Seasonal Living Magazine's Virtual Designer Showhouse [ The Backstory ]
Seasonal Living Magazine’s Luxury Virtual Designer Showhouse
THE BACKSTORY ON SEASONAL LIVING MAGAZINE’S LUXURY VIRTUAL DESIGNER SHOWHOUSE
It’s hard to know exactly where to begin. Do I start this story at the point when I first met Gary Pettitt, the CEO of the award winning indoor/outdoor furniture, lighting and decorative accessories brand, Seasonal Living, at Las Vegas Market, almost a decade ago now?
Or do I start it by fast forwarding to the point where he hired my business, Savour Partnership, 2 years ago in October of 2018, to provide his business with strategic advice as well as to provide him with a wide array of online marketing services, including developing Seasonal Living Magazine?
Now that I’m thinking about it, (I had forgotten!) I’ve written the story of how we came to design and write Seasonal Living Magazine for Gary, already, in this blog post.
So, I guess I will fast forward to share with you the backstory of how this new initiative, the world’s first luxury virtual designer showhouse, came into being.
It’s such an exciting story and I hope you will stay tuned for the entire post!
FIRST, A LITTLE DEEP BACKGROUND ON MY EXPERIENCE CREATING INFLUENCER MARKETING CAMPAIGNS FOR MAJOR BRANDS…. BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT THIS REALLY IS.
I’ve had quite a bit of experience in this area, and have created the overall strategy, developed the plan, and executed on several major multi-brand influencer marketing collaborations for brands over the years.
4 in particular stand out in my memory:
I created and executed on the country’s first major multi-brand collaboration for my then client Cargill’s BiOH Polyols division, which also involved the headquarters location of iconic retailer, Room and Board. and the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.
It was called Be In The KnOH.
You can read a blog post, written by one of the blogger/influencers we brought in for it, here.
Then, shortly thereafter, I created the 2nd one (in partnership with Leslie Newby), called Project U Design, a collaboration between Cargill’s BiOH Polyols division, Century Furniture, the Savannah College of Art and Design and Ultrasuede Interiors. 17 different designer/bloggers were a part of that.
You can read more about it here.
Later, another influencer marketing campaign was the launch party for Rue Magazine’s 3rd issue for my then client, The New Traditionalists, in SoHo, where many major bloggers were invited to attend.
You can read more about that here.
And lastly the Royal Wedding Event Campaign for my then client, Von Hemert Interiors, that involved several bloggers, including Stacey Bewkes of Quintessence, and Rue Magazine, again.
See Stacey’s blog post about that here.
So, fast forward to today… and let me share the story of how this, Seasonal Living Magazine’s Luxury Virtual Designer Showhouse, came into being.
ARE YOU READY?
It all started with the man who had the idea for it, Gary Pettitt, the founder of Seasonal Living.
A BIT OF BACKGROUND ON GARY AND SEASONAL LIVING AND SEASONAL LIVING MAGAZINE
Gary is a true visionary in the manufacturing industry, having foreseen the need for modern, well made and well designed indoor/outdoor furniture, long before others did.
Since he started Seasonal Living 17 years ago, his company has won the prestigious Arts Award 5 times, and now Seasonal Living’s indoor/outdoor furniture, lighting and decorative accessories are widely specified for both commercial, hospitality and residential settings around the world.
But in addition to that, he is well known for his innovative marketing ideas - always ready to break new ground, as he did when he greenlighted Seasonal Living Magazine.
Seasonal Living Magazine is a beautiful consumer facing luxury lifestyle shoppable digital magazine, produced quarterly, whose mission it is to encourage people the world over to live more in harmony with the four seasons of Fall. Winter. Spring. Summer through inspiring images, stories, and videos on all things seasonal with respect to Food & Recipes. Design. Wellness. Entertaining.Design.
The Virtual Showhouse will live forever as a 360 walk around, shoppable experience, with product discovery and augmented reality highlights, in the pages of a Special Edition of Seasonal Living Magazine that my company’s Creative Director, Sam Henderson, and I, are producing.
SO HOW DID THE VIRTUAL SHOWHOUSE IDEA FORM?
Back when the pandemic first hit, in February, was a very uncertain time for all manufacturers.
Gary and I had many strategic discussions about how Seasonal Living would be able to continue to reach interior designers, since he was not going to be able to show his line in person, as he had been doing for years in Interhall at #HPMKT and at #LVMKT in Bldg. C.
During one of these discussions, Gary had the idea of doing a Virtual Showhouse, where he would invite his fellow manufacturers - who were in the same predicament as he was - to be his fellow sponsors.
