International Housewares Association Blog

By Vicki Matranga, Design Programs Coordinator

At the International Home + Housewares Show next month, the Innovation Theater in the Lakeside Center will present 21 educational programs, every hour beginning Saturday afternoon and ending Tuesday afternoon. The Theater is set in Room E350, near the entry to the Level 3 Lobby and the Hall of Innovation. Experts in new product development and launch will discuss critical and timely topics in our industry. To help you plan your time at the Show, we introduce you to the presenters with this series of interviews. Be sure to mark your calendars for these exciting programs!  Check www.housewares.org regularly for updates on the schedule of Show events.

Millennials: The Next Big Wave of Consumers Who Will Change the Kitchen Forever

Innovation Theater, Lakeside Center Room E350, Monday March 12  12:30 pm—1:20 pm

Albing International Marketing, (AIM), founded in 1988, is an international marketing consulting company specializing in the home furnishings industry. Based in suburban New Jersey and New York City, AIM also maintains affiliate offices in Copenhagen, Tokyo, Frankfurt and Stockholm. AIM provides market research and analysis, trend insights, strategic business expansion planning and product development assistance. The company’s client base includes leading home furnishing companies in the U.S., Europe and the Far East. Robin Albing has spoken many times at IHA seminars and trade mission events, as well as at the International Home + Housewares Show. Whitney Ryan will join Robin at the podium to complement the insights of the industry veteran.

Robin, what inspires your passion in your work?

Professionally, my passion for the home and housewares industry began right after graduate school when I worked for two of the industry’s leaders, Corning (now World Kitchen) and Lenox. Working for these companies opened my eyes to how interesting this industry is and I eventually founded Albing International Marketing (AIM), which continues to conduct a large portion of our business for home and housewares clients. I love knowing that our work is a part of people’s lives and that we are helping to create and learn about things that people incorporate into their daily routines. My passion has grown through the years and evolved as younger co-workers and even my own children began thinking about their own homes. I saw that they were looking for very different things than I did at their age.  I wanted to further understand how the housewares industry could best serve them, which is what prompted AIM’s extensive research into Millennials and the home.

Why did you choose to speak at the International Home + Housewares Show?

Speaking at the International Home + Housewares Show provides a great opportunity to communicate with our clients (past, present and potential!) and share our vision. It allows us to reach the audience that will gain the most from learning about Millennials and the home, and it is always such a pleasure sharing information with people who are as interested as we are!

Tell us what you will be speaking about and how and this topic is important for Show audiences.

I am really excited this year to be joined in my presentation by Whitney Ryan, a Millennial herself, who is spearheading AIM’s Millennial projects and research.

In our program, Millennials: The Next Big Wave of Consumers Who Will Change the Kitchen Forever, we discuss the changing trends, wants and needs in the kitchen for this new group of homeowners. Millennials’ preferences are quite different from earlier generations, and it is important for marketers to understand who these young people are and what they will be looking for when moving into new homes. These preferences span every area of the kitchen: from general themes like layouts to detailed elements like tabletop. Millennials have specific tastes, and anyone in this market should be paying attention to what they want.

You have been on the stage as a panelist and presenter at our past Shows. As a returning speaker, what are you looking forward to most?

I love the feedback and ideas generated at the Show. Being able to bounce ideas around, hear others’ opinions and have thought provoking discussions is a wonderful way to better understand the market. It also gives me new ideas for moving forward and helps me to look at things from a different point of view.

How does the Innovation Theater help you spread your message?

The Innovation Theater allows us to meet lots of new people from all over the world. Being an international company, we love meeting new friends from new places and re-connecting with old friends that we haven’t seen in a while.

What kind of impact as a whole can the speakers of the Innovation Theater have at the Show?

Bringing like-minded people together always produces great results! Every speaker will bring something different to the table, but we all want the same thing: to better understand and serve the housewares market. We can all learn from one another and use that knowledge to continue moving forward in this ever-changing market.

What are some of today’s trends or issues that new product development professionals face in the housewares market?

Well, at AIM we are especially interested in the trends and issues pertaining to the Millennial consumer. One trend we are studying is how to efficiently maximize space in Millennials’ kitchens. In a first home, they are unlikely to have tons of space to play around with, but Millennials desire plenty of storage and counter space in their kitchens. It’s an interesting challenge to tackle. From products that help with storage and organization, to products that are compact yet still work as well as the full-size models, there is quite a bit of potential to develop new products to meet this need.

What do you see as consumers’ biggest concerns regarding housewares products?

Young people are extremely tech savvy; they demand the latest and the best in technology. Yet, technology has, for the most part, not been exploited in the housewares category.  Integrating technology without sacrificing aesthetics or alienating the non-technologically savvy consumer is a huge challenge for housewares marketers.

What is the best advice you could give someone trying to get into your area of expertise?

Maintaining perspective has always been a key element in our business. The home is one of the most important elements of a person’s life; it is where we make our memories. We want to properly understand what this market means to consumers, so that we can help them create the best memories possible. It’s easy to get caught up in the minutiae of the sometimes-overwhelming housewares market, but we always work to keep that perspective and focus on the consumer. Understanding their needs helps us to get a clear vision on how we can best serve them, and it makes working in this market extremely rewarding and enjoyable.

Thank you, Robin, for your enthusiastic preview of your presentation. Your programs always attract a varied audience of industry professionals who rely on your unique insight. Newcomers are welcome to join your fans on Monday, March 12 at 12:30 p.m. in the Innovation Theater.

To learn more about Albing International Marketing, see www.albing.com or contact Robin directly at ralbing@albing.com.   All programs at the Innovation Theater will be video recorded and posted to www.housewares.org after the Show.