DALTON (April 8, 2009)—A slobbery bloodhound on a new white carpet is frightening enough. But what if you surrounded him with 55 glasses of red wine?

Or subjected your pristine new floor to an army of girls jumping rope?

The stopping power of images like these will be grabbing the attention of millions of readers and viewers this year as Mohawk rolls out a new consumer ad campaign in print, television, and online media.

The message: Mohawk SmartStrand® carpet with DuPont™ Sorona® fiber can handle even the most extraordinary challenges.

The campaign is breaking in the April issues of consumer shelter magazines such as Elle Décor, House Beautiful, Natural Home, Traditional Home, and Better Homes and Gardens Special Interest Publications. TV buys include HGTV, DIY Network, Fine Living, Planet Green, TLC, Style, and A&E. The Mohawk campaign will have an online presence at HGTV.com, FineLiving.com, Homeportfolio.com, and PointClickHome.com.

“We’re continuing to be aggressive in reaching our core consumers—groups our research has identified as ‘passionate decorating hobbyists’ and ‘homecentric cocooners,’” said David Duncan, Vice President of Marketing. “These are female consumers focused on their homes and on design. They are continually engaged in home improvement projects, and relentlessly pursue new design ideas, products, information, and resources. They love their homes, and they share this pride with friends and family. It’s this high emotional involvement that makes them different—and so valuable to our retailers.”

Lindsey Ann Waldrep, Mohawk’s Director of Creative Services, said the creative approach to the campaign came from looking at what Mohawk’s target buyers want—and what Mohawk has to offer to meet those needs and wants.

“These are extraordinary times,” she said. “But Mohawk is fortunate in that we have some truly extraordinary products like SmartStrand with DuPont Sorona. So we decided that a way to reach out to consumers is to put this extraordinary product into extraordinary situations.”

She said that the idea of spilling red wine on a white carpet is horrifying for a consumer base that takes exceptional pride in their homes and that enjoys entertaining. But when they see that Mohawk’s SmartStrand carpet with DuPont Sorona fiber has built-in stain protection that can stand up to a red wine spill—or for that matter, multiple spills, pets, and other stain challenges—they see Mohawk has taken the risk out of the purchase without compromising the buyer’s desire for style.

“As the headline says, ‘Don’t Worry. It’s SmartStrand,” she noted.

A Boost From An FTC Ruling

Mohawk’s campaign with SmartStrand is getting a boost from a recent ruling from the Federal Trade Commission. Acting on a petition submitted nearly three years ago, the FTC has ruled that PTT fiber, such as that used in SmartStrand and SmartStrand with DuPont Sorona, is so unique that it should be given its own fiber category, a subclass called ‘triexta,’ instead of being classified as a polyester.

With its extreme durability, unrivaled stain resistance and unmatched softness, triexta has been determined to be superior to standard polyester and shares little more than a similar chemical structure.

Retailer and consumer testimonials, along with independent testing, have continually confirmed that carpet made with triexta performs better than conventional polyester. The creation of the triexta subclass gives retailers the ability to emphasize and focus on the outstanding features and benefits of the product, instead of defending the negative perceptions sometimes accompanied with the word ‘polyester’.

This is the first extension that the FTC has approved for textiles in 5 years and the first extension for residential carpeting since nylon in June of 1959.

“This adds even more credibility that our SmartStrand fibers are in a class all by themselves,” Duncan said. “We have both the creative message—and the technical proof—to support this.”

Waldrep said that the creative approach used for this campaign may ultimately lend itself to other Mohawk products with unique stories. The campaign is the first developed in conjunction with Mohawk’s new advertising agency, Cramer-Krasselt.

Duncan also noted that the media mix for the new campaign is structured to support Mohawk’s two national sales conducted every spring and fall.

“We have a fresh message that is tailored to current market conditions and our core consumer, and it’s one focused on a product that our dealers report is one of their best sellers,” he said. “We’re going after the business that’s out there.”