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Q&A:
The Home-Design TV Personality on His Product Lines
and Ad-Industry Experience
Creating
the Christopher Lowell Brand
by Andrew Hampp
Published January 9, 2009
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Christopher
Lowell is now one of the most recognizable personalities
in home design, thanks to his former TV series for the
Discovery Channel, "The Christopher Lowell Show,"
and his eponymous product lines for Office Depot and
Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts. But just over a decade ago,
the male Martha Stewart was an ad executive, helping
to develop Biolage shampoo for Ohio-based salon company
Matrix, among other products.
Christopher Lowell
"People used to hire me because
I understood all the components of the business and
felt there was a huge disconnect between all the departments,"
he said of his days at the helm of his own production/marketing
agency, Visual Marketing. "I was kind of one of
the first people to bridge the gap between creative
director and art director and account brand director."
While working for years to help companies
such as Revlon and Paul Mitchell expand their brands,
Mr. Lowell learned a lot about reaching women authentically,
which often meant working outside the confines of traditional
ad models. "The 30-second commercial is such a
microcosm. You can't tell a full story in 30 seconds,"
he said. "I decided I had a lot of corporate fatigue
and wanted to get into the message I really believed
in: the power of personal creativity. I felt people
were saturated by the media, especially the entertainment
media, and confused talent with innate creativity."
Design and lifestyle
show
Mr. Lowell eventually set up a studio
near Matrix's headquarters in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, to
film his own version of a design and lifestyle show
that would offer a different take than the likes of
Bob Vila and Martha Stewart. "We wanted something
that was designed to keep you on budget but keep you
out of the emotionally overwhelming task of doing everything
yourself," he said.
In the ensuing years, Mr. Lowell has
played the dual role of TV host and businessman. "The
Christopher Lowell Show" aired for nearly 10 years
on the Discovery Channel, where it was the network's
highest-rated show in daytime. After ending his run
with Discovery in 2007, Mr. Lowell made a return to
TV in July on Scripps' Fine Living Network, where he
hosts "Work That Room." During his run on
Discovery, Mr. Lowell launched a series of collections
at retail, which recently logged a collective $1 billion
in sales over 10 years. He recently renewed his partnership
with Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts to sell his books, drapery,
hardware and fabric at Jo-Ann's 760 stores nationwide.
There's also Christopher Lowell Furniture Collections,
a line he launched at Office Depot and will take to
DirectBuy starting in January through a new deal with
Klaussner Furniture.
Dan Levin, Mr. Lowell's business partner
of the past 15 years and founder of Associated Talent
Management, said Mr. Lowell has been able to quietly
create a sustainable brand because of his unique combination
of marketing expertise and emphasis on affordability.
"With other personalities who've written books
or had TV shows, it was about having expertise. But
just because you have expertise in something, that doesn't
make you a brand," he said. "The brand is
the fact that you've been able to develop successful
product lines, stay in the game but also grow. As more
people become aware of Christopher, they understand
the value that Christopher brings. When you buy a Christopher
Lowell product, you know it's a good product but also
good value."
Madison & Vine recently spoke with
Mr. Lowell about his return to TV, lessons he learned
from his days in the ad industry and his predictions
for the troubled housing market.
Madison & Vine: How did
your experience in product development for companies
such as Matrix, Revlon and Paul Mitchell inform the
marketing strategy for your own product lines?
Mr. Lowell: One of the things
we're trying to tell the mass market is you have to
look at price point. That's where a designer's eye toward
their global attitude comes in. It allowed me to build
in these perceived values. It's that little touch of
class that's going to sell those things. We were fighting
back by charging $125 with all the whistles and bells.
The perceived value was there. That's where the real
research and development we do in-house comes in. We
play with things until we know they speak to you. We've
become aspirational in the way we design furniture and
items but using methods that have been seen in other
areas of retail. What is the most important element
of that item, and how do we get that down to an affordable
price?
M&V: What's your take on
how consumers will invest in their homes in this disastrous
housing market?
Mr. Lowell: We had predicted
a year and a half ago that nothing was going to come
back in a very big way. We know people are taking another
look at their homes, no differently than when people
started nesting after Sept. 11. They would walk back
into their homes and say, 'Where did we get all this
crap?' That prompted the biggest remodeling boom, but
the word "nesting" means nothing to you now.
And we're kind of in the midst of that
again. In the consumer press, I've been doing a lot
of articles on a pay-it-backward concept. Many people
thought they were going to upgrade into a new home.
Now we're saying: Take a look at the home you're in
right now, understand what your lifestyle is, think
about what your parents did and throw it out the window.
If you have a table sitting in the middle of a room
all by itself, get rid of it!
M&V: What prompted your
return to TV on the Fine Living Network? How does your
new show fit into your long-term strategy at retail?
Mr. Lowell: I wasn't sure I
wanted to go back on television after the first program,
pulling 24-hour days. I thought I was going to take
a break, so I went to Discovery, and we parted very
amicably. But as our television series become a shorter
investment of time for me, I realized it was time to
get back out with my original message. Personal creativity
is built into all of us; it's inherent. It's buried,
but it's there. You may not have three-dimensional talent,
but you do have enormous creativity, especially as we
move to a much more entrepreneurial and spiritual society.
As far as retail goes, we just want
to continue to grow, want to let retailers know that
we're really there to help them bridge the gap with
their consumers. We're saying: Get rid of all this crap.
Lower the SKUs and you lower the anxiety. If you coordinate
it, you're going to have a better chance of sale at
the retail counter. We've done a lot of talking with
national retail associations helping them understand
who the new retail generation is.
For additional information, please
contact:
Associated Talent Management
11845 West Olympic Blvd., Suite 645
Los Angeles, CA 90064
310 576 7000
Email: info@atmlosangeles.com
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