Since a couple of months the “My Work at Home” advertising campaign implemented by Cardex has been clearly visible in Milan on trams and underground Metro stations.
It is a positive message talking about home office; a new hybrid formula of “Shop on Line” that does not give up the fundamental direct relationship with the customer.
In this interview, arch. Pietro Carullo, owner of Cardex, explains how this initiative was born and how is distribution changing.
The successful of “My Work at Home” adv campaign represents the importance of self innovation, especially in time of change and crisis like the one generated by pandemic.
The settings are pleasant, bright, welcoming; they convey the sense of comfort and relax everyone would like to experience in their home office.
The shop online shows some different Herman Miller office chair models at extremely advantageous prices, but the purchase does not use the common and depersonalized e-commerce formula.
Cardex uses the web to reach the customer in a virtual way, but enhancing the physical and personalized relationship with the home worker.
How has the market changed after the pandemic and why did you implement this advertising campaign, which is unusual for office furniture?
We have talked about the coronavirus changes in our ways of living and working. For almost 1 year, millions of workers have had to adapt to a Smart Working which has actually privileged only the home as an alternative work environment to the office.
However, we know that the home office must be equipped with some products in order not to become harmful to health.
This is why we wanted to communicate to the Milanese Home Workers that there are four fundamental elements for an ergonomic workstation:
the table, the chair, the lighting and possibly the monitor holder.
Many researches agree that among these the task chair is the most important element, so precisely on this product we have focused the “My Work at Home” campaign that began last December, offering very high quality chairs at very advantageous prices.
But you have chosen a“moderate” e-commerce approach… Why can’t chairs be bought with a simple click?
In our opinion it is important to reach a wider range of users through the internet, showing the breadth of the range and to offer the opportunity to purchase a work chair also through our website.
However, it did not focus on a strong e-commerce. We believe it is important to maintain the relationship between dealer and customer.
Do the chairs need to be explained to the user?
Yes, as user friendly as they are, the task chairs have a number of variables and technical details that need to be explained.
For example, the types of wheels according to the different materials of the floor, the types of oscillation according to the weight.
These chairs are easy to use but complex machines, it needs to explain how they work for a properly use taking full advantage of their performance.
Every body is different, so it is important that users can try on the best chair for their body, size, and activities; and the dealer has to explain the chair performance.
For this reason we think the hybrid approach, combining web with the dealer’s competence and expertise, is a win-win way.
