With nearly two dozen education sessions and Innovation Theater programs, all at no charge, the 2012 International Home + Housewares Show is the preeminent place for retailers and manufacturers to look into the industry’s crystal ball.
Here are some suggestions from the Show’s strong educational program. For the complete educational program and for information on special displays and key destinations at the 2012 International Home + Housewares Show, visit the Show’s Events Calendar.
Get Focused, Be Innovative, Stay Visible
Tom Mirabile, Lifetime Brands, Inc
Top Trends 2012
Monday, 12 March
7.30 am
Room S100/Grand Ballroom
Level 1, South Building
Tom Mirabile, Lifestyle Trend Forecaster for the IHA and Senior Vice President, Global Trend and Design at Lifetime Brands, Inc., will present “Top Trends for 2012” a forecast and analysis of the consumer lifestyle trends reshaping the housewares industry as well as the social, economic and technological crosscurrents that will drive consumer behavior for the foreseeable future.
Trends to be discussed include:
- Core Values of the Modern Consumer
How can you unlock the purchasing power of your customer? Which consumers really control the money, and how can manufacturers and retailers engage them?
- The Rebirth of Innovation
What is the new definition of Innovation? What does all this mean to the products we make, how we sell them and the consumer experience after the sale?
- Becoming a Consumer Superhero
How can you engage today’s over-informed consumer and get your message through? Learn the new laws of the “Experience Economy”, the importance of selling the intangible, and how to make the consumer your ambassador.
- 5 New Rules for the New Economy
Changing times mean shifting priorities; here are 5 keys to help unlock your true potential.
Future Color Trends: Fantasies and Realities
Lee Eiseman, Pantone
Monday, 12 March
12 Noon - 1 pm
Room S100/Grand Ballroom
Level 1, South Building
In order to create the “magic” in the marketplace that ultimately leads to sales, colors for 2013 will need to coax and cajole, soothe or astonish, renew and replenish. At the same time, there will be the consumer’s expectation of practicality – what colors will have staying power and can be relied upon as a steadying influence in unsteady times. Skillfully balanced color palettes that play to their practical side, while satisfying their aspirations, hopes and needs for something novel will remain key to enticing the would-be consumer or client.
Come join Leatrice (Lee) Eiseman, Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute and IHA's color expert as she she reveals the most important palettes for the future.
THE RETAIL STORE AS THEATER: Adding the Entertainment Experience to Selling through Visual Merchandising & Display
Martin M. Pegler
Innovation Theater, Lakeside Center, room E350
Monday, 12 March
2.30 pm
Shoppers expect more for their money than just the best product available. Just going shopping is a project and thus they expect to be cared for, tended to, made to feel welcome and special. Shoppers have come to expect the shopping experience to be fun, novel and entertaining.
So, think of your store as a theater--because that is what it is today. It is a place where the products are the "stars", the store is the "stage" and the shoppers are the "audience". They are paying to see this "show" and they expect something new, fresh and different. "Retail as Theater" leads you from the facade out front with the show's announcements and ads (the window displays) into the theater itself (the store) and shows you how to put on a "four star" production using good visual merchandising and attracting displays. So--lights--action--let the show begin!
The Far Eastern Market - A New Role for Color
Lee Eiseman, Pantone, with James and Tony Soames, Subkarma
Tuesday, 13 March
12 Noon – 1 pm
Room S100/Grand Ballroom
Level 1, South Building
With the emergence of more and more local brands and the growing attraction of an increasingly affluent Asian consumer, understanding the local meaning and importance of color is becoming a must for western would-be exporters to the region. James & Tony Soames, two British owners of a Taiwanese branding and design company draw upon their experience of helping more than 300 local Asian companies to brand themselves and cast a critical eye on local traditions and trends that are often misunderstood or overlooked by western businesses.
On Tuesday, March 13, Leatrice Eiseman, IHA’s trend expert and executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, will share some insights and moderate a presentation that will explore the pros and cons of color forecasts and usage in the Far Eastern market. Her panelists will be James and Tony Soames of Subkarma, based in Taiwan. Engaging speakers, they will share their overview of handling color in this burgeoning region of the world.
