Int.eractive business development - Case Study

FIBO

Beyond Tiles

How do you ensure that Fibo — a proud Norwegian manufacturer of wall panels for bathrooms and kitchen — were able to cost-efficiently increase market share and penetrate new markets?

Customer is king -> we create a brand they would love

Customers use online to make decisions on purchase -> we created a strong digital presence

Digital is cost efficient and effective -> we digitalized Fibos service offering

Photo by Siren Laudal, from a series of articles created to repositioning Fibo.

The challenge

The market for buying building materials is going through a change: competition is increasing and the consumer is more informed about the alternatives in the market. Putting all in the hands of the retailers is a thing of the past. The brand has to appeal to consumers where they are searching for it — and then make it simple to buy the products.

In store photos of Fibo-Trespo.

We started with an analysis out market and how Fibo-Trespo is sold, including awareness (online, retailers, social media, entrepreneurs, architects, fairs), competition, customer journeys (acquisition of product, delivery, assembly, service).

The data gathered from this research was then mapped to a SWOT-model. This was parts of the foundation for a new platform for the new Fibo brand and positioning:

1) From retailer to consumer

2) From technical to inspirational

3) From product to service

1) From retailer to consumer

A new identity

A natural first step in taking a new position was to create a new identity. Going from Fibo-Trespo to Fibo - a consumer friendly, appealing and more precise expression.

LOGO • BEFORE

LOGO • AFTER

ASSEMBLY • BEFORE

ASSEMBLY • AFTER

Fibo is so easy to assemble that “You can do it yourself”. To enhance this argument, we created new assembly instructions and illustration. Built in 3d, they are ready for future animation.

PACKAGING • BEFORE

PACKAGING • AFTER

PHOTO STYLE • BEFORE

PHOTO STYLE • AFTER

Fibo’s old photography was somewhat cold, with unnatural lighting and dated styling. It did not look like a real home where people actually live. This made it challenging to communicate Fibos new position, as conscious, inventive, efficient and friendly. The new photo focussed on creating imagery with natural lighting, personal styling and warmth.

Consumer-driven communication

We participated in the establishment of new unique selling points, and communicated in all of Fibo’s established channels.

Fibo has a wide range of products, but had never explicitly told how wide it is. We took it once step further by, for the first time ever, showing all those variations by rendering 3D images for every single product for customers to see, combine and be inspired.

Previously, Fibo had communicated their products as products for bathrooms, with a seperate product (Kitchenboard) for Kitchen. Based on trend insight we used the opportunity to tell the story of a wider usage, hence widening Fibo's market.

The real savings that comes from using Fibos system - are in time it takes to assemble. That has a significant impact on the budget, especially when building a wetroom. We created a calculator on the website for customers to discover what consumers could save by using Fibo over tiles.

Sustainable

Consumers are becoming more and more focused on buying sustainable products. Fibo has, since they started in 1952, focused on the environment, though their choice in materials, suppliers and delivery. In addition, Fibo’s waste product is significantly less than tiles. And now they are building a low-emissions factory in 2016.

Frequently asked questions

We created a frequently asked questions section on a new website, as well as illustrations and effective contact forms.

Retail

Based on the “i” from the new Fibo logo, we created a “totem” with modular walls to display communication, show samples, magazines and accessories. Coming 2017.

2) From technical to inspirational

Real life Fibo stories

To bring the brand closer to the inspirational phase of refurbishing or building a wetroom, Fibo partnered with Egmont to create a series of use case articles. These became the core of the new brochure, and used in content marketing.

From a case article in the new brochure, about student housing and the use of Fibo.

Real life Instagram posts

To drive consumers sharing use of Fibo’s products at their home, we created a Instagram strategy. Including a tagging system for Fibo products, collections and the Fibo brand itself. This tagging system was included in all material, ranging from packaging, in-store experience, brochure, web and content marketing.

The process of aquiring permission to use the customers’ instagram images became a natural way to approach people for new articles.

3) From product to service

Fibo Explorer: see all Fibo wall panel in a beautiful, real life setting.

One of the key selling points is “750+ variations” and “For any room”. To be able to communicate these arguments, we worked with 3D artist Martin Brinks, to render 750+ images of the products in each room (starting with kitchen and bathroom, with more to follow) — and then designed a digital exploration tool for users to test, combine materials, share and save. Play the video below for a short intro.

When starting the 3d work it was important for us to use the new photo style established with the identity: natural lighting, personal styling and warmth — in other words: real homes. This set the bar high for the 3D quality, but the effort payed off, and the renders originally considered only for screen, even found their way to the new magazine, in ads, roll ups and retail.

Sales tools for retailers

This case is not only about repositioning towards end users, but also about making retail more effective. We created a series of digital sales tools to help both customers in shop, as well as sales agents.