The Prosumer Playground: The Interiors World Today

Posted by Rowland on October 3 at 8:19 PM In the interiors and home furnishings world "to the trade" is on ads, and other marketing materials: it signals to interior designers an exclusivity, and tells consumers to ask their interior designers about the product. Like a subtle "ask your Doctor about...", but only this is for high-end, sophisticated decor.

Who are these members of "the trade"? One interior designer may own their own firm of hundreds of people, and another simply dabbles with interiors here or there on projects for friends. Yet another may have the reseller number to qualify for "to the trade" pricing and uses they're minted interior design credentials to feed their voracious decorating habit. This last card-carrying member of "to the trade",though, is not an interior design professional they maintain a successful career as, say, a partner at a law firm.

I recently read, in another context, that we could call this person a "passionista". This is nice term for the more pop-oriented type of consumer. So, I really prefer thinking of design focused individuals as a prosumer (a term that has a interesting background, btw). This prosumer is as adept and knowledgeable on design trends as those that make a living making such decisions, yet they are not bound by the traditional hierarchies and boundaries that have define access for "the trade".

How has this prosumer evolved? What forces have empowered them to emerge on the design scene?

• More Media, More Design: The rise of home improvement shows on television (from the mid-market all the way to the highly aspirational), magazines such as Dwell, blogs such as Apartment Therapy and "to the trade" brands opening up their showrooms online for all to see their product offerings. Many business publications increase marketing on luxury items that used to be "to the trade" now in supplements such as the Financial Times' "How To Spend It".
• The importance of architecture: When Rem Koolhaas designs a public library in Seattle and Frank Gehry becomes a brand in his own right, this influences design choices by consumers. Its not so much that I like a clean, minimalist space, it is that I identify myself with Richard Meier. You can see this by how new residential buildings are marketed.
• Museums focus cultural attention on design: If you didn't notice the impressive prominence of the Design and Architecture galleries at MoMA you certainly noticed the focus on design objects, and their star-studded designers, at the MoMA store. Right next door the Craft Museum re-branded as Art and Design and one of The Guggenheim's most largely visited shows ever featured Frank Gehry.

Just a few of the trends that have created the prosumer. The impact on the marketing of high-end interiors, though, has been vastly changed. A new opportunity is open to embrace this group, establish new design trends and even change business models from "to the trade" to "straight to prosumer". However, many showrooms are still afraid of this level of transparency (especially online), alienating their core audience or just don't quite have the road-map to approach this opportunity. Topics: advertising, architecture and design, branding, design, interactive, public relations        SHARE: