Interfloor

To boldly go where no underlay brand has gone before

Yesterday

Since it was first rolled out at the 1958 Carpet Fair at Earls Court, Tredaire, Interfloor’s luxury carpet underlay brand, has enjoyed a large share of the UK market. But with increasingly aggressive competition from UK manufacturers and the influx of cheap imports, there was a need to defend their position as a brand leader.

Underlay had often played second fiddle to carpet in the minds of consumers. The importance of a high-quality underlay in the overall feeling of a carpet was underestimated & misunderstood. Therefore, to increase awareness & consideration for Tredaire’s quality underlay, we needed to reach consumers more effectively - communicating the superior feeling of Tredaire in a way that would keep underlay front of mind.

The Insight

To drive demand, we needed to understand our audiences across the sales funnel to identify the opportunities to influence throughout. Our market & audience research covered all bases:

• Consumer focus groups
• Interviews with trade professionals
• Surveys with both consumer & trade audiences
• Multiple store visits

The result was a clear understanding of the challenges we needed to overcome. Underlay was an afterthought, often not given the platform it deserved by the trade & misunderstood by consumers.

Laying the foundations

Our research confirmed that product knowledge was low and brand awareness was even lower. This was effectively a low to no-interest category with a long purchase cycle. We needed a comms strategy to inspire & educate consumers across the funnel, while giving retailers the support to feel confident in pushing a premium product.

Working with media agency Media Performance, we developed a media plan that aimed to drive brand awareness, consideration & preference. Key consumer & trade audience groups were identified to target across a range of media channels.

We now needed a strong creative platform that would enable us to cut-through, communicate effectively with our audiences & build preference.

Luxury. Comfort. Mission accomplished.

Enter the Tredaire-nauts. With it's luxurious comfort and recovery, walking on Tredaire underlay can feel like you’re defying gravity. So, who better to tell our story than a crew of intergalactic explorers. On a mission to bring comfort and luxury to homes across the UK, and possibly the outer reaches of the universe. But definitely as far as the attic bedroom.

Today

The campaign launches the Tredaire-nauts across an extensive media plan that includes TV, VOD, radio, digital and in-store activations. The TV partnership with Channel 4 will mark a pivotal moment for both the brand and the flooring sector, as we aim to raise the creative bar within the industry.

Created in partnership with animation specialists Flipbook Studios, the 30” spots feature the ‘Tredaire-nauts’ floating through space, evoking the lightness that is felt when stepping onto flooring that is underlaid with Tredaire.

The campaign marks the start of a long-term strategic and creative communications drive, with future missions on the horizon.