CHICAGO— The Innovation Theater is the show’s destination for learning. Discover emerging trends and how to invigorate new products. Each presentation is free to all attendees. Speakers share their knowledge of important issues in the housewares industry such as the crucial role of design, the Internet of Things, consumer lifestyle trends and new platforms for product launches.
Highlights of the industry events and seminars available at this year’s International Home + Housewares Show include the following. All events are at the Lakeside Innovation Theater, E350, unless otherwise indicated.
Monday, March 20
7:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. Change & Challenge In The Economy Of Expectations, Room S100/Grand
Ballroom, South Building, Level 1. Each year, Tom Mirabile, consumer trend forecaster for the IHA and svp/global trend and design, Lifetime Brands, delivers his top trends presentation for the year ahead; exploring the consumer and retail movements that are reshaping the housewares industry. His objective is to reveal today’s real consumer, while educating and inspiring both retailers and manufacturers. This year, Tom brings two industry experts with him, ensuring fresh new insights on today’s purchaser, what excites and engages them and how attendees can use that knowledge to survive and succeed in a changing and fast-paced market. Topics include: New Directions in the American Household; Rapid Growth of the Creative Class; Health Becomes the New Wealth; The Reinvention of Value; and Consumers Take Control.
8:45 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. Brand It Right: Ignite Your Profits. Howard Lim, HOWCreative. Inventors Revue, near booth N7572, North Building.
9:30 a.m. – 10:20 a.m. Love the One You’re With: Boomers Spending Big. Marsha Everton and Whitney Ryan, AIMsights. Recently, much of the marketing in the U.S. has focused on the large group of Millennials who are entering the work force and becoming a new economic force. In particular, as they move into marriage and family formation, they are important targets for the housewares industry. With the excitement surrounding this new generation, we find that many marketers have taken their eyes off the Boomers, who are still spending big. These Boomers are reinventing their lives, moving into new homes and actually starting new businesses at a higher rate than Millennials. And their new homes are more frequently about simplifying rather than downsizing their lives. They are entering the Third Act of life with big plans and big spending. We will share our demographic, psychographic and anthropological research on how Boomers are changing the Third Act of life, with insights into how to rethink business and marketing.
9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Pitch To The Pros. Inventors Revue, near booth N7572, North Building.
10:30 a.m. – 11:20 a.m. The Good, Bad and Ugly of Connected Things. Carley Knobloch, HGTV
11:30 a.m. – 12:20 p.m. The Latin American Small Appliances Markets: Opportunities and Challenges. Daniela Strebl, GfK.
There is tremendous potential in a developing region such as Latin America. Yet each market is unique, as many factors are influencing the markets of small appliances, be it macroeconomics and politics or cultural preferences. While undergoing some growing pains right now, Latin American markets will be a source of growth in the long run for many companies exhibiting at the Housewares Show. Successful brand building in the region requires knowledge about market specific and dynamics in order to drive informed discussions with retail partners.
12 Noon – 1 p.m. Communicating With Color/Design: Inspiring
And Defining Essential Trends. Room S100/Grand Ballroom, South Building, Level 1. Leatrice (Lee) Eiseman, Director, Pantone Color Institute. In this digitally-directed, Instagrammed and Pinterested world, color and design trends can be communicated almost instantaneously to consumers or clients who are seeking original and more imaginative approaches to furnishings and to decorating their homes. For that reason, it is vital that designers, manufacturers, retailers, and anyone else involved in the production of consumer goods or interior environments, stay well ahead of the curve on the leading forecasts.
The best solution for this challenge is employing the use of revitalized colors or, even more importantly, using hues in novel combinations as they can instantly and effectively express a fresh approach that satisfies the need for newness. There are eight distinctively designed palettes, each with recommended color combinations that will help to inspire and inform you. At the very least, they will start a colorful conversation with customers and clients so that you can ultimately get your message across persuasively and confidently. Join Leatrice Eiseman, IHA’s color expert ad executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, as she informs and inspires you with her on-target trend report.
12:00 – 1:15 p.m. IHA Board of
Directors. Inventors Revue, near booth N7572, North Building.