Gary then asked me to provide him with a complete proposal to have my company plan and execute this major multi brand influencer marketing campaign for him, which I did. It was approved.
So what happened next? Gary started interviewing companies to do the 3D rendering that would be necessary to pull this off. During that time, I introduced him to Jenna Gaidusek, the founder of the eDesignTribe, and her director of 3D Modeling, Sarah Durnez.
Gary ended up hiring Jenna and her team for this project, and we were off and running!
Gary gave Jenna and Sarah and Annilee Waterman ( who rendered the exterior of the Virtual Showhouse) a very detailed brief of what he wanted the Showhouse to look like, the rooms he wanted to include, and their functions.
Jenna, Sarah and Annilee took this information and created the first version of the Virtual Showhouse and sent it back to Gary and I for review.
Gary gave them additional feedback and I added a few ideas, as well, and then the second version was created and approved.
Once that was done, the next phase began.
I quickly onboarded the 11 participating designers, wrote the prospectus, created the Power Point presentation we used to onboard our sponsors, and did a variety of other strategic tasks associated with insuring the success of this initiative.
Then, working alongside Gary this summer via countless ZOOM meetings, we onboarded the 15 inaugural sponsoring brands - a gigantic task that took every spare minute of time we both had.
It was a LEAP of faith for our sponsoring brands to be a part of this, but they understood that not only were our 11 participating designers incredibly talented, but that each one was a mini online publishing powerhouse on their own.
Together, our participating designers touch over 1 million homeowners/consumers and their fellow interior designers - each DAY - through their combined online marketing channels.
Our sponsoring brands understood what that meant for driving brand awareness, leads, sales and long term SEO.
I would also like to give a special shout out to GLOBAL VIEWS. David, Frederick and Lois, the owners, understood, immediately and completely, what this multi brand collaborative influencer marketing program was all about, and were the first to say, “YES, we’re in.”
Gary Pettitt, the founder and CEO of Seasonal Living, the publisher of Seasonal Living Magazine, and the founder of Seasonal Living Magazine’s Luxury Virtual Designer Showhouse, #SLDS21.
HOW DID I CHOOSE THE 11 PARTICIPATING INTERIOR DESIGNERS?
Carla Aston, Robin Baron, Arianne Bellizaire, Jeanne Khoe Chung, Gloribell Lebron, Ariana Afshar Lovato, Rachel Moriarty, Laura Muller, Veronica Solomon, Erika Ward, and Michelle Jennings-Wiebe?
I’ve been asked this question a few times, and I want to answer it honestly.
I chose these 11 because they each exemplify what I am looking for whenever I am putting together a major influencer marketing initiative for a brand:
1. They are expert content creators: whether that’s via Instagram, their blogs, or their You Tube channels or a combination of all of those, they create exquisitely beautiful content, consistently, and they understand search engine optimization (SEO) and how to utilize it to support a sponsoring brand.
2. Each of these incredibly talented designers has genuine influence within the interior design community, both online and offline. When they write or speak, people listen. I’ve witnessed that personally, as I’ve known all but two of them for several years.
The two I haven’t known as long, besides being incredibly talented designers, have superior tech and online marketing skills that made including them in this a smart decision.
3. They will represent the sponsoring brands, with knowledge, discretion and respect, when discussing the Virtual Showhouse with the media. This is a very important consideration when putting together a program like this.
4. I know that each and everyone of them will go above and beyond for our sponsoring brands. Each of these powerhouse publishers and interior designers has been given free reign to design their rooms - as there is no budget and no real world product or logistics considerations.
With no financial outlay except for their time, they have complete freedom to be as creative as they would like with both their designs and the content they create around their designs, as the Showhouse is being completely underwritten by our sponsoring brands.
5. And lastly, I chose them because I trust them. I know they know they are part of something historic for our industry and together, we all want to showcase how our industry can move forward, using the tools of technology, to bring this fun and inspiring Virtual Showhouse experience to consumers around the world.
I invite you to see their media kits by reading this post, written by sponsoring brand, Nathan Anthony Furniture, to see just how incredible they each are at what they do - not only in the world of design, but in the world of influencer marketing on behalf of major brands.
Nathan Anthony’s co-owner and designer, Tina Nicole, is a powerhouse herself when it comes to online content creation, as this STORY she created for her own Instagram account shows.
NOW, FOR THE SPONSORS.
As mentioned earlier, Gary and I gave many presentations to potential sponsors over the course of the past 2.5 months.
