AI-powered, disruptive love brand for Gen Y & Gen Z
CLIENT
SWISS KRONO Group
SERVICES
Brand style development
INDUSTRY
Flooring
Success at a glance
SWISS KRONO is revolutionizing the traditional laminate market with its bright yellow flooring brand kiwi. Using AI-supported market analysis, we developed an authentic love brand for millennials and Gen Z that sets completely new standards. Instead of boring product communication, kiwi is winning over a young target group with bold colors and emotional storytelling. The new “hybrid resilient technology” category is successfully establishing itself in the market. A prime example of data-driven innovation paired with creative brand management.
3+
International rollout of the brand in 3 initial test markets
24+
Sales partners already
in Q1 2024
60k+
Sale of over 60,000
square metres of flooring
The challenge: laminate = plastic?
Our client SWISS KRONO wanted to enter the B2C market with a new brand – and faced a massive image problem: many consumers consider laminate to be “plastic.”
The reality: laminate is a sustainable floor covering made primarily from wood – durable, easy to maintain, and resource-efficient.
The goal: to develop a high-quality, cost-effective floor covering for a young target group in a completely new category: hybrid resilient flooring.
The reality: laminate is a sustainable floor covering made primarily from wood – durable, easy to maintain, and resource-efficient.
The goal: to develop a high-quality, cost-effective floor covering for a young target group in a completely new category: hybrid resilient flooring.
AI revolution: What millennials really want
While the industry still relies on technical specifications, we have listened – with AI-supported market analysis.
The surprising findings:
- Millennials and Gen Z are less interested in abrasion classes and more interested in brands with character.
- They are looking for companies that speak their language and share their values. Boring
- product communication? Uninteresting. Authentic stories? That’s appealing.
The game changer: colour
Our colour analysis was particularly surprising: while the industry has relied on subtle beige and grey tones for decades, our data showed a clear preference for bold, vibrant colours.
Why not, actually? Who decided that floors have to be neutral?
The Yellow Revolution
This is how Kiwi became the first bright yellow flooring brand – a statement that immediately catches the eye and sticks in the memory.
The paradox: a brand that appears so human and emotional was created through precise data analysis and artificial intelligence.
Our AI toolkit:
- Systematic target group analysis
- Data-based name finding
- Developing an authentic brand voice
- Visual identity through intelligent algorithms
- Content strategy with ready-made marketing packages
Experience meets innovation
The crucial difference: AI can recognise patterns and predict trends, but it cannot distinguish between ingenious and generic.
As a brand agency with over three decades of expertise, we know how to turn AI-generated insights into real brand magic.
The risk with purely AI-based content: interchangeability.
Our solution: use AI as a tool to gain a deeper understanding – and develop distinctive brand identities from this.
360° brand world: From strategy to implementation
Together with BrandTrust and TrendsActive, we developed a complete brand world:
Strategic foundations:
- Basic brand strategy
- Target group-specific personas
- Complete visual identity
- Brand architecture and tone of voice
Practical implementation:
- Customised packaging concepts
- point-of-sale solutions
- Tailor-made communication strategies
- Complete marketing ecosystem
- Sales presentations and sales training
- SEO-optimised website
The factors for success:
- The courage to try new things paired with entrepreneurial foresight from SWISS KRONO
- AI-based insights accurately implemented
- Authentic brand instead of interchangeable product communication
And that’s just the beginning – more exciting developments are on the way. Launch in January 2024 – exceeding all expectations. Just as Oatly revolutionised the milk market, Kiwi is now establishing a completely new category in the flooring segment. Yellow has gone from being a daring experiment to an unmistakable trademark.
Fabian Koelliker
Head of Group Marketing at SWISS KRONO GROUP
“An experience from A to Z. Our long-standing collaboration has been extremely helpful in this very large and unique project. Thanks to the teams at BrandTrust, IDEENHAUS and TrendsActive, we have succeeded in creating a new, disruptive brand that is truly tailored to the customer and takes the hybrid resilient flooring market to a new level.”
Juliane Hänig
Head of Brand Design, IDEENHAUS
“Using a disruptive brand and design strategy and an unusual sales strategy, BrandTrust, IDEENHAUS and TrendsActive radically rethought the kiwi now brand from the ground up: with a customer-centric B2C approach, we are setting new standards and making a strong impact on the market and on the shelves.”
