CORT is the U.S.’s leading provider of transition services and holds a significant global presence thanks to its international network of vendors and partners. CORT originally started with residential furniture rental and, over its lifetime, has expanded into various markets, including workplace furnishings, trade shows and events, destination services, apartment locating, touring, workplace sensor technology, and beyond. For its 50th anniversary, CORT wanted to showcase its decades-long success and market leadership in an increasingly competitive industry.
Challenge
Over the last several years, multiple competitive startups have entered the furniture rental space. In response, media has shifted its focus to these new platforms and solutions, making it more challenging for CORT to maintain a substantial share of voice. In highlighting 50 years of experience pioneering this market, CORT wanted to reestablish its position and remind competitors, journalists, and consumers about its rich legacy and continued dedication to innovation and service.
After nearly a decade of partnership, we know INK is genuinely invested in CORT’s success. Their work proves the power of integrative programming and the importance of establishing a cohesive narrative.
Mindy Oliver
Executive Director of Online Business, Media & Analytics, CORT
Solution
With CORT’s 50th anniversary quickly approaching, INK carefully organized how we would maximize the time we had to deliver a successful and impactful campaign. CORT’s long success was a strong story in itself. Using this as our core narrative, we started our campaign development by brainstorming ideas across design, digital and media, pulling out the best opportunities and creating a strategy CORT could react to.
Overall, our vision was a highly engaging campaign that seamlessly fused the old and the new — showcasing CORT’s history while positioning the brand as an industry pioneer that has evolved and continues to lead the market. The campaign was also an opportunity to highlight the other services they offer beyond furniture rental.
To reach our priority media, we wanted to highlight CORT’s experience and make it relevant to the state of the industry today and its next 50 years. We also wanted to pitch informative and myth-busting topics, along with angles that drew attention to CORT’s culture and employee experiences.
For digital, we created three “mini-campaigns” that each tied into the larger success story narrative, and planned to lean on CORT’s social channels as another way to amplify CORT’s history and employees. A thoughtful design component was critical to bringing everything together and creating visual consistency across channels.
We went back through the archives and decided to dust off some of CORT’s vintage assets to illustrate just how far the brand had come while also showcasing the timelessness of CORT’s products. A dynamic and visually engaging social template allowed the campaign to flow in alignment while being distinctive.
Results
As a result of our multi-pronged campaign, we delivered an injection of earned media and engagement that served to significantly increased CORT’s brand recognition with key audiences. Media outreach resulted in coverage from top-tier media outlets, including a Business Insider article and CNBC Squawk Box interview with Jeff Pederson, CORT’s Chairman and CEO. The campaign’s social posts received 134% higher engagement than all other organic social posts during the same quarter. We also helped CORT secure Q2’s highest share of voice over competitors at 48%.
And the cherry on top? INK’s 50th Anniversary campaign for CORT was recognized as a Gold Winner in the integrated marketing category for the 2022 AVA Digital Awards.
