Re-establishing a local legacy

Lewis's

Rebrand + Customer Experience

The Challenge

A leader in the Wellington furnishings market for 65 years, the future growth opportunity was to add a greater share of the premium market and attracting younger customers. This also required delivering greater ease and assurance as part of the brand experience to new and existing customers alike.

Lewis's are a New Zealand owned home furnishing business based in Wellington area. Their offer includes bespoke curtain making, soft furnishings and window treatment retail stores across 5 locations and an in-home consultation and installation service. They are an acknowledged leader in their sector and hold an established local legacy, operating as a family business since 1944. They were experiencing an erosion of their word of mouth endorsement and there had been no active stewardship of the brand since the late 1970's.

The challenge was in how to reinvent and tighten the once strong customer relationships through a more connected and relevant retail service experience - and only then to reflect this via brand and marketing.

The Solution

DNA led our approach with a staff and customer insight mapping exercise. Past, present and future experiences and needs were considered, and key customer persona's developed to enable DNA and Lewis's staff to quickly evaluate core customer group needs and apply the relevant sales and service experience in each interaction. After this collaborative consultation across staff and customers, it became clear that curtains and soft furnishings are a highly emotive purchase with many uncertainties. It was also clear there were two key customer personas across the target customer base and specific experience and service approaches were needed to serve them fully. DNA created a brand to wrap around this core that took a confident and inspiring leadership stance in the soft furnishing and curtain industry. In an industry increasingly dominated by ubiquity and mass production, the brand needed to bring to the fore Lewis's culture of dedication and commitment to craft excellence and personal service.

The Result

The brand now stands with confidence and pride, delivering to customer's desire for reassurance in the process and delight in the final installation. The retail stores area key touchpoint, as are the fleet of Lewis's vehicles, prevalent on the roads and driveways of Wellington. The new brand expression and livery is now a strong signal of change and a celebration of everything the brand has come to be. Sales and service experience have all been improving, and new retail sites are being developed.