National Kitchen & Bath Association president elect John Petrie was interviewed by Forbes.com for a feature on kitchen remodeling trends to avoid. Petrie is quoted extensively throughout the article as an expert on current trends in kitchen remodeling.
The NKBA, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, is the premiere association for kitchen and bath professionals. Learn more at www.nkba.org.
The new iSteam LCD home steam shower control panel from Mr. Steam was highlighted in a review of the International Contemporary Furniture Fair on the Huffington Post.
This high profile coverage was a direct result of connecting Mr. Steam with the author, Courtney Price, as a sponsor of and participant in several of the BlogTours organized by Modenus for design bloggers from around the world.
Blogger Relations | Campaigns - Consumer | The OR-DP Portfolio
The innovative iSteam touch panel from Mr. Steam was featured in USA Today in a piece on new luxury bathroom technology. The coverage included a powerful quote from the president of Mr. Steam’s parent company and also highlighted the low water and energy use required by a daily steam session.
Click the link to view the USA Today coverage, or learn more about the iSteam touch panel at mrsteam.com.
Campaigns - Consumer | Media Relations | The OR-DP Portfolio
Danish pump manufacturer Grundfos unveiled the world’s most energy-efficient circulator at an executive news briefing held January 28 at the International Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigerating Exposition (AHR-EXPO) in Dallas. View a video of the event here.
The news briefing attracted more than 17 editors representing 19 trade publications, which resulted in significant media coverage, including the front page of the trade show’s daily newspaper.
“We truly believe the MAGNA3 will define the industry,” Grundfos president Dennis Wierzbicki said. It offers greater efficiency, reliability, flexibility and more functionality.”
Following the public launch, O’Reilly-DePalma coordinated seven one-on-one media interviews with senior leadership, so that each editor could have private access to top management, as well as a personalized introduction to the new product.
Jes Munk Hansen, president of Grundfos North America, opened the morning press conference by noting, “Today we will be introducing much more than a product; we are introducing technology that will set new standards for the entire pump industry and meet the market’s demands for efficiency, intelligence and sustainability.”
In fact, the new MAGNA3 will consume 20 to 40 percent less energy than most models in the current MAGNA line, already a best-in-class, high-efficiency circulator.
O’Reilly-DePalma coordinated the executive news briefing as well as one-on-one media interviews with senior company leadership.
Grundfos is the only manufacturer to offer a variable-speed, electronically commutated motor (ECM)-based circulator that uses an integrated logic algorithm to “learn” the varying energy-usage patterns of an application over time, enabling the software to automatically determine the lowest possible operating efficiency point to meet ever-changing demand.
By continuously fine-tuning power consumption and flow rates to meet the dynamic needs of the system, this AUTOADAPT function saves both energy and money.
The AUTOADAPT function is so powerful that eight out of every 10 installations can rely on this feature to automatically select the optimal setting, with no additional human intervention. For the installer, that simply means plug and play and walk away.
Grundfos has dramatically improved the pump’s range by increasing the maximum head to almost 60 feet and the maximum flow to approximately 570 gallons per minute. And with more than 35 single and twin circulators in cast iron or stainless steel, MAGNA3 is the solution for a wide range of commercial and domestic application: heating, cooling and air-conditioning, domestic hot water, ground source heat pump, and solar heating.
Green Building | New Building Products | O'Reilly-DePalma Client News | Public Relations | Special Events | Trade Shows
Update: See the earned coverage in the Wall Street Journal.
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and the National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA) today announced an agreement to co-locate the International Builders’ Show (IBS) and the Kitchen & Bath Industry Show (KBIS) in Las Vegas beginning in February 2014.The two events will remain separate and distinct shows held simultaneously at the Las Vegas Convention Center through 2016, creating Design and Construction Week, one of the world’s largest gatherings focused on new ideas, products and technologies to design, build and remodel homes.
The new mega-event will be held Feb. 4-6, 2014 in Las Vegas, with each show occupying a separate hall. Kitchen and bath brands that have participated in both shows can choose to exhibit in the KBIS or IBS hall. One pass will provide access to both exhibits. NKBA and NAHB will continue to produce separate educational programming and special events.
Design and Construction Week 2014 is expected to draw more than 75,000 specifiers, builders, dealers and suppliers and 2,000 exhibiting brands, based on recent trends for both shows.
For more information on this announcement view the complete press release or email us.
