Framing treasured moments

Claire Miller, marketing director at Rehau, discusses the story behind the Rio Flush Fit window campaign and how the business is taking a new approach to its marketing strategy by creating consumer demand for trade.

Launching Rio is so much more than bringing a new product to market for Rehau. The flush fit market is clearly well established, but we have strived to bring the best product to market.

For example, the R&D that has gone into Rio is remarkable and I for one am proud to represent such a high-quality product.

However, in the development of this product we identified a clear business opportunity for fabricators and installers who sell Rehau windows. Rising consumer expectations and increased competition is making our industry more challenging than ever. That’s why we’ve been developing a campaign that is guaranteed to make fabricators and installers stand out.

With the launch of Rio, it is vital that we get across our key messages with a striking marketing campaign that will appeal to both trade customers and the consumer market. Rio is all about helping support fabricators’ and installers’ businesses and enhance their customers’ homes and daily lives – framing family life by capturing both the special and everyday moments.

To meet the needs of our consumer-facing strategy, the new flush fit window needed a memorable name that would appeal to the consumer market. The name ‘Rio’ is easy to pronounce and understand, making it much easier for people to remember it.

The majority of window products will have technical names, relating to the profiling or fixtures, which don’t resonate with consumers as they have limited understanding of the meaning. The name Rio stands out against competitors and is easy for consumers to differentiate from other brands as it eliminates any confusion by removing any technical aspects or terms usually found in window product names.

With the aim of supporting fabricators’ and installers’ businesses, we created a bespoke hub of trade content that goes beyond explaining what the benefits of the product are, and instead offers educational insight into flush fit windows. This ensures that installers and fabricators have up-to-date knowledge on legislation and fitting requirements around flush fit windows, in addition to preparing them for any questions their customers may ask about the Rio.

Rehau has worked with PR, digital, social, trade and consumer specialists to develop a new creative strategy to help increase sales of the Rio window. The consumer brochure, for example, includes perforated colour swatches that homeowners can take away to try with their own home décor. Fabricators can emphasise the quality of Rio with tactile swatches of the new exclusive and unique Woodec foiling, which has a timber feel that makes a huge impact on the consumer when they get chance to feel the finish themselves.

Marketing directly to consumers is somewhat new territory for Rehau, so it is important that the brand messages are kept at the forefront of our marketing approach.

Rehau boasts an unrivalled array of colour foil options, which can offer installers a competitive advantage, however this huge range of colours can be overwhelming to consumers. We’ve made the whole process much simpler by working with designers to perfect the Rio colour palette, including traditional chartwell green and modern anthracite grey, to make the choice easier for the customer and secure sales.

Further to our consumer strategy, we’re working closely with online influencers who are renovating their homes. There are over 2.3 million Facebook and Instagram users with an interest in home renovation, and a further 3 million Twitter users with an interest in windows, building and the main windows brands, so we thought it imperative to tap into these markets to help support our trade customers’ businesses.

While fabricators or installers may not see the content themselves immediately, their customers will see the Rio window featured by influencers in their social media networks which will create a buzz around the product. The importance of choosing a window can be hard for consumers to grasp due to the technical nature of the product, however by using a recognisable influencer as a case study, it can prove a valuable sales points for the trade.

Rehau’s innovative approach to market has been well received, and we’re hoping to continue our combined market method in order to help our installers and fabricators have a competitive sales edge with Rio flush fit windows.