Consumer glass campaign launched
The Glass and Glazing Federation (GGF) has launched a new consumer PR campaign called ‘Think Glass’ to increase awareness of the benefits of glass to homeowners.
The campaign will use and develop consumer research, and produce informative articles in a bid to increase awareness of the GGF and its members.
This follows reports in Glass Times of a growing sense of discontentment among IGU manufacturers that the benefits of glass are not properly communicated to end users.
The GGF has commissioned Refresh PR to help implement the campaign and gain wide consumer press coverage in top tier lifestyle publications that potentially reach millions of consumers.
The online platform for the new campaign is the GGF’s consumer advice website MyGlazing.com, which attracts over 200K unique visitors per year.
James Lee, GGF’s director of external affairs, said: “This is a very exciting and unique campaign that has been in our planning for over six months. The GGF and Refresh PR will be using the full range of information within the GGF technical library. We will also be working closely with glass experts in the manufacturing sector to communicate to millions of homeowners how glass and its technology can improve their lifestyles.”
The GGF’s broad aims of the campaign are:
- To integrate and repurpose the GGF’s broad messages and technical information on fire safety, safety, and energy efficiency to inform consumers on the different types of glass and how they benefit their lifestyles.
- To promote the GGF and its members as a leading authority in glass.
- To increase greater awareness of the GGF and its members to consumers via MyGlazing.com, and to drive more traffic to the website.
At a recent debate organised by Purplex Marketing – a report of which can be found in the March issue of Glass Times – Daniel Harrendancefrom Euroview Architectural Glass said: “A lot of our customers do not have a clue about glass. They could be buying a screw; it doesn’t matter how it works, it is just something they are putting into their frame.”
He said they didn’t understand that you could get solar control glass, or acoustic glass, for example.
“You talk to the sales guys, and they don’t realise there are other products, that there is another option,” he said. “It’s getting them more educated that could help us.”
Since consumers don’t recognise the value of glass, they end up paying less for it, which results in less investment by IGU manufacturers in research and development, and in machinery.
“I don’t think we have a voice, collectively,” Edgetech’sChris Alderson said. “How do we create a voice in the industry … for you guys to say ‘the investment I’ve made is a necessity’?”
One conclusion drawn from the day was the possibility of creating a new trade association to represent the views of IGU manufacturers.