Craft and Hobby Association Case Study
Challenge:
The Craft & Hobby Association (CHA) is a US based trade body which represents manufacturers, retailers and wholesalers of craft materials. For the past nine years it has run a highly successful promotional campaign which has drawn more consumers into trying a range of crafts from scrap-booking to knitting, jewellery making, painting, customising and more, growing the industry to $90 billion.
The promotional campaign has been managed by ECCO US partner agency RFCP. With 120 of its members based in the UK and across Europe, the CHA briefed K+R on an initial project to expand awareness and sales of crafting in the UK in 2005, with scope to develop a pan-European programme in 2006. The challenge was
- To drive sales for CHA members in the UK
- To effectively ‘launch’ the category and brand the sector to consumers – both committed crafters and newcomers
Strategy:
K+R devised a central initiative called Make it! Month – a month intended to get Britain crafting with a range of in-store promotions and events, media project features, fund raising activities, celebrity involvement - and a website dedicated to crafting
As the term ‘crafting’ has had old-fashioned associations in the UK, we also decided to sectorise and promote different crafts according to their target groups: young girls and teenagers (customising clothes and bags, jewellery making); mums and kids (scrapbooking and paper crafts); decorating furniture and gardens (homeowners); and scrapbooking and sewing (over 50’s)
Tactics:
Following a successful launch at IPC magazine in April, where demonstrators from a range of crafts set up a Make & Take workshop for press, K+R drove the profile of Make it! Month via consumer press desk visits, development of a consumer website www.craftplace.org.uk; tailored competition mechanics and special initiatives with the specialist craft media (including a Make it Pink! Charity initiative across all five Futurenet craft titles); and a charity celebrity initiative, inviting celebrities to decorate tee shirts with craft materials to auction for the Pink Ribbon (Breast Cancer Care) Foundation.
K+R also encouraged Scrapbooking designers to create pages dedicated to celebrity columnists and TV chat shows, in order to sell-in make it month to live media, while a media tour featured US craft guru Terri Oulette (Terri O) mid-September with TV, radio, and UK TV Shopping Channels (where large quantities of craft materials are sold)
A range of retailers across the UK organised in-store events and Make & Takes, and key craft titles such as Sewing World launched a nationwide sew-in to take place during Make it! Month
Results:
- Coverage exceeded 23 million OTS across women’s titles, regional press, national dailies, and broadcast media
- 13 additional companies in the craft and hobby sector have approached the CHA regarding membership
- As a result of our work for CHA to date, three UK members have approached us to undertake individual projects on their behalf
