Indoor Furniture

Scandinavian Mid-Century Modern Furniture

This case study presents the creative stages of the business strategy and development of Indoor Furniture, one of the largest distributors of modern Scandinavian furniture in the United States.

Introduction

Disrupting the Scandanavian furniture market

When we first met this Maryland based furniture retailer over 4 years ago, they had minimal online presence and a 90's era informational website. Their business existed largely through wholesale relationships earned over time through their premium products and exceptional service.

Although they were complete strangers to e-commerce, the organization saw a clear opportunity to supplement their traditional wholesale business by entering the online marketplace. Austin Creative knew early on that building a solid foundation with a smart website structure would be critical to their long-term success.

Strategy

Discovery Research
Insights
Media Planning
Competitive Analysis
Website Assessment
Business Strategy
Innovation Strategy
Marketing Plan & Budget

Identity

Architecture & Naming
Voice & Tone
Messaging Framework
Logo Design
Color Palette & Typography
Illustrations & Iconography
Print Design
Packaging Design

Experience

Website Development
E-Commerce
Responsive Interface
Website Management
Custom Dashboards
Website Maintenance
Enterprise Security
Metrics & Analytics

Activation

Content Creation
Social Advertising
Community Management
Social Influence
Programmatic Campaigns
Local SEO
Keyword Ranking
Email Automation

➊ Challenges

Indoor Furniture wanted a modern visual-rich e-commerce platform that would establish digital presence, drive online sales, and increase local in-store traffic.
Our client wanted to expand out of their local market and reach millions of prospect customers across the country.
They were in need of a rebrand, but wanted to preserve their iconic logo that was created more than 40 years ago.

➋ Solutions

We started by strategizing a roadmap to success by finding key areas to improve and lost opportunities.
We rebranded the company to reflect a more modern market, without taking away from the original identity.
We developed a custom E-Commerce platform and marketed it to millions of prospects.

➌ Results

The rebrand was a major success in the clients visual identity and helped to position the company near their competitors.
The new platform has been positioned in front of more than 234M prospects and has received over 1.1M page views.
E-Commerce revenues have increased by 798%.

Strategy

How we increased conversion rates by 798%

After completing market research, we gathered and organized our data to look for prominent insights. We wrote down responses on sticky notes and categorized them into says, does, thinking and feeling. This method allowed us to discover trends and patterns from which we were able to draw insights and discover the needs of our users.

Empathy Map

Competitive Analysis

Identity

Rebranding a four decade identity.

It was important to study the conditions and philosophy of Indoor Furniture's existing logo functionality and business goals in our redesign process. It should be mentioned that redesign for existing companies and products can have different levels of breakaway from the existing versions: some companies decide upon a fully new design which has nothing in common with the current branding, while others keep the track of changes carefully and gradually, with minor alterations eliminating the risk of losing recognizability on the market. The second approach was taken as a basis in this particular story because Indoor Furniture had already won its audience on the market. That means any design change should be done with respect to the company’s history and philosophy as well as the brand image that has grown through the years. Therefore, the new design had to take its roots from the existing branding, but offer some refreshment and add some trend.

Experience

A complete digital transformation.

Austin Creative developed a custom backend dashboard for admins and store managers to analyze real-time sales metrics, manage orders, track goals, and manage the website’s front-end content. This solution has allowed Indoor Furniture to focus on the data that matters most, without the headaches of standard CMS management.

Activation

Blooming from local to continental

Over the course of 4 years, we have positioned Indoor Furniture in front of millions of prospect customers through a strategic activation plan that was set into motion upon the launch of their e-commerce platform. By harnessing the power of paid and organic social advertising, search engine optimization, and email marketing, we have been successful in our efforts to target and engage new users and convert them into loyal customers. As our relationship with Indoor Furniture continues to flourish, we are happy to be the driving force of their online marketing efforts and look forward to many more years of accelerated growth and development.

1.1M

Page Views

258k

New Users

798%

Revenue Increase

374

Campaigns

234M

Impressions

+636%

Social Followers

Testimonial

Gregory

Store Manager

In 2018, Indoor Furniture had what can be considered “zero presence” on the web. We reached out to Austin Creative to take on what was sure to be a long and arduous task and our business hasn’t been the same since… it’s 1000x better! One of the first things they were sure to let us know was that our SEO had little to no traction and they got started immediately. Within DAYS we began receiving phone calls from customers who were now able to find us on the web using simple google searches. Never before had we received a phone call from a customer stating that they found us on the web. NOT ONCE and this was in the year 2018 so it was very clear that we had a lot of catching up to do.

Austin Creative redesigned our website from the bottom up. Within days we were now working with a website that was MUCH more user friendly, had very clear information and was more beautiful than some of our staunchest competition. They made a number of improvements to the loading time/speed of the website so that Google would recognize and rank our site better for higher consumer visibility.

Our company was also non-existent on social media. Austin Creative spearheaded the effort to establish channels across every pertinent social media platform. We now have a recognizable presence on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest!

Going back to the beginning, Austin Creative mentioned that because we didn’t display prices on our website, it was driving a ton of traffic AWAY from the site. They also immediately wondered why we were not selling our products through the website, another thing that was driving potential buyers away. We didn’t come around to the idea of adding pricing to the website until mid 2019 and when Coronavirus hit, Austin Creative converted the site to e-Commerce and to no one’s surprise, our business changed for the better once again. Half of our business is now being driven through inquiries via the website or direct web sales. Business has honestly never been better.

The biggest thing to note is that Austin Creative didn’t just come in and say “do this, do that…”, they implemented the changes and over 3 years have monitored everything DAILY and consistently recommends changes.

A few more things: In January 2021, we relocated our store front and decided it was time for a change to our logo. We wanted something that was up-to-date, modern but not unfamiliar from what our customers had come to recognize and know us from over the years. Within days, Austin Creative whipped up a brand, spanking new logo JUST in time for our grand opening. They worked with a local company who was tasked with designing an illuminated sign to be built into an existing stone structure… They went above and beyond.

We are looking forward to a lasting relationship with Austin Creative!