Page 24 - Buzz Magazine

MARKETInG
Sound psychology should underlie workplace design
Sound is an issue in the workplace. Just ask anyone in your o ce.
Workplace design and use can bene t greatly from Ecophon’s research, spearheaded by Paige
Hodsman and Nigel Oseland, into understanding people’s psychological response to noise, a eld known as psychoacoustics. The same can be said of the research into sensory intelligence conducted by Dr Annemarie Lombard and her team.
“We were delighted to come across Dr Lombard’s research to complement our own. Both have bearing on acoustic design, but also in uence broader aspects of design such as thermal
and visual comfort.” explained Lauren Krüger, Concept Developer at Ecophon.
“The ability to combine the
two sets of research prompted
us to run a workshop exploring both psychoacoustics and sensory intelligence research at the Saint- Gobain Innovation Centre in London recently. The built environment professionals – including architects, interior architects and real estate managers – who attended were fascinated by the content and the
results of our two pro ling tools.” Each person did a mini-pro le of
themselves to gain insight into how the tools work. Once they understood their own pro le, they looked at designing a space in which they would work best.
“People were fascinated to discover their sensory pro le and associate it to their psychological response to noise” Lauren said.
“I hope that presenting this workshop in South Africa, as we plan to do during next year, will spark an examination for the need for variance and choice within workspace design, as well as an appetite for working
out what works best for whom in our corporate environments. Once we start doing that, we will start getting more usable environments.” w
People were fascinated to discover their sensory pro le and associate it to their psychological response to noise.
OnE OF A SElECT FEw
Lauren Krüger is part of Saint- Gobain’s 11-member international concept development group. As
the only South African member and one of only three members from countries outside Europe, her most valuable contribution to the group is meeting the need to shift concepts to suit the African context.
24 | BUZZ | SUMMER 2016
Norton products sell themselves
Have you been watching YouTube lately? Go and watch a Norton disc cleaning the paint off a piece
of metal in minutes. Now, that’s impressive!
Tommie Smit, business unit manager for Norton, is passionate about his department’s products. “Our products sell themselves. Once you have watched them being used in the YouTube videos, you cannot but be impressed.”
According to Tommie, the Norton
business unit is doing very well. “We recently started using Aluwen.co.za for direct sales, and so far it has picked up nicely.”
Tommie says that he tried to buy abrasives online and couldn’t nd any. “I typed in ‘Norton cutting disc online buy’ and there were no workable results. If potential customers cannot nd you, they cannot buy your products. We had to make a plan.”
On the Aluwen website, all the information is available, with a link to
the YouTube video that demonstrates the use of the product.
The website has also initiated bigger potential sales. “A truck
body building company saw our products online and they are interested in becoming a customer. The website has de nitely made us more visible.”
Apart from the usual dependable products, new products in the line include:
w The rapid strip range: “There is no
competition for this product in South