Building Industry News | Campaigns - Trade | O'Reilly-DePalma Client News | Public Relations | The OR-DP Portfolio
The American Standard hometown newspaper, the NJ Star-Ledger, sent a videographer to report on their NJ-based new product design center. The focus is on toilet design and performance, where American Standard is the US category leader:
Campaigns - Consumer | Media Relations | The OR-DP Portfolio
Cleveland.com, the online home of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, recently covered the 2012 Noritz Continuous Hot Water Report and also touted the energy savings of tankless water heaters.
The Hot Water Report details the importance of hot, continuous water among homeowners and looks at how American bathing habits range from efficient to excessive. Also included in the report from Noritz are telling infographics about age and gender differences and positive data about homeowner willingness to save energy and reduce strain on utilities.
Reporter Jill Sell noted that “58 percent of consumers would replace a water heater if it meant lowering utility bills and saving energy,” and highlighted the energy savings offered by Noritz tankless water heaters.
This consumer survey was also covered by the Los Angeles Times.
Campaigns - Consumer | Media Relations | The OR-DP Portfolio
It started with a few comments about kitchen appliances during #KBTribeChat. One interior design blogger challenged another to a cookoff. And a grand idea was born for the 2012 Dwell on Design show.
O’Reilly-DePalma sister agency, Flying Camel, recruited the two challengers to a real cookoff in the Capital Ranges booth. From there, the very talented Leanne Wood Newman also recruiting support teams to create two teams of three. Two teams of design and food bloggers and twitter personalities are participating in the event.
On one team is San Diego Designer Brandon Smith, Stacy Garcia, Owner of Garcia Cabinetmakers in Huntington Beach, and Paul Buchanan, chef and owner of Primal Alchemy Catering in Long Beach, specializing in local, seasonal and sustainable cuisine.
Their “opponents ” include Rebecca Reynolds, Owner of Culinary Kitchen Design in Greenwich, CT, Lori Gilder, Interior Designer, Principal of Interior Makeovers in Beverly Hills, and Jennie Cook, local food advocate and blogger, owner of Plant Based Parties/Vegan Events in Los Angeles. Leanne developed the cookoff ingredients, with a focus on those terrific community builders of chocolate and bacon.
American Standard supplied a working sink and kitchen faucet to facilitate the action. The designers were able to talk about their experiences cooking with Capital and washing up with American Standard.
The conversations started in earnest on Twitter and Facebook groups three weeks before the event, ultimately generating more than 3 million impressions for the participating brands, along with conversational lift on Facebook. Both brands increased their social following and positive key messages, and the one-hour cookoff attracted more than 50 spectators to the Capital booth. The high-visibility helped American Standard catch the attention of Dwell editors, opening the door to future coverage.
The social era is about connecting and collaborating. Not just conversations, but actual ideas and actually collaborating among designers, brands and marketers.
Blogger Relations | Campaigns - Consumer | Social Marketing | The OR-DP Portfolio
Builder Magazine recently highlighted the Moments Hands-Free Faucet from American Standard with a full-page feature.
The Moments hands free faucet offers universally accessible no-touch faucet design is safer and easier to use thanks to the Selectronic proximity sensor, an advanced system that delivers on the promise, not the hassle, of hands-free faucet technology. It is ideal in homes with small children, elderly or physically-challenged adults because it eliminates the possibility of leaving the faucet running when not in use. An optional thermostatic mixing valve supplies water at a comfortable, preselected temperature to help prevent potential hot-water scalding.
In addition, Moments hands-free bathroom faucets provide homeowners the opportunity to conserve water. The 1.5 gallons per minute (gpm) no-touch faucet model uses nearly one-third less water than a conventional 2.2 gpm bathroom faucet. This water savings can be more than doubled with the 0.5 gpm high efficiency model, which saves 77.3 percent water over a standard bathroom fixture.
The 2012 Noritz Continuous Hot Water Report and infographic were recently featured in the Los Angeles Times. Findings in the report reveal the importance of hot, continuous water among homeowners and how American bathing habits range from efficient to excessive. The 2012 Noritz Continuous Hot Water Report also includes telling infographics about age and gender differences and positive data about homeowner willingness to save energy and reduce strain on utilities.
“Increased demand, such as frequent showers or simultaneous use of multiple hot water appliances, places a tremendous burden on conventional tank water heaters, which necessarily have a finite storage capacity to meet demand,” says Jason Fleming, marketing manager for Noritz America. “A properly sized tankless heater, however, will never run out of hot water.”
Campaigns - Consumer | Media Relations | The OR-DP Portfolio