About Cariloha

Founded in 2007 in Sandy, Utah, Cariloha is an international retail brand specializing in luxurious soft bedding, clothing and bath goods made from eco-friendly bamboo, one of the most sustainable resources on the planet. Boasting the distinction as one of Utah’s 100 fastest-Growing companies for nine consecutive years, the honor is even more notable as less than five percent of applicants in the entire state can claim such consistent growth and revenue performance. Additionally, CEO Jeff Pederson is in an elite class of business leaders by being one of the few to be named EY’s Entrepreneur of the Year twice.

The brand has grown to become the only multi-store retailer in the world to provide an entire shopping experience that’s completely merchandised with products made of eco-friendly viscose from bamboo. Inspired by the essence and energy of the islands, Cariloha blends style and self-expression into every piece of clothing and bedding it makes. With over 72stores in 17 countries, Cariloha offers more than 1,200 different product SKUs and has been recognized as a leader in the home and bedding industry.

Mission

While Cariloha has established notoriety in cruise ports with a concentration of brick-and-mortar stores in mostly coastal areas, the brand wanted to reach a wider audience to tout its “twice as soft as cotton” claim and raise the visibility of the brand. The brand also needed to drive traffic to its online and Amazon stores, as well as getting creative on how to merchandise press coverage in its physical retail locations. To achieve success, Cariloha needed a communications strategy that consisted of saturating all key vertical markets including home décor, women’s and men’s interest, lifestyle, broadcast and more to produce high profile media placements.

Approach

Beyond the attributes of the product line, it was important the agency understand the process by which bamboo is harvested and turned into a luxurious fabric. From there, Cliffhanger was able to craft a holistic program that could not only position the products in a myriad of vertical markets, but also explain why it was different from other fabrics and more fully support the brand’s desire to amplify its sustainability messaging.

Cliffhanger’s efforts centered on high-profile media exposure on web, print and broadcast. In addition, the agency was able to place Cariloha at the forefront of eco-friendly trends and increase popularity of bamboo products as it relates to a better alternative to cotton. Cliffhanger also focused on outreach for the holidays including Mother’s Day, Back-to-School, Holiday Gift Guide and more.

From a more tactical business standpoint, the agency was deeply involved in the planned rollout of new store locations around the country. The brand’s growing presence in prime markets of higher net worth individuals in east Texas and south Florida proved to be fruitful for geo-targeted media outreach. The agency was able to prove a balance between tier one national media and local media  to drive foot traffic to the retail shops.

Execution

During the months leading up to seasonal opportunities like Earth Day, Mother’s Day, Back-to-School and Holiday Gift Guide, Cliffhanger secured volumes of top tier media opportunities ranging from home décor publications to broadcast outlets for increased exposure to core and new audiences alike.

As the program got underway, it was clear there was a tremendous opportunity for the brand with coverage on daytime broadcast shows and to garner “best of” accolades heading into the holiday buying season. To approach in a creative way, the agency recommended unique personalization of items like bathrobes and towels to put a more personal touch to the outreach. By sourcing approved logos for broadcast shows, the team was able to stand out from other brands that sent products directly from their warehouses. It was also a prime opportunity to showcase the brand’s personality and unique attributes of its products.

In a stunning example of success with that program, Cliffhanger secured a coveted spot on Ellen’s 12 Days of Giveaways during the all-important holiday buying season. After several weeks of coordination with the production team and diligent follow up on messaging, guests were beyond thrilled to learn they would be going home with a Cariloha mattress. Best of all, the segment was hosted by Ellen and legendary Spice Girl turned fashion mogul, Victoria Beckham.

That opportunity proved to be a boon for the retail locations as the agency assisted in merchandising the coverage with strategic logo placement at POP to catch attention and integrating into in-store trainings to ensure a consistent and enthusiastic message was being delivered to customers. Cariloha not only saw a tangible lift in store foot traffic, but store managers all over the country were reporting how exciting the opportunity was. While the brand reveled in the benefits from a sales and traffic perspective, the employee sentiment was beyond measure.

To further bolster the reach of the brand in syndicated media, Cliffhanger secured a holiday gift guide placement with Emmy-winning consumer reporter, Steve Noviello from FOX Dallas. Following his evaluation, the Cariloha Resort Sheets were selected as one of Steve’s 4 Favorite Products of the year, a considerable accolade from a veteran journalist who tests and reviews more than 400 products each year.

Results

After only 8 months, Cariloha received over 1,877,995,448 impressions, raising significant awareness in various key vertical markets. The holiday timeframe proved to be exceptionally successful for the brand, including notable coverage in high-profile publications like ELLE Décor, BuzzFeed, House Beautiful, TODAY, Prevention, Business Insider, Forbes, CNN and more. Additionally, the Cariloha Resort Sheets were selected by Best Products as one of the best bamboo sheets.

The Ellen DeGeneres Show segment aired in over 200 TV stations reaching a national audience of over 3,000,000 households. The segment was also shared on Ellen’s social media platforms furthering its reach and driving significant traffic to the Cariloha website and social platforms. Additionally, the brand saw a retail lift resulting from the segment. Storeowners reported customers provided feedback regarding their visit being directly associated with Cariloha’s appearance in the show.

As a result of the FOX Dallas segment that syndicated to over 15 stations, the Cariloha website received a significant spike of traffic and was the 7th largest traffic driver of the month. The segment reached an audience of 1,119,080 households and a comparative ad value of $217,029 after airing in top US media markets including Dallas, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia among others.

Most notable metrics include:

·      1,877,995,448 total online impressions

·      1,519,288 total print circulation

·      20,006,426 total broadcast audience

·      $126,597 Comparative ad value