Bold Campaign by Designers

The interior design profession, which has traditionally relied on word-of-mouth referrals from satisfied customers, recently launched a bold experiment into computerized marketing.

The American Society of Interior Designers, headquartered in Washington, is targeting 30,000 potential residential customers with incomes of $70,000 or more and an equal number of small business owners in seven cities. A letter from ASID President Raymond Kennedy, accompanied by slick brochures, invites recipients to call a toll-free number for information or a designer’s name.

The direct-mail program was prompted by the effects of the recession and by recommendations that came out of a national survey ASID commissioned last year, said Ann Schwartz, marketing and communications director. The survey of 1,000 households with incomes over $30,000 concluded that designers were reaching fewer than 2% of the 17.5 million customers were “very” or “somewhat” interested in hiring a designer.

It was recommended that ASID target affluent baby boomers. Besides providing information about what designers do, the strategy is to counter perceptions that designers are too expensive and to persuade people that they can use a designer even if they buy their own furnishings.

The campaign--with a budget under $200,000--aims to convey its message also through magazines and satellite hookups on radio talk shows. Test cities for residential clients are Chicago, Houston, Miami and Portland, Ore.; for business interior design, Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles and Newark.

There is no mention of fees or prices in the literature, no coupons or special offers. Calls placed to (800) 775-ASID will go to the society’s headquarters, which will refer respondents to local chapters.