Social media isn’t a magical new fad. It’s simply a new way to communicate, cost-effectively opening up dialogue that didn’t exist in the old marketing communications model.
In the old days (1990s), building professionals such as kitchen & bath designers might give helpful feedback to their rep and it might work its way up the corporate food chain, and something might happen.
Or not.
In October, kitchen & designer Paul Anater published a blog post, Sears’ Blue Crew Needs Some Work, detailing his frustrations with the Sears Kenmore built-in appliances his new kitchen remodeling clients had purchased on their own.
The St. Petersburg, Florida designer could not get the necessary dimensions from the Sears Kenmore website, nor from their hapless customer service reps, kept well-protected from pesky customers by a phone tree from heck.
“If I can’t tell the cabinet maker these dimensions, he can’t build me the cabinet I need. They have to be exact because we’re talking about a several thousand dollar cabinet here and there’s no such thing as a return for custom work, Paul blogged.
Paul took note that the Sears website spends more digital real estate “touting the virtues of the Blue Crew than it does dispensing information. It’s difficult to navigate and the information I needed was buried. There was no pro section and no dimension guide. Ridiculous.”
He continued: “Why not take some of the serious cash you’re spending on the Blue Crew TV and print spots and spend it instead on updated spec books and some training for your trained professionals? This doesn’t bode well and you can rest assured that you have a kitchen designer in Florida who’s actively pointing his clients as far from your doors as he can.”
A dedicated and prolific communicator, Paul promoted his blog post via his Twitter account, @saintpetepaul. Talk about hitting a nerve. “That post set off a firestorm of commiseration in my comments section and on Twitter that lasted throughout the weekend,” Paul says. “When I first wrote that post I thought that I was the only one who had these frustrations. To say I’m not alone in this is an understatement.”
Paul’s blog post was published on a Saturday. On Monday morning, Paul had a voice mail message from a Sears executive. “He was very clear in his e-mail that he wasn’t out to make a Kenmore convert out of me,” Paul noted. “Rather, what he wanted to gain from a conversation with me was a better understanding of the sort of information design professionals need from them.”
The Sears exec asked if Paul would be willing to talk to him and a couple members of his team. Paul upped the ante. He volunteered to solicit feedback from his nationwide network of kitchen & bath designer friends, and got 12 of them to join the call, which almost certainly became the lowest-cost focus group ever.
Results:
Paul: “Let me start out by saying that I am beyond impressed with Sears Appliances. I see them in a whole new light. I mean, how many members of the appliance industry would open themselves up to a panel discussion with a group of designers and architects who’d been hand picked by blogger who’d been done wrong? ….You guys showed me a side to your company I never knew existed. Bravo.”
Sears: Within three weeks of that call, Sears was back in touch with Paul to continue the dialogue, asking if he would be interested in an an ongoing series of conversations.
BuildingGreen.com called the new Rheem integrated air source HP-50 Heat Pump Water Heater one of “the most exciting and innovative new products in the green building field.” BuildingGreen.com editor Alex Wilson announced the honor during a seminar at Greenbuild 2009.
We’re not too surprised. Rheem is continuously designing and developing their products to meet the efficient water heater needs of the future.
Back in September, Rheem was the first industry manufacturer to announce delivery of a fully integrated, highly efficient water heater. The HP-50 Heat Pump Water Heater, which meets the qualifications for an ENERGY STAR® rating, is more than twice as energy efficient as a standard electric storage water heater.
The energy-saving design will help a family reduce its carbon footprint by nearly two tons annually. In addition, the HP-50, which has a storage capacity of 50 gallons, qualifies for a federal tax credit as well as many state and utility rebates and incentives.
Feel the force from a trio of new showerheads from American Standard that deliver an invigorating, satisfying soak while reducing water usage up to 40 percent.
The FloWise® showerheads are about comfort and convenience as well as water conservation. The key to their construction is a small turbine-like mechanism that spins the water stream through the head to create a powerful, energizing spray. When the three-function showerhead is turned off, it automatically returns to the ultra water savings mode of 1.5 gpm, making it perfect for any home.
The FloWise showerheads are currently available in a variety of finishes, including Polished Chrome, Satin Nickel, Polished Brass and Blackened Bronze. New styles will be available shortly, expanding the design selection to coordinate with additional patterns in the American Standard bath lines.
The ultimate in efficiency and sleek design, American Standard’s Washbrook™ FloWise® Urinal System offers more than 87 percent water savings over standard urinals.
