes highly successful at reaching motivated but diverse demographic targets." We needed a showcase that would feature all our different products while also illustrating our unique free decorator services," explains Kirkley. "Home & Garden Television's Dream Home Giveaway does exactly that." Adds Donna Speciale, executive vice president and director of national and local broadcast at MediaCom: "It's not very often that a vendor has an existing promotion that fits like a glove to a client, but this was it." Consider this year's Dream Home Giveaway, a million-dollar hideaway in the Florida Panhandle. The 2800-square-foot house overlooks East Bay and the Intercoastal Waterway, and features three bedrooms, an outside office, all kinds of recreational space, a to-die-for kitchen and even a "Master Porch." When Ethan Allen agreed to become not just a show "sponsor" but also one of only two "presenters," it got to do up the entire house. The company jumped into the assignment with gusto, supplying $80,000 in furniture and accessories.

Ethan Allen furniture, wall treatments and accessories played a big role in HGTV's 2003 Dream Home Giveaway

HGTV debuted the dream home in a one-hour TV special that offered viewers a peek at the house being built and went into detail about its interior planning and design. Ethan Allen's style department worked with HGTV's style team to come up with a look and then audiences got to see it in the making, not only when the TV special premiered, but later in repeat telecasts and for months online.

The pitch worked. According to Lisabeth Hayes, HGTV's senior vice president of advertising sales, nearly 28 million entries poured in prior to the March 27, 2003 winner selection. "We believe this is the largest promotion response in cable history, and possibly in broadcast history," Hayes notes.

The marketing goal during the sweepstakes' two month flight (January-February 2003) was to show would-be shoppers not just the Ethan Allen furniture, lighting fixtures and wall décor, but to promote its design consultants, who are available at every store, offering the same expertise to regular customers for free.

"The Dream Home Giveaway has elevated Ethan Allen. It shows the furniture is younger and that the company's free designer assistance is unique."

— Donna Speciale, executive vice president and director of national and local broadcast, MediaCom

Viewers got to wander through the great room, kitchen and other rooms of a million dollar hideaway on the Florida panhandle

Kirkley is equally impressed. "The feedback from the first show was terrific," she says. "We got a tremendous number of calls, lots of traffic in our stores, and lots of traffic to our Web site, in particular." Website visitors got to see every single table, plant stand, step ladder, side chair, even the "three Perla beaded boxes" found in the Florida dream house. Each item carried tags explaining quantity, item number, finish and description, a crib sheet for stealth decorators wishing to waltz into Ethan Allen and claim such designer flair as their own. This is the second year that Ethan Allen has participated in the HGTV Dream Home Giveaway sweepstakes, so planning for the event began months ago. In fact, HGTV called upon MediaCom in June, just before the cable upfront, to pitch the retailer. "From an agency standpoint, we are always looking for something different, not just a GRP," Speciale says. "The Dream Home Giveaway has added value and it makes Ethan Allen stand out. This might not be for everyone, but for us it was a perfect fit. Not only does our client get standard commercial time, but HGTV creates promotions and tags for us plus a website where viewers can see the furniture. It's really a 24-hour commercial." According to Kirkley, the HGTV buy is part of a media plan that also includes broadcast, a variety of other cable networks including A&E, TLC, Bravo, MSNBC and Lifetime, plus direct mail, print and radio. With so much media working on the company's behalf, Kirkley can't trace how much business is coming from the HGTV Dream Home Giveaway, but there are hints about the promotion's effectiveness.

"We can tell from visits to our Web site, plus by the HGTV mentions we're getting in our stores, that cable is driving customers to us," she says.

Ethan Allen has been in cable for "many, many" years, Kirkley adds. "We've kept up with the shift of viewers from broadcast to cable. And cable has been very helpful in targeting a highly-qualified consumer while giving us more reach and frequency." Beyond exposure, however, Speciale adds there is another reason HGTV works for Ethan Allen, a reason harkening back to Ethan Allen's cozy, almost "quaint" appeal.

"The Dream Home Giveaway has elevated Ethan Allen," Speciale says. "It shows the furniture is younger and that the company's free designer assistance is unique-a pretty amazing concept really. Their decorators really do come into your home and consult with you." Last year, Ethan Allen was a "featured" sponsor of the HGTV Chesapeake Bay Dream house. From the start, Speciale and Kirkley say, the furniture company's exposure was high profile and effective." We like to have a presenter that makes sense and adds incredible value to our prize package," Hayes explains. "We like the fact that Ethan Allen is a high quality advertiser that best represents our brand." Indeed, adds Speciale, "The best type of promotion is one you can repeat the following year."

Reprinted with the permission of Adweek Magazines.

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