Republic Floor

Project Overview

Rotem Eylor is an entrepreneur, forward thinker, and founder and CEO of the global flooring company Republic Floor. Eylor and Republic have been featured in Forbes, Architectural Digest, The Washington Post, US News and World Report, House Beautiful, LA Weekly, and more. Republic Floor is leading the flooring revolution with its ground-breaking waterproof engineered flooring products. They are pioneers in developing resilient vinyl Pure SPC™ flooring, using the most advanced manufacturing techniques, and offering their customers the most exciting floor designs.

Republic Floor manufactures the country’s widest range of stylish and robust waterproof laminate and SPC flooring. Their highly-trained flooring experts can advise and provide clients with the best flooring products available anywhere.

Our PR campaign for Republic and Eylor is composed of two elements: thought leadership for himself and brand awareness for Republic Floor. With the thought leadership angle, the aim was to position Eylor as an industry expert for all things flooring, globalization, and being an effective business leader — as a few examples of topics he could speak to. Republic also expanded globally and needed PR for social credibility and brand awareness within the US and more importantly, outside of the US.

The Problem *

Taking floors from a mundane topic in the media to an exciting one that would leave journalists saying “I want to hear more” was the main challenge of this campaign. Our goal was to make flooring sound “fun” in ways that would not come across as overly-promotional to garner earned media and support our positioning of Eylor as a thought leader and industry expert. At the same time, we knew we would need to highlight how Republic’s products are a standout in the saturated market.

To accomplish this, Otter PR first needed to help Republic Floor become relevant on Google as an innovative flooring company developing flooring tech (Pure SPC and Pure SPC MAX Waterproof Flooring). Republic was already in the media in industry publications, such as Floor Covering Weekly, but struggled to establish a national and international presence outside of the flooring industry.

The Strategy *

Our strategy for Eylor’s campaign consisted of three main components:

First, we set out to make Eylor a thought leader in the industry. We sought to position him as an expert on flooring and other matters he could speak to as a business leader in the flooring sector. This component of our strategy came to fruition by having Eylor accepted as an expert thought leader and contributor to some of the most sought-after publications in his industry.

In addition to thought leadership, we also pitched Eylor on various lifestyle topics relevant to both him and Republic Floor. These informative topics gave Eylor additional opportunities to show off his expertise and provided a valuable chance for him to create a more relatable image for himself and his company. Furthermore, these lifestyle topics allowed us to get Eylor featured in several target publications focused on the design and style industries.

Finally, since flooring is not a topic generally seen as “fun,” we had to come up with creative ways to pitch Eylor and his company to ensure that publications and audiences stay engaged with him and his image. In addition to pitching him on fun topics where applicable, we also focused on Q&As, speaking engagements, and event PR. This component of our strategy allowed us to help guide Eylor and Republic Floor’s images to be more fun and relatable.

Business Impact (results) *

Otter PR’s campaign led to global media coverage in countless top-tier outlets that fit the client’s goals. The culmination of these efforts was Eylor receiving an invitation to join the Forbes Business Council, where he now serves as a regular contributor and industry expert.

Since the start of our media campaign, Republic Floor has opened and launched three new locations around the world, and Eylor has become the go-to thought leader for all things flooring, business, and global expansion. As a result of Otter PR’s efforts, Republic Floor has experienced an influx of sales and an increase in trade show invitations across the globe.