November 7/14, 2016: Volume 31, Number 11
By Ken Ryan
Novalis Innovative Flooring is emerging as a forceful player in the LVT/WPC market, thanks in large part to a strategy to drive its brands through digital and social platforms. In just two years, Novalis has grown from a neophyte in the digital space to a company with a well-rounded and robust digital strategy.
According to Julie Foster, product and marketing manager, Novalis Innovative Flooring, the company embarked on this effort in carefully orchestrated phases of development. Novalis began growing its NovaFloor brand of residential and Main Street LVT in 2014 and recognized the need for a dedicated NovaFloor website to properly service a growing list of distributors and dealers with product information.
In 2015, Novalis launched NovaFloor.us as a first phase toward an ambitious online presence for the North American market. The site features a blog to address topics of interest to both trade and consumer visitors. In addition, Novalis recently added a room visualizer tool where users can try any NovaFloor style in a variety of room situations, including different installations and wall colors. Phase Two for Novalis was the introduction of social media platforms (i.e., Facebook, LinkedIn and Pinterest) to support the brand.
At the 2015 NeoCon East, Novalis introduced its new commercial LVT line, AVA, and supported it with the launch of AVAFlor.com, which included a room visualizer and product sample light box to enable enlargement and closer product examination. This push represented phase three of Novalis’ online development.
Phase four entailed the addition of Twitter and Instagram to support AVA and YouTube to archive a growing list of video assets for Novalis. Moreover, the Novalis corporate site is being rebuilt and expected to re-launch in January.
The NovaFloor.us and AVAFlor.com room visualizers are built into the site navigations and are designed to look identical to the rest of the site. The capability is built with electronic and digital signature (eSIGN) technology and coordinated out of the Novalis office in Germany under the guidance of David Ruland, product manager for Europe. “Anyone can select the room visualizer from the site navigation bar and be immediately and seamlessly accessing the NovaFloor or AVA room scene library and hundreds of flooring style combinations,” Foster said.
Novalis is using each platform to provide an added dimension and depth to the brand identity while building trust and familiarity. Novalis uses Facebook for both consumer and trade-facing posts, LinkedIn for trade-oriented interests and Pinterest to populate with its extensive library of room scenes. Twitter and Instagram are being leveraged currently to build awareness for its AVA commercial LVT brand. All platforms are cross-linked and promoted.
Novalis worked closely with Spartan Surfaces, its commercial distribution partner, on the formation and rollout of the social media strategy with Spartan’s Meredith Nicholson serving as the point person. Nicholson worked closely with Novalis personnel in building the AVA brand for the A&D community, which meant more of an emphasis on Pinterest and Instagram. “Our goal was to create brand awareness with the great selling points of AVA — durability, aesthetics, environmental story, installation, ease of maintenance,” Nicholson explained. “Those are great selling points for everything in their collection.”