Case Studies

Customer Profile

Wilsonart Flooring was one of the first laminate flooring brands to be manufactured in the U.S. Its parent company Wilsonart LLC is a leading manufacturer and distributor of High Pressure Laminates and other engineered surfaces.

Market:

U.S.

Industry:

Laminate flooring

Challenge:

Develop a unique product sampling device to meet the needs of the commercial architectural and design community.

Wilsonart International was founded as a producer of high- pressure decorative laminate in 1956. Wilsonart began producing laminate flooring for residential usage in 1995 and has established itself as the industry’s second largest manufacturer. Marketing Alternatives has enjoyed a working relationship with Wilsonart International for more than 25 years and has served as the agency-of-record for Wilsonart Flooring since its inception.

WILSONART® CONTRACT FLOORING

Challenge

When Wilsonart Flooring decided to bring its line of commercial laminate flooring under the “Wilsonart Contract” brand umbrella, it faced several challenges. First, the company needed to announce that the former Wilsonart Commercial Flooring would henceforth be known as Wilsonart Contract Flooring. Second, it had to communicate why its identity was changing and what that meant to commercial architects, designers, specifiers and end-users. Finally, the company had to revamp and distribute new product reference and sampling tools to these very important audiences.

Solution

MAI has been developing reference material and product sampling devices for the commercial architect and design community for decades. We are keenly aware of the how costly, difficult and “un-green” such initiatives can be – since there is no “perfect” sampling device when it comes to flooring products. Every user has a different opinion and preference when it comes to sample size, fixed vs. removable samples and sample replenishment. In addition, changes to a company’s product offering can render a sampling tool obsolete or useless – a fact that must always be top-of-mind when developing such tools.


In order to gain first-hand knowledge of what specifiers wanted in a sampling device, MAI and Wilsonart Contract Flooring went on a road trip to visit some of the top commercial architectural and design firms. These informal visits were intended to gauge opinions on various sampling techniques and identify the pros and cons of each from the specifier’s perspective.