The Making of the LaDiff Television Ads

By LaDiff's Graphic Designer & Marketing Kid,
Juliette Heydenrych


I have my sticky little fingers in all kinds of things. From design to DIY, writing web code to ramping up our Search Engine Optimization, and from designing print advertising to managing social media, we designers are expected to do it all. The title "Graphic Designer" often expands and demands that one wears a variety of hats at the workplace. It’s easy to sit back and wonder, in any position, if you’ve missed your calling in life. As a designer, if you think you’ve missed your calling, it’s just because you haven’t been asked to do it yet.

If there had ever been any doubt in my mind that I should have perhaps gone into a field such as, say, film production, it was about to be put to rest.

The task at hand was to create two TV ads to promote two months worth of events: The Bedroom Sale in August, and the Upholstery/Seating Sale in September… so when Andy and Sarah called in Aaron Dotson and Frank Gilliam of Elevation Advertising, I knew we’d be in for a treat. They seemed so mild mannered at first, but after the initial business formalities were out of the way and the discussion got going, I had the feeling that this was going to be a hoot. Our little conference room roared with laughter as we pushed ideas around, and by the end of the meeting I returned to my office, wiped tears from my eyes, and watched as Aaron tweeted that “concepting TV spots is the best stress reliever ever”. Glad to be of service, Aaron. And we couldn’t wait to see what they would come up with, either.

In the coming weeks, we would be back in the LaDiff conference room. We would be regaled with concepts, we would choose wisely which ones would come to fruition. Elevation would then set to work on a storyboard, and get the folks together to produce the ads. Just days before we were slated to film, I met a gang of Elevation cohorts to scope out the space within which we would assemble props, stage bedrooms, and film. I also met with CJ Hawn, graphic designer, to choose nightstands, lamps, props and clocks for the ads. I shyly showed her around the store, offering up opinions on different nightstand/lamp combinations, while secretly envying her arty insights, design experience, and general expertise. While I was stumbling to find appropriate inventory, these are the concepts CJ was mulling over:

The Bedroom Sale ad, (follow the link to see the ad) on-air for the month of August, essentially featured a series of alarm clocks going off in various rooms using various alarm-clocky sounds. The sounds come together to create a rhythm, which moves faster and faster until building to the end of the piece, where hands are seen slapping each clock into snooze. The concept? This bedroom sale is a snooze button’s best friend (because that’s just how comfortable you’ll be!).

The Upholstery Sale ad, (follow the link to see the ad) now dubbed the Perfect Seat for your Seat Sale, is about just that- finding the perfect seat. The concept was to show a variety of seats with their corresponding rear-ends. Quirky, cute and a tad cheeky.

In preparation, we pulled about 8 different nightstands off the sales floor, with 10 lamps, 2 alarm clocks, and some random accessories from the gifts department. We also painted part of the wall in our empty neighboring space yellow, to serve as one of many backdrops to the “bedroom” scenery. I kept my fingers crossed that Elevation’s crew would cover the rest as far as props and equipment, as discussed (just in case). They did.

We started by filming the “Butt Ad” for the Seat/Upholstery Sale. Friends and employees of LaDiff took turns standing shyly in front of a white screen. We stood patiently on a piece of masking tape as the lights and camera were adjusted- custom tailored to frame each toosh. When the film was rolling (actually I think it’s all digital now), we shifted, swayed, turned and twirled. As one of the seats in the ad, I can say that I’ve never felt more awkward than I did then- knowing that all eyes- and the camera- were on me. Well, parts of me. It’s not as though I’ve never been “checked out” before… but it’s different when you’re shaking your derrière on command. ;)

We needed as many butts as possible, so it became my duty to start herding folks into the film-space. After all of the LaDiff volunteers had shaken it (like a Polaroid picture) and signed their release forms, we were still hoping to collect a few more. I ran frantically throughout the store, grabbing LaDiff employees who had most certainly NOT volunteered and shoved them next door. At one point, I even sent a couple of troops upstairs to the Massey Cancer Center to herd us a “suit butt”- someone wearing a suit, trousers, anything but denim! They even found him too, unwittingly having some happy hour drinks with colleagues. The slightly tipsy suited-butt stranger graciously followed us downstairs, agreed to help out, and jiggled his badiggle for our cameras.

As the evening wore on, we were ready to shoot the second ad. One by one, each “bedroom” was set up, staged, and scrutinized. CJ took her time arranging each vignette, adjusting the alarm clock just-so, adding picture frames or trinkets- things you’d see on any nightstand, adjusting the background and hiding price tags and lamp cords. Cameras were set up, adjusted, lighting played with… it’s surprising how the reflection on just a small piece of chrome lamp-base can throw off an entire scene. The actual amount of set-up time (oodles), vs. the actual amount of time filming (seconds, minutes at best) is… well, pretty boring.

