MoreANAHEIM, Calif.--After more than a year in planning, the World Floor Covering Association's (WFCA) new certification program was launched in October with almost twice as many charter member Certified Flooring Executives (CFE) than projected.
"Those that went through the process of achieving their certification will find that as they incorporate the certification into use in their businesses that it will set them above and apart from their competition, providing them a distinctive competency and unique selling advantage," said D. Christopher Davis, WFCA CEO. "Now the challenge is to successfully launch the CFP and CFS programs this spring."
The WFCA certification program will be the subject of a news story on American Architectural Review, hosted by Morley Safer of 60 Minutes. The program will be broadcast over 350 public television stations in April, which corresponds with the second annual National Floor Covering Month. Its focus is on consumer education and public relations.
Continuing with the theme 'Look Down For A Change, ' the emphasis of National Floor Covering Month will be on beginning the spring home redecorating experience with the floor.
According to Davis, WFCA is offering a series of matte news releases about how to choose affordable floor coverings have been developed and distributed to the smaller, weekly and monthly publications.
"Generating additional awareness about floor covering as a discretionary income purchase may not produce immediate sales," Davis said, "but studies have proved that awareness leads to interest and is followed by desire to purchase and then action, where the actual purchase occurs. That's the A-I-D-A model that ad agency Young & Rubicam states all consumers go through in spending their discretionary income."
While designed primarily as a public relations effort, Davis said WFCA would like to see its members take advantage of the initiative and tie in with the program at the local level with their own advertising and promotion. Toward that end, the WFCA will make both stickers and store signs available to use in the promotion. Anyone wishing to utilize the new Look Down For A Change logo in their advertising and promotions can download the logo directly from the WFCA website in either PC or MAC format. If you can use either stickers and/or posters, contact WFCA at (800) 624-6880. The WFCA (www.wfca.org) is the only organization with no vested interest other than the advancement of the entire floor covering industry, and the only organization that reinvests in the industry.
