Brilliance and resilience from AW
The Flanders Flooring Days marked the start of getting back into the business of face-to-face marketing and gave Associated Weavers the opportunity to reveal what’s been going on during the pandemic.
At AW, the answer is “plenty!”
“This was a great event for us, says Emmanuel Lioen, AW’s marketing
& corporate communications manager. “It makes a huge difference to see people face-to-face, to see their reactions and everyone gets a real buzz out of touching the product while they are talking about it.
“We saw more than 200 visitors over the four days – building on our
strong relationship with customers and it was good to see so many new faces too,” he said.
And the timing was perfect for the showcase launch of AW’s major new polyester carpet range Gaia – one of the trade’s biggest introductions for 2022.
AW MD Gavin Pugh said; “Covid held back product launches but we never stopped product development. Gaia is a really strong offer and the delay in being able to launch it fully has meant we have been able to fine tune it beautifully and build excellent levels of stock.”
The marketing describes Gaia as a “brilliant carpet with a natural touch”
– a play on words that captures the brilliance of its appearance alongside
the strong performance credentials of solution-dyed polyester, and the soft feel of AW’s carefully engineered fibre.
“The market is challenging for retailers right now and this is
the ideal product to give consumers a reason to purchase
added-value with lots of great credentials and a
strong story,” says Gavin.
Polyester offers performance near that of nylon but with a price point closer to polypropylene – the sweet spot for retailers trying to add a little more to the value of their sales by offering a lot more to the consumer. All with a 20-year stain and wear warranty. And polyester is as bright and modern as nylon but softer, it is also bleach cleanable, just like polyester.
And it’s backed by a strong environmental story – literally. All the Gaia ranges have AW’s award-winning ECO FusionBac, a premium backing made from 100% recycled PET plastic bottles.
Sampling is starting to roll out across four ranges – Indus and Dorado which move across from the Invictus collection, plus the new Tigris and Ganges. The full set covers twist and saxony, plains and speckles.
Associated Weavers also took the opportunity in Flanders to show the
latest developments in the hugely popular Invictus vinyl flooring collection which is transforming the accessibility of LVT for UK retailers.
T 01422 431100 www.gaia-carpet.co.uk