12:30 p.m. – 1:20 p.m. Chew on This: Exploring the Future of Food and Human Nourishment. Justin Massa and Ryan Osero, IDEO
1:30 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. Keynote: Making American Dreams Come True, Dara Trujillo, HSN. Inventors Revue, near booth N7572, North Building.
1:30 p.m. – 2:20 p.m. Why Your
Customer Bought Your Competitor’s Product. Michael Liebowitz, Magnetic Mind Studio. Liebowitz will share a different approach to branding and product development, one based on targeting how our brain is really wired to make the decision to buy. The talk is composed of two stories. The first tells how our brains are designed to create feelings of trust and engagement. Using a series of small and easy-to-grasp examples, he builds up to a larger picture of our core neurology and how it operates to make the unconscious decisions that drive our conscious mind. The second story builds on the first by illustrating the specific real-world brand strategies that are uniquely suited to “speak” directly to this core neurology and have the most impact on the buying decision.
2:15 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Shifting The Paradigm Of Shared Warehousing In Omnichannel Fulfillment, Dino Moler, Le Saint Logistics. Inventors Revue, near booth N7572, North Building.
2:30 p.m. – 3:20 p.m. Mastering
Human Connection Through
Connected Products. Dan Kraemer, IA Collaborative
3:15 p.m. – 5:15 p.m. Pitch To The Pros. Inventors Revue, near booth N7572, North Building.
Monday, March 20
3:30 p.m. – 4:20 p.m. Top Ten Retail Trends for Consumer Engagement. gia Retail Judges: Wolfgang Gruschwitz, Scott Kohno, Henrik Peter Reisby Nielsen
5:30 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. Housewares Charity Foundation 20th Annual Gala, Navy Pier, Crystal Ballroom. The Housewares Charity Foundation celebrates its 20th Annual Gala during the International Home + Housewares Show. This annual dinner raises funds for critical causes, unites the industry and honors its leaders. The evening features silent and live auctions and James Beard Chefs creating their signature specialties.
5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. Networking After Dark Reception, Level 4, South Building, S406a/Vista Ballroom. All U.S. and international buyers and news media are invited to end their day at the show by stopping by the Networking After Dark reception and enjoying the sounds of cool jazz. Join U.S. housewares exporters for food, drinks, music, international networking and plenty of fun. Hosted by the International Business Council (IBC).
Tuesday, March 21
8:45 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. IHA Awards: Inventor Recognition. Inventors Revue, near booth N7572, North Building.
9:30 a.m. – 10:20 a.m. 2017 Trends in Coatings for Cookware, Bakeware and Small Electrics. Fran Groesbeck and Suzie Eberhardt, Whitford Corp. The Nonstick Chicks are back to tell you about the 2017 trends in coatings and how they translate for cookware, bakeware and small electrics products. Everything from new colors, new effects and new ideas to help separate your products from the competition.
10:00 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. Media Panel. Inventors Revue, near booth N7572, North Building.
10:30 a.m. – 11:20 a.m. Align Your Brand with the “Well-Luxe” Lifestyle. Nancy Trent, Trent and Company. We are living longer, happier, healthier lives and we want to live them in luxury. We are just waiting to be told what will heal us next. The demand for health has doubled since 2011. Health is the one luxury everyone is splurging on now. Consumers are willing to pay more for brands that deliver quality, state-of-the-art technology and style. So how does your brand fit into the well-luxe spectrum? In this session learn: the importance of a healthy story, how to find a healthy angle for any product, how to make health an aspiration, identifying the right spokespeople and ambassadors and the value of a research study and why not all studies are created equal (but sometimes you have to start somewhere).
11:45 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. American Dream Recognition Award, Dara Trujillo, HSN. Inventors Revue, near booth N7572, North Building.
12 Noon – 1 p.m. Consumer Color Preferences: What Is Hot And What Is Not. Room S100/Grand Ballroom, South Building, Level 1. Leatrice (Lee) Eiseman, Director, Pantone Color Institute. Consumers today, depending on age, mindset and lifestyle, may have a different perspective on colors and color combinations that they consider acceptable in the home. Are trends important to them, or not? Leatrice Eiseman, IHA’s long-standing color consultant and executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, will share her perspective on the major color families based on color word association studies that she continues to collect and analyze.
