A stop outside an Ashley Home Store during a 90-day tour of U.S. markets crystallized a troubling trend for John Mask: lower-income shoppers were no longer showing up in furniture stores.

Mask, the EVP of sales and marketing at Ashley Furniture, shared that the solution to that problem is a two-step process that starts with building trust with customers before selling the product. He spoke during a fireside chat at From Day One’s July virtual conference, in conversation with Seattle Times business reporter, Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton. 

Mask shared how Ashley Furniture navigates a crowded marketplace, evolving consumer expectations, and the transformative role of AI in marketing. The fireside chat covered everything from global expansion to the return of traditional mailers. Yet, the central theme remained clear: cultivating brand loyalty today requires building trust, sharing stories, and engaging with consumers wherever they are; across all channels.

A Saturated Landscape and the Shift to Value

Mask started the conversation by identifying the greatest challenge facing today’s marketers: saturation. Thanks to the democratization of marketing tools such as social media, anyone can now reach customers on a one-to-one basis. 

“It’s become more crowded because more people can actually talk to that consumer,” he said. Consequently, standing out becomes essential within such crowded marketplaces.

A fundamental shift in consumer behavior compounds this new reality. Mask says he has observed customers moving from a price-based mindset to a value-based approach when making purchases. 

“What can I get for the cost, as opposed to what’s the lowest cost that I can find out there?” he elaborated. This is particularly pronounced in a K-shaped economy, where lower-income consumers are short on cash and middle-to-high-income shoppers, the “five to eight consumer” on an income scale, drive the market. These potential customers have disposable income but expect quality, story, and a clear value proposition from the companies they shop with.

Marketing Across Channels

Ashley Furniture’s staggering reach includes running operations in 23 countries, over 1,000 branded stores, and partnerships with over 24,000 retailers, he says. Operating on this scale demands a more nuanced approach to omnichannel marketing. 

“We have a saying that we like to have our feet in many canoes,” Mask said as he described the company’s strategy of serving consumers wherever they may be. The company utilizes brick-and-mortar stores, e-retail platforms like Amazon and Wayfair, big-box partners, rental channels, and international markets. 

Importantly, tailored content drives each specific marketing channel. Although big-box locations emphasize pricing above all else, the company’s dedicated showrooms prioritize aesthetics, atmosphere, and narrative. 

Additionally, traditional advertising avenues like print media and billboards are undergoing a notable resurgence, offering fresh opportunities to capture consumer attention amidst increasingly crowded digital spaces.

Storytelling and the Customer Lifecycle

A layered approach to storytelling is at the heart of Ashley Furniture’s marketing strategy. Mask outlined their strategy for constructing brand narratives that look past simple product characteristics and pricing to focus instead on the deeper emotional connections people form with furniture; how it makes them feel, how it fits into their homes, and whether it meets their functional needs. 

This is especially important when appealing to different customer demographics. Younger consumers, for example, are increasingly interested in sustainability and what a company stands for.

This storytelling is woven into what Mask calls life cycle marketing. Furniture purchases are tied to major life events such as having a baby, transitioning a child to a “big kid” bedroom, getting married, or buying a house. 

Ashley aims to build a relationship that spans generations by engaging consumers across these milestones. “We want a consumer to know at every touchpoint they’re going to get the best service from Ashley,” he added. The payoff is clear: loyal patrons become returning customers and bring in their children, creating a multigenerational brand loyalty that dramatically lowers acquisition costs.

AI in Marketing: From Content Creation to Agentic Search

Mask also shared how AI is changing the marketing landscape. “We can truly create campaigns that are foundational, and then use AI to create customizations in the individuals that are in the ads, in the backgrounds of those rooms,” he said. This enables the company to tailor messaging for different geographies, showing the same product in a rural setting versus an urban one, without needing a massive marketing team.

The bigger shift is how consumers now discover products, he says. He pointed to the rise of agentic engine optimization (AEO), the AI-powered successor to traditional SEO. “We’ve seen a 45% increase over the last month alone in terms of traffic based on searches started with some sort of an agent via Perplexity, ChatGPT, or any of the other services that are out there,” he said.

With personalized AI agents increasingly serving as the primary tool for consumer search, brands must organize their data to feed these engines and shape the sources they reference for recommendations. Mask cautioned that if your brand is not visible to AI, “they just may never find you.”

Building Trust in a Two-Step Process

Despite all the talk about technology and marketing channels, Mask returned repeatedly to the foundational importance of trust. He described a two-step process: “Do I trust you, and then what do you have to offer me as a result of the fact that I trust you?” 

Consumers need to know who a company is, how it engages with communities, and what it stands for before considering product features. This applies especially to the younger demographic, who place greater emphasis on the principles a business stands for and its commitment to eco-friendly practices.

Mask’s advice to other marketing leaders was hands-on: “Go out and test.” He highlights the value of conducting A/B tests on emerging platforms, listening more than talking, and actively engaging in forums to discover what consumers truly desire. In an interest-based economy where consumers are constantly bombarded with choices, the brands that succeed will be those that earn trust, tell compelling stories, and meet customers where they are; whether that’s in a store, on a social platform, or through an AI agent.

Ade Akin covers artificial intelligence, workplace wellness, HR trends, and digital health solutions.

(Photo by ismagilov/iStock)