Antron gets new brand identity
Kennesaw, Ga.—For the first time in its 25-year history, carpets made with Stainmaster on or after July 1 will carry a lifetime warranty on all food and beverage stains, soiling, static-shock and stains caused by pet urine.
Steve Griffith, chief marketing officer for Invista Surfaces, maker of the Stainmaster fiber, said the warranty enhancement is another step in the company’s commitment to its Stainmaster brand, to its aligned dealer network and “a continued effort to meet consumers’ needs.”
The change to a lifetime warranty, he added, comes from dealer and consumer feedback saying they anticipate this type of guarantee from a brand such as Stainmaster. “Our customers told us they’d expect a trusted brand like Stainmaster carpet would offer a lifetime warranty, so we made it happen.”
He noted in terms of Stainmaster chemistry, nothing has changed. Rather, “We continually challenge ourselves to look for opportunities to improve upon our offerings to help create differentiated value for our customers.”
Along with running trade ads to make sure retailers and their staff are aware of the new warranty, Invista is offering dealers ads for their local market, allowing them the opportunity to connect with their customers and give them something new to talk about.
Kirk Fagan, vice president of Wayne Wiles Floorcoverings in Ft. Myers, Fla., and a longtime Stainmaster Flooring Center dealer, is not only happy about the added warranty coverage, but he feels it will be a “benefit to all of us. For more than 25 years, consumers have known Stainmaster carpet is durable, easy to clean and offers thousands of color and style options. Now with the news of a lifetime warranty, this reaffirms the confidence they will have in choosing the Stainmaster brand.”
Griffith said products eligible for the new warranty will be fitted with labels, and there will be other in-store merchandising retailers can get announcing the change. In-store merchandising materials will be available by the end of July. In addition, new warranty training is available through Jim Young and the rest of the Invista training team as well as at stainmasterlink.com.
In other news, Invista unveiled a new brand identity for its commercial carpet fiber brand, Antron.
Tracy Cook, Invista’s director of commercial flooring global branding, said the new identity utilizes “a friendly signature designed to communicate Antron in a humanistic way while expressing the company’s desire to further establish itself as a trusted resource for every aspect of carpet, including product development, design, specification, selection and long-term performance.”
The change was done for a number of reasons, she explained. First, “our business is about relationships. The new branding is more in line with who we are today and our path forward.”
In addition, Cook said the Antron brand has been in the industry for nearly 40 years and has become a symbol of superior science and polymer engineering. Over the years, it has evolved to be associated more closely with innovation in styling, patterns, texture and color in addition to long-term performance. “The new identity reflects the brand as it stands today—firmly grounded in performance but with a laser-sharp focus on product and service innovation and customer focus.”
The first advertising campaign featuring the new brand identity was debuted last month at NeoCon.