As a "flooring obsessed" business-to-business editor, I literally laughed out loud at a new video series Metroflor debuted on social media that aims to share one of the company's brand pillars: take fun seriously. 

“As part of ongoing efforts to educate consumers about the core values of our brand, we felt that the campaign would be a great way to engage consumers in an entertaining way while promoting our expertise and ‘obsession’ with vinyl flooring,” said Gary Keeble, VP of marketing, Metroflor. 

During the pandemic, the Metroflor team did a brand discovery exercise that developed into seven core values for the Metroflor brand. "One of them was 'Take fun seriously'," Keeble said. "Understanding life is short and there aren’t many flooring tragedies, we're serious about what we do but not always being serious while doing it."

The Dr. Russ campaign was inspired by Progressive's Dr. Rick ad campaign — in which a tough-love Dr. Phil type helps millennials and Gen Xers avoid taking on their parents’ behaviors when they buy (and insure) their first homes.

In one Dr. Russ video, “Group Therapy,” Dr. Russ, played by Metroflor President Russ Rogg, works with employees to reduce the number of flooring acronyms they use each day. “Acronyms may seem cool, but clear talk is the golden rule,” the group chants as its new mantra. 

In another video, “The Gap,” Dr. Russ does gap exposure therapy for Metroflor employees. “Patients need to understand that just because everybody uses flooring, not everyone cares about flooring quite like they do," said Dr. Russ. 

“This type of brand awareness campaign is just the vehicle to show the personality of the Metroflor brand through the personality of Metroflor’s associates,” Keeble said. “There were no professional actors. Everyone in the commercials was a Metorflor employee.”

The company worked with Sozo Bear Films, a video production company in Northeast Georgia, to create the videos, which debuted at the company’s annual design release meeting held over three days at HMTX headquarters in Norwalk, Connecticut.

"They're team-building endeavors," said Metroflor President Russ Rogg. "They're just fun, and we had a good time putting them together."

In addition to creating brand awareness for Metroflor, a key goal of the campaign is to drive engagement on social media platforms: LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Since the social media campaign kicked off on Aug. 23, the videos have garnered more than 5,000 views in one month. 

“Our social media engagement numbers far exceed what we normally experience on all platforms,” Keeble said. “We are planning to use versions of the commercials in YouTube ads and other digital ad platforms as well. Early indications are that we are hitting the mark with the Dr. Russ theme… with apologies to Progressive’s Dr. Rick.”