“BATHROOM ANEW” GUIDE

As the publishers of the “Bathroom Anew” guide, we have faced the challenge of providing a fresh, useful and knowledge-based look at the most private space, from the perspective of new functions that bathrooms have started to play in new normal reality. The content strategy was based on social research conducted for the needs of the guide on a group of 500 adult Poles.

Almost everything has been said and written about the life of families locked in the interiors of their houses for many months. In people’s experiences, as well as in media and social messages, many so far banal elements of our everyday life, in pandemic realities, have gained additional dimensions, assuming non-obvious functions and forms. The bathroom as a home office or “conference room” was a clear proof of this.New experiences resulting from lock down made many people reflect on the usefulness of home spaces. The need for knowledge about the available solutions increasing health safety and allowing the arrangement of space with new functions has increased. Bathroom guide is a new answer to these needs.A special value of the publishing house is the provision of knowledge based on the diagnosis of changes in the behavior of bathroom users in connection with the pandemic.Due to changes in the way of life, media consumption and shopping habits, it has also become necessary to prepare the guide in a way that maximizes its presence in online messages without giving up a paper publication. We achieved this goal through the use of user-generated content, cooperation with influencers and journalists, and we made dedicated social research the key driver.

On the one hand, making the coronavirus pandemic the starting point for the narrative was a natural consequence of observing reality, and on the other, it posed a risk of burdening this – in fact pleasant – subject with a specific burden. So we decided to focus on the positive aspects of the pandemic: spending more time at home, taking special care of yourself and your loved ones, and taking more care of hygiene.

In order to maximize the usefulness of the guide, we decided to base the content on the findings of social research. The CATI survey on a sample of 500 respondents allowed us to determine how the perception and functionality of bathrooms in Polish homes was affected by the pandemic. Based on this, we have built the content plan for the guide and selected external authors.

In the light of the research findings, the title “Bathroom Anew” is a space that allows you to take care of health, well-being, emotional and mental balance. It is a room whose role goes far beyond the bath and toilet function. Depending on the needs of the household members, the bathroom becomes a playground, reading room, spa salon or meditation room. It is also an ideal place to exhibit pro-ecological behavior.

Providing knowledge about the possibilities of the appropriate preparation of the bathroom to the needs of the household is an integral part of the Roca Academy mission. Hence, in the strategy, an equally important element as the optimal content and form of the guide is the campaign building its reach. We focused on promoting the guide in social media and interior media, which remain one of the most important sources of inspiration in the field of interior design.

In cooperation with IBRiS, we conducted opinion polls on a group of 500 adult Poles, which gave us an overview of the changes in behavior and needs related to the space of the home bathroom. On their basis, we developed a plan for the content of the guide [topics of sections and individual texts], defined a vision of appropriate aesthetics, selected industry media as partners for the publishing house and selected co-authors (infuencers and journalists) and defined the principles of promotion of the publishing house.

To create and promote the guide, we engaged 9 influencers publishing content in social media, but also on original blogs (eg Ewa & Interior). Due to the available budget, as well as the willingness to establish cooperation with various authors (goal: to show a variety of perspectives and opinions, to present different views on the bathroom and ways of using it), we focused on micro-influencers (from approx. 3.9 thousand to 66 thousand followers). on IG). Among them there are artists dealing not only with the subject of interior design, but also broadly understood lifestyle, meditation, parenting and beauty.

We also invited 4 industry journalists to prepare the texts (magazines: “Weranda”, “M jak Mieszkanie”, “Design / Biznes” and portals Dobrzemieszkaj.pl and Urzadzamy.pl). with an expert voice – these people deal with the subject of interior design on a daily basis, and follow trends. We knew that their texts would be of great substantive value.

When planning the new edition of the Roca Academy project, we wanted the authors of the content for the guide to become its ambassadors at the same time. Therefore, we have prepared a promotional campaign in cooperation with lifestyle influencers, whose ideas and advice were presented in the guide. As part of disseminating the guide, media patrons published articles related to it.

The guide was published in electronic and paper versions.

During the first 6 weeks of the publication of the online version of the guide, the number of downloads exceeded 30%. the global number of downloads of the previous edition, which was available to audiences for 18 months. The dynamics of the guide’s dissemination is thus at least twice as high. Posts by 9 micro-influencers caused over 3,000 reaction. The paper version of Łazienki is being redistributed to Roca outlets all over Poland.