A high-efficiency urinal (HEU), Washbrook uses only 0.125 gallons per flush (gpf), well below HEU requirements of 0.5 gpf for water usage. It is powered by the high-efficiency Selectronic® FloWise 0.125 gpf Urinal Flush Valve. The hands-free Selectronic FloWise Flush Valve operates on DC power and delivers dependable operation throughout a powerful water pressure range of 25 to 125 pounds per square inch (psi).
November 2009: O’Reilly/DePalma partner Lisa Woodward is retained to create the Green Patient Lab display and signage. We also coordinate efforts with our Green Earth PR Network colleagues to increase the number of media visits at client booths.
The American Standard exclusive Selectronic® proximity system is the hands-free commercial plumbing system that delivers on the promise, not the hassle, of touchless technology.
Selectronic technology was developed to simplify specification and installation, while reducing maintenance time and replacement part inventory costs. Combine high-efficiency Selectronic FloWise® flush valves with high-efficiency fixtures to provide LEED-compliant engineered solutions that help meet requirements for green building projects.
The same watertight miniature sensor works for all Selectronic fittings on faucets, flush valves and urinals made by American Standard, including:
Selectronic FloWise 1.28 gallons per flush (gpf) toilet flush valves will save 20 percent on water usage over 1.6 gpf toilets when installed on American Standard’s Afwall® and Madera™ high efficiency toilets (HETs).
Selectronic FloWise 0.5 gpf urinal flush valves will save 50 percent over 1.0 gpf urinals when installed on the Washbrook™ and Allbrook® high-efficiency urinals (HEUs).
Ceratronic™ proximity faucet is the first to enable users to control water temperature, as well as on-off settings, without touching the faucet.
American Standard offers the next generation of water-efficient commercial solutions with its FloWise® Flush-Free Waterless Urinals.
Available in three sizes in a sleek European design, the urinal lasts 15,000 cycles before maintenance is required — ten times longer than competitors’ waterless urinals. The result is cost savings for the facility in labor hours, besides the obvious water savings from these high-efficiency units.
In place of a standard water-driven system, these FloWise Flush-Free Waterless High Efficiency Urinals (HEUs) incorporate a bio-friendly odor barrier that prevents bacterial growth and prevents odor.
American Standard created the first truly siphonic dual flush toilet with its exclusive H2Option that saves water while achieving high performance.
American Standard recently introduced H2Option, the first truly jetted siphonic dual flush toilet. Using as little as 1.0 gallon of water on the low setting, H2Option scours the sides of the bowl to remove every last trace of paper and waste. Plus, the H2Option toilet is WaterSense®-certified for its water-efficiency results.
H2Option uses jetted siphonic action, which adds push to the water from under the rim of the bowl. When the user flushes H2Option, some of the water is instantly diverted to the rim where there are a series of chambers. The air in the chambers pushes the ongoing coming water forcefully out into the bowl. Combined with the force of the rest of the water entering the bowl, the siphon pull action is strong. The bowls of H2Option are a normal slope with a generous water spot.
According to American Standard’s Water Savings Calculator, replacing a 1.6 gallon per flush toilet with H2Option saves 1,400 gallons of water per year, enough to fill three hot tubs. There are 15 states that have rebates available for purchasing high efficiency toilets, according to American Standard’s Rebate Locator.
All American Standard bath faucets, such as Tropic, are WaterSense®-certified and will be lead-free to meet new 2010 standards.
All American Standard bathroom faucets are now WaterSense®-certified and will be lead-free to meet the upcoming new standards required by California and Vermont.
In addition, all American Standard kitchen and bar faucets sold nationwide will meet these new lead-free requirements. WaterSense does not certify kitchen and bath faucets for water-efficiency.
Meeting the EPA’s strict WaterSense maximum flow rate requirement of 1.5 gallons per minute (gpm), all American Standard residential lavatory faucets incorporate pressure-compensating aerators that provide 32 percent water savings over standard models without sacrificing performance. According to EPA estimates, the average U.S. household can save over 500 gallons of water annually by installing WaterSense faucets.
All American Standard residential lavatory and kitchen faucets will now contain less than one quarter of one percent (0.25%) total lead content by weighted average. To attain this new lead-free standard, American Standard is one of the few brands that remains solid-brass, rather than turning to plastic components.
Blog-based websites like ours make it easy for anyone to publish content on the web.
The hard part is learning how to be a publisher. As more brands get into more content on their website, they quickly learn that there is an art to creating and presenting content that will attract the best audience for your product. Here is one view of that process:
