BACKGROUND: Milliken & Company is one of the world's largest and most innovative textile and chemical companies. Their Napery Division (table linens and napkins) identified an opportunity to improve market share compared to softer cotton and blended table linen fabrics with a new polyester product that had the softness of cotton but was much more durable. The plan was to launch and position this product against cotton and blends, since it offered similar hand and softness plus much greater durability for better ROI.
CHALLENGE: Introduce Signature table linens and position the product as synonymous with the important softness attribute in the minds of commercial laundry table linen buyers.
SOLUTION: Following initial research, Jackson Marketing Group developed positioning for the product and advertising campaign using the tagline, "Performance has a brand new feel." The campaign was built around customer testimonials developed during product testing. JMG also created a proprietary sub-brand for the technology that imparted the soft feel to the fabric—"Softouch Technology." The product was introduced to key customers and prospects with a three-dimensional direct mailer. The mailer featured actual product that had been laundered 100-plus times in real-use situations. The mailing reinforced the fact that Signature maintained its softness over time.
RESULTS: Eighteen months after launch a quantitative tracking study was performed to measure Milliken, Signature and competitor brand/attribute associations. Signature was the number one brand associated with softness, with nearly double the mentions achieved by cotton. The product was successfully launched, accepted by the market, and sales outperformed projections.