Then, one by one, each hand actor would set on the floor next to the stage. Lights, camera, action! Over and over again, Elevation filmed multiple takes of hands hitting alarm clocks. Touching alarm clocks. Tapping alarm clocks. Finding alarm clocks. Falling alarm clocks. Et cetera.

And…Cut!

Generally speaking, I’m not a woman with much patience. The process of waiting while everything is staged, put together, painstakingly adjusted, and eventually filmed was practically agony! As enlightening as the experience was, I’m certain I did NOT miss a calling in a film career. I’d do it again, certainly, it was fun… but call somebody else if you have a feature film you need help with.

Of course, the anticipation to see these ads come to fruition post-production was agonizing as well, but well worth the wait. We are thrilled with Elevation, thrilled with their work, thrilled with their staff, and just thrilled to show these off.

Elevation, my hats go off to you.

LaDiff goodies from the NYC gift show

Each August, LaDiff heads north to enjoy the sights and sounds of Manhattan and to walk aisle after aisle of the carpeted concrete of the Jacob Javits Convention Center for the New York International Gift Fair. Hundreds (thousands?) of vendors come to NYC in August hoping to see lots and lots of retailers with big 4th quarter budgets!

2009's gift show understandably brought questions about attendance and spending. There were fewer vendors showing - so many fewer that they only needed one Pier instead of two for spill-over, and so many fewer that there were several "buyers' lounge areas" in Javits. From our perspective, that just made the show a bit easier to walk.

The vendors there were serious, engaged, and ready to sell.
The retailers there were prepared, enthusiastic, and ready to buy!
A good match.

So........ what did LaDiff find?

Here's a sneak peak of what you'll see in our store this fall....

Wall stickers from France for 'grown up' walls, in designs like bamboo or poppies or abstract art.



<<<Beautiful laser cut felt wall panels that can be re-sized to suit your space simply by removing squares. Great as room dividers, draperies or even an interesting headboard treatment.

and, from the same company, ethereal pendants that add romance to any space>>>

We also picked up two new Brit suppliers - J-Me and JosephJoseph, who share warehouse & design space in London with Black & Blum, one of our favorite vendors.

From JosephJoseph, we found kitchen items that are not only super practical and easy to use, but are so attractive you'll WANT to leave them out on your counter all the time. Founded by twin brothers Richard & Antony Joseph in 2003, this company has won international acclaim in the worldwide housewares market. Check out INDEX... 4 cutting boards neatly stored in a stylish silver 'file box'. (One of these is definitely coming home with us!)

The talented Liora Manne continues to impress us with her beautiful LaMontage rugs, doormats and placemats, adding new designs AND custom size options to her collection.

Her LaMontage rug & mat designs can be used both indoors & out because of the antimicrobial treatment. Come check out the catalog & swatches this fall!

The list goes on and on of the beautiful, NEW items we found, loved, and will be adding to our showroom this season. More goodies will be pictured in upcoming blogs, so stay tuned!


And no review of the New York Gift Show would be complete without a recap up of the 'extracurricular' activities enjoyed by the buyer (moi) and her traveling companions (A and L).

* Favorite daytime excursion: Circle Line's SHARK speedboat ride to the Statue of Liberty and back. When they say it goes fast AND you'll get wet... they are not lying.
* Favorite evening excursion: watching Shrek & Fiona belch their way through a song on Broadway.
* Favorite meals: but we enjoyed 5 nationalities in 5 nights (Mexican, French, Italian, Brazilian, Japanese). And a great American diner for breakfast.
*Favorite shopping: busman's holiday to the Kartell store in Soho



And now... signing off to process those orders and make room for all the new goodies coming SOON to LaDiff!

Do your clients understand your language?

About twelve years ago, while we were living in a lovely park-facing house in Church Hill, one of Richmond's oldest neighborhoods, our dear neighbor - a marketing professional - overheard us talking about some new furniture we were getting. The conversation went something like this: "I think we should put the Espace in the front hall with the Wagner loveseat and Dellarobbia chairs." "That's cool, then the Cattelan table will look perfect in the dining room under the Casprini wall cabinet with the Giusy chairs and Irio table."

Our friend's remark: "I have never known anyone who called their furniture by name before. How... interesting."

See, because we sell it and work with it every day, it had an identity to us, beyond 'bookcase' or 'loveseat' or 'dining table.' So... we used those words because we KNEW them.

This memory came back to me this week as I read the following tweet from @TheArtOfRetail:
How Knowledge Can Hurt Innovation. Great article by Scott Anthony, with the URL attached. You can read the article here too, from the harvardbusiness.org website.

