Trone Introduces Flooring to U.S. Market

ATLANTA Quick-Step will debut the first U.S. consumer advertising for its laminate flooring March 3 in a television and print campaign.

Created by Trone Advertising, the effort invites home owners to stop obsessing about their floors because Quick-Step products are “Floors that stand up.”

Two 30-second spots will air on HGTV, CNN, DIY, TLC and the Discovery Channel. Three print ads will appear in home publications. Radio is also in the media mix. The budget is undisclosed.

Commercials take a humorous look at house-proud home owners who will go to any length to protect their floors. In one spot, a hostess has covered her floors with bubble wrap. When one high-heeled guest trips, revealing the floor below, guests gaze in admiration. Print shows images of chair and table legs swaddled in sweat socks. Copy states, “It only looks like you should baby it.”

“When we began concepting for this client, we knew we had to do something to differentiate them in the category,” said Trone associate creative director Scott Scaggs. “Just showing their beautiful floor wasn’t going to cut it.”

The client, a division of Unilin Decor in Belgium, entered the U.S. market in early 2001. Headquartered in Thomasville, N.C., the company manufactures direct-pressure laminates in tile and beveled-edge flooring.

The High Point, N.C., agency introduced a trade campaign last fall.

“Trone has helped us on every level to ensure that we are building a consistent brand message among the trade, the retailers and now the consumer,” said client director of marketing Tim Tipton.