15 said YES, and they are, in no particular order:
Sherwin-Williams, Universal Furniture, Signature Kitchen Suite, Cosentino, Global Views, Fabricut, Nathan Anthony, Robin Baron Design, Niermann Weeks, The Howard Elliott Collection, Minka Group, Jaipur Living, Revel Woods, Stressless and Seasonal Living.
Please meet and follow all of them on their social media channels via Seasonal Living’s custom registration landing page at bit.ly/DesignerShowhouse , an example of which can be seen in the image below.
Just click the small blue dots under each sponsors name to follow them on all of their social channels.
You can do this for the designers, too, as they and their social channels are all highlighted and linked to on Seasonal Living’s custom Showhouse Registration landing page, as well.
We asked each participating sponsor to provide us with one image for their landing page link, and I made a fun collage of them, which you can see below.
For all sponsors that may be seeing this post: thank you for trusting in our team. We appreciate you.
SO HOW CAN YOU SEE THE VIRTUAL SHOWHOUSE - AND WHEN?
Seasonal Living Magazine’s Luxury Virtual Showhouse will go live during a complimentary, professionally produced online VIP Preview Launch Party event on Thursday, December 3rd at 6 pm ET!
We are thrilled to have Luann Nigara, host of America’s #1 rated podcast for interior designers, A Well Designed Business, be our host for it.
I hope/we hope you will for the fun! Bring your cocktails as the industry and consumers alike, worldwide, gather together to get a first glimpse!
Afterwards, you will be able to tour the Virtual Showhouse at your leisure, and from the comfort and safety of your home, in the Special SHOWHOUSE Edition of Seasonal Living Magazine.
When you’re touring, you’ll be able to zoom in, zoom out and have a 360 walkaround experience, all with your computer’s mouse. How fun is that? You’ll also be able to click on each product the designers have used in their rooms, to get more information.
AND… 50 of the products will be highlighted with an augmented reality feature….meaning you will be able to see them in your own homes!
Everyone involved with this historic event hopes you will have fun, be inspired, and maybe even do a little designer hiring and/or shopping as you get ready for the holidays or prepare your homes for the New Year.
To register?
https://www.seasonalliving.com/designer-showhouse-registration or bit.ly/DesignerShowhouse.
They both take you to this page, below.
I would also be remiss if I did not thank the Editor In Chief of Business of Home, Kaitlin Petersen and her senior editor, Fred Nicolaus, for breaking the story of Seasonal Living Magazine’s Virtual Designer Showhouse, here.
Thank you, Kaitlin and Fred!
And If you missed their Future of Home Conference, make sure to see the replay videos, here. I attended this Conference, online, and the speakers were SO good!
Lastly, I invite you to read some of the blog posts our participating designers and inaugural sponsors have already written about this very special and history making collaboration.
Veronica Solomon wrote this gorgeous post introducing the sponsors to her audience.
Carla Aston wrote this incredible post for her blog’s readers, detailing some of our sponsor’s products she is using in the room she is designing.
And Arianne Bellizaire created this fabulous video to introduce her You Tube audience to what she is doing and inviting them to follow along!
And our sponsors have also written posts, introducing the participating designers to their audiences.
As mentioned earlier, Nathan Anthony wrote this amazing post, and Cosentino wrote this beautiful post.
It has been such a highlight for me to put this program together for my client.
Everyone involved: Gary, myself and my company’s Creative Director, Sam Henderson, the designers, the sponsors, Jenna and her team at eDesignTribe: Sarah Durnez and Annilee Waterman, and Luann Nigara all hope you will enjoy it!
I invite you to connect with me in any or all of the following places:
Instagram: @tkpleslie
Instagram: @savourpartnership
Twitter: @tkpleslie
Linked In | Facebook
and if you’re an interior designer, I invite you to join my private Facebook Group, #DesignWealth, where so many of these wonderful relationships I have with interior designers have been further nurtured over these past years. Send me a Request To Join, here.
[ Note: This Group is only for interior designers ]
If you need to reach me for any other business reason, please reach out to me at leslie@savourpartnership.com.
Thank you for reading all the way through - we are looking forward to seeing you for a fun way to kick off #Holiday2020, on Thursday, Dec. 3rd at 6 pm ET and if you’d like to follow all the fun on Instagram, the official hashtag for Seasonal Living Magazine’s Virtual Designer Showhouse is:
#SLDS21
In Appreciation:
Leslie Carothers
Principal
Savour Partnership
www.savourpartnership.com
