Case study

Teknion: Showcasing the incomparable Contessa task chair

The spreadsheet tells the story

To position Teknion’s new Contessa ergonomic task chair as the best in its high-end market niche, and to get press hits in mass-market as well as trade journals, we created a media kit that explained to a non-specialist audience why the chair was newsworthy. 

The media kit included a backgrounder called the Contessa Comparator, a spreadsheet listing, along the left edge, every parameter pertinent to evaluating a task chair, and along the top, column headers for the Contessa and its competitors: Allsteel #19, Haworth x-99, Herman Miller Aeron, Humanscale Freedom, Knoll Life and Steelcase Leap. 

Behold! On the chart, Contessa had a solid row of “X”s; the other chairs were hit or miss.  The Contessa Comparator proved so successful that Teknion sales reps use it as a marketing tool.

Above, the Contessa Comparator, a backgrounder in the Contessa media kit, which subsequently served Teknion’s A&D sales reps as a marketing tool.

We won press hits in:

Award

Canadian Business

Canadian House and Home

Driven

Financial Post

The Globe and Mail (2x)

IDSA (Industrial Designers Society of America) Innovation

Monday Morning Quarterback (MMQB) (cover story)

Officeinsight (Text by David Lasker Communications)

Below, media coverage, page one only

teknion contessa chair press hit in award magazine 1

Feature story in Award

teknion contessa chair press hit in canadian house and home 1

Feature story in Canadian House and Home

teknion contessa chair press hit in financial post

Feature story in the Financial Post section of National Post exhorting readers to “Get it” (Teknion’s Contessa) and “Forget it” (Humanscale’s Freedom).

teknion contessa chair press hit in the globe and mail best design

Coverage in The Globe and Mail (2x)

teknion contessa chair press hit in monday morning quarterback 1

Cover story in Monday Morning Quarterback (MMQB) 

 

canadian business press hit teknion contessa chair

Feature story in Canadian Business

teknion contessa chair press hit in driven

Feature story in Driven

teknion contessa chair press hit in the globe and mail

Feature story in The Globe and Mail (1x)

teknion contessa chair press hit in industrial designers society of america innovation journal 1

Feature story in IDSA (Industrial Designers Society of America) Innovation

teknion contessa chair press hit in officeinisight 1

Feature story in Officeinsight (text by David Lasker Communications)

 

Nabil logo 275

David Lasker Communications

Banner photo: Pendant lamps reflected in the mirrorized ceiling at Table Rock House Restaurant, Niagara Falls, Ontario, by The Ventin Group Architects (+VG) and Johnson Chou Design, copyright © David Lasker Photography.