The article made me think about the 'language' that exists in various businesses: where shortcuts, nicknames, and initials take over from the 'plain English' most of us might use.

For over 18 years, I've been in the 'furniture business' and I've come to know 'furniture speak' as if it were the French I learned from kindergarten through high school or the ancient Greek I learned in college. Okay, I actually know 'furniture speak' better than either of those, because I'm considerably more confident in my furniture fluency. Sadly, while I do remember my Greek alphabet, the only Greek sentence I can still write is "ο άνθρωπος εςti καλός", loosely translated as 'man is good' - and I probably got the accents wrong just now.

In any event, for me, the gist of Mr. Anthony's article is that businesses and professionals get so caught up in what they know and have always known that they forget that others do not possess the same knowledge or experience. It can affect relationships with new hires from other industries on one level, but, more importantly, it can affect relationships with their clients and customers, on whom their livelihood depends.

Let me break it down.

Did you know that furniture store salespeople occasionally laugh when customers say they are looking for a 'couch'? Yes, it's true. In furniture speak, we don't use the word couch. We use sofa. And a sofa is different from a loveseat, or a sectional, or a sleeper sofa, or a modular, etc., etc.

Why don't we use 'couch'? I haven't the foggiest idea. Someone, somewhere along the line, in the world of upholstery manufacturers decided that the proper term for a piece of furniture that seats 3 people across would be a SOFA. Go figure. Problem is... they never figured out a way (successfully!) to tell the people who BUY them (the consumer). So, day in and day out, we have visitors who tell us they're looking for a couch. And without overtly correcting them, we try to determine what they mean by that word.

Same thing applies with bedroom storage furniture. Here are just a few words used by our customers: chest, dresser, highboy, chifferobe, man's chest, mule chest, lingerie dresser, sweater chest, armoire, wardrobe. Whew! They want SOMETHING with drawers. They might not know the 'real' word for it... so it's OUR JOB to figure that out, with them.

Consumers don't often know how our business works either. The idea of waiting for furniture to be built or upholstered just for them is an education process that works well when the customer understands 'custom made furniture'. Too often, customers seem to think there is this huge warehouse somewhere, and sitting on a shelf in that warehouse is the 6-piece coral leather sectional that they want... for delivery tomorrow. It just doesn't work that way...

It falls on us, as the presumed furniture 'experts' to have the answers, the explanations, and the vocabulary ready that our clients will understand. For instance, furniture coming from Europe is not flown here, but has to travel by boat, in a large box (a 'container'). There are lots of things that can delay that arrival too: hurricane warnings force boats back to sea; dock strikes prevent boats from arriving because there is no one to greet them. We've even had containers rerouted because of stow-aways found on board! Once in the States, the container has to clear US customs and pass inspections with the FDA, TSA and any other 'acronym' Homeland Security wants to have involved - and any one of them can hold up the process with a search at any time. The 'box' (aka the container) is then trucked from the port to our store - finally.

Most people shopping for furniture don't know all of this. It's not their 'job' to know. It is our job to try to explain the process so that the experience of 'shopping for furniture' (at our store at least) makes a bit more sense.

So, while we may still call our furniture by name at home, we are quite aware that most people think of their table as a table, and only in dire need of instruction even consider if they meant the coffee table versus the dining table.

Mr. Anthony's advice is well-timed in an era where relationship-building is critical and consumer-confidence is - hopefully - on an upward slope again. Consumers do business with PEOPLE they trust; when you translate the language you use, you build trust. Anthony offers sound advice against the ill-used concept of assumption... because, after all... when we 'assume' that someone knows what we know, we make an ASS out of U and ME. And we don't want to do that now, do we?

Why I Like a Berg Bed

by Lucy Thornton

The beds in Berg are tall and fun. My favorite is the bed with the hide-out. It has a built in desk and all the stairs are drawers!

There is also a reason that adults will like it. It is easier to organize kids' things. Kids will like it because of, well, yeah, the hide-out and the stairs.

One warning only on this bed, duck before going in the hide-out. But the rest of the bed is safe.

It comes in boy and girl colors, and [at LaDIFF] has a sign that says (for boys) "no girls allowed" which I specifically don't approve of, and for girls "no boys allowed" which I do approve of.

I PROMISE that adults and kids will enjoy it as much as me, Lucy Thornton. [You'll find this and other Berg beds] at LaDiff's 3rd floor kids section [LaDIFF KID].

You will LOVE IT!!!!!

Lucy Thornton is 8 1/2 years old and is the daughter of Sarah Paxton & Andy Thornton who own LaDiff. She wants you to know that she wrote all of the words in this blog and that her mom only corrected the spelling of ONE word and added those parts in [brackets]. Lucy will be in the 3rd grade this fall. She invites everyone to visit LaDIFF Kid and have FUN!