This week, the New York Times featured a story on the befuddlement among furniture executives (*) over what to name their furniture collections. Furniture styles no longer have clear-cut delineations–eclectic tastes and mix-and-match designs have blurred the lines between categories.
What do you call a collection includes an old-fashioned wooden-legged sofa upholstered in wasabi green? Or a wingback chair in curry-yellow leather?
Naming matters. According to the story, “Describing a collection in a way that is compelling, evocative and clear can mean the difference — at least to those charged with doing it — between attracting an entirely new group of customers and repelling existing ones.”
Names and slogans are now “the hardest part of my job,” said Edward M. Tashjian, vice president for marketing at Century Furniture in Hickory, N.C., who oversees the naming of individual pieces and entire collections. “Literally, every time I do it I want to quit and find a new career.” Coming up with a name for one of the new collections “that’s descriptive and engaging — not to mention hasn’t already been used, isn’t completely banal and meets the approval of the rest of the management team — is a nearly impossible task,” he said.
We understand, Mr. Tashjian. And we’re here to help. Contact us.
*Link goes to the same story in the Herald Tribune to avoid the NYT log-in.
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