Jess (00:00)
Hi, everybody. Thanks for joining us on the Dig In podcast. I'm Jess Gaedeke And today I am thrilled to be joined by the very talented Jorge Calvachi. He is a self-proclaimed Insights Rainmaker, also known as the director of insights at La-Z Boy. So, Jorge, thanks so much for joining us today.

Jorge Calvachi (00:16)
Thank you for having me.

Jess (00:18)
So I love to start with an impromptu question so you don't know which one's coming at you here, but I'd love to know what's one of your most favorite family traditions?

Jorge Calvachi (00:26)
wow. You know, I really believe that Thanksgiving is one that I truly enjoy the most. And frankly, it's because of the food, because of the Lions play that day, and frankly, also it is not commercialized. So there you go.

Jess (00:44)
Yeah,

good point. Man, the Lions had a tough loss last weekend, didn't they? That's gonna, we're not gonna go there. Okay, got it, yeah, that's fine. I'm a 49er fan, so I had to give it up weeks and months ago. Okay, so tell us a little bit about your background and your role today at La-Z Boy.

Jorge Calvachi (00:49)
We're not going there, are we?

you

Yeah, so my background has been very interesting and it is not the typical, I will say, background for consumer insights people. I have always been in consumer insights, but every role has been very unique and different. So I started my career with Kraft Foods where my main goal was to establish the multicultural insights

team and we help all the different brands in different campuses across the world and to take a look at ethnic consumers. I moved to General Mills where I was leading the insights innovation team, which was very, very cool and particularly for cereal, right?

There is so much innovation in cereal that it was really hard to come up with great ideas. Then after that, I became the director of global at Clorox and it was all about expanding Clorox brands all over the world, particularly in Asia and the Middle East. After that, Amway, I went to Amway and this is a true

global company where you have about 90 % of the revenue coming from overseas and about 75 % of that coming from Asia. So I spend a lot of time. I have spent a lot of time internationally for the past about 15 years. Yeah. And then the pandemic hit and it was time to reflect and figure out what to do. So

Basically, when I was trying to figure out what to do, Lazyboy called. And Lazyboy is in Michigan and that is where my family is. I decided to come to Lazyboy. Yeah.

Jess (02:52)
Well, we're

going to dig into that because it's kind of an interesting story of how you did make that shift and that change. So let's do that. And as we kind of get into that story, Jorge, you know, our listeners really do crave inspiration from other

of the best ways to inspire is to tell a story. So we'd love for you to, you know, talk about the the ecosystem, the insights ecosystem that you've created at La-Z Boy. And it's really transformed the business in many ways. So let's start with.

What actually brought you to La-Z Boy when you took that call? How did it go from there?

Jorge Calvachi (03:22)
You know, thank you for that question. It's kind of fun to reflect back and say, and figure out, did I make all those decisions, right? And then put it all together. But I just got to say, also my journey at La-Z Boy is in consumer insights, but it is different, right? So La-Z Boy has been...

in the business for about 97 years. They have been very successful and everybody knows La-Z Boy, right? Such an iconic brand in the United States, as well as other countries. And when I got this call from La-Z Boy, basically they said, Jorge, we are going to transform the brand.

This is an iconic brand, right? This is about recliners and sofas. And I have always worked for other categories where you think, wow, those other categories are more exciting, but I am learning so much. I gotta say that buying a recliner, buying a sofa, chair is so emotional. consumers have to make so many choices.

In fact, it is exciting, but it is even more challenging. So when I joined Lazyboy, this whole idea of transforming the brand really got my attention, right? At the same time, they mentioned that they had never had a consumer insights function

So I needed to establish that, right?

because they

a new vision that is called century vision. So in a couple of years, we're going to be 100 years old. And so they put together this entire vision with the strategies. Most of those strategies, the foundation to bring them to life was about understanding the consumer. And so this is where they approached me. It was great.

Quickly, I realized that this is not only about building an in-size function, but building an ecosystem because I saw that as good as Lazyboy was, they were working as in silos, right? Like many big companies, they become successful, they know what works.

but they could be better, right? If we all know the consumer and that drives our decisions. So quickly I said, all right, not only I need to build a function, but I need to break down the silos with knowledge. And then on top of that, people were not used to making decisions by

thinking about the consumer first. They knew a lot about the business, right?

how to drive the business. They have been successful for so many years. And here I come and say, hey, we've got to make decisions based on the consumer. So I have a one-pager that inspires me. I have this page that at the top is all about what my vision is. And my vision is all about fostering a consumer mind.

centricity. So, so people need to change how we think about making decisions. Right. In the way, my simplistic approach to that is that we need to ask ourselves two questions. Whenever we have to make a decision in any meeting. The first question is, is this beneficial for the consumer? Right.

If the answer is no, stop there. Why would you do something that is not beneficial for them? But if it is, we need to know why, because we have that knowledge. We're solving a pinpoint. We're increasing satisfaction of our product. So once you move from the yes, you go to the next question. The second question is, is this beneficial for Lazyboy?

In many, many companies, the first question is, is this beneficial for us? And then we'll figure out how to sell it to the consumer. So it's such a simplistic model,

But it really changes your

Jess (07:49)
Yeah, but it's radical transformation.

Jorge Calvachi (07:52)
about the consumer and how to make decisions, right? So that is my vision.

And then we have a mission that it is all about driving agility because you know the consumer. We have these strategies that is all about breaking silos based on knowledge in how we can continue to improve and optimize the customer experience. So that is my one pager that is a reminder of what keeps me inspired.

a lazy boy.

Jess (08:23)
Sure. Well, I imagine that one pager is printed out and posted in lots of cubicles or virtually because it sounds like it's really the anchor point. And something that you said really speaks to me and to our perspective here at DIG as well is that you have to incorporate those different voices, the voice of the consumer, the voice of the market, and the voice of the business. Because really any successful initiative has to tie into those three components. So yes, just.

just absolutely support everything that you're talking about and being very decision centric based on that consumer learning. I those are things that are really, really important. I'm curious, you've transformed really the way that the company gathers insights and leverages them. What are some of the key ahas and key insights that you have uncovered? And how is that giving new meaning to the brand? Because as you approach 100 years, you really are revitalizing this brand.

Jorge Calvachi (09:16)
That's such a great question because when I joined the company, one of the first questions that people wanted to know is Jorge, we are the most comfortable. We're the most comfortable people recognize that and that is what we need to sell. But is there more to it?

And questions started to surface, such as, what does comfort mean emotionally? Because when you are like a product-driven company or a sales-driven company, you focus a lot on the actual product, right? Nothing wrong with that. But if you are going to connect with the consumer at an emotional level,

The question is, so what does come from me to the consumer emotionally? And, you know, I mentioned that buying a recliner or a sofa is an emotional purchase. It's very stressful, exciting and overwhelming, right? And then you find the one, you find that beautiful piece of furniture and you're so happy, right? But to get there, a couple of months at least, right?

Jess (10:24)
journey.

Yeah.

Jorge Calvachi (10:25)
Exactly. So one of the first things that we did is

emotional comfort means to consumers. So we identified that there are different dimensions of comfort. So we're talking about mental comfort, which is all about me time. I have worked super hard.

You know, I deserve to, you my own relaxing time, my own lazy moment. Then we have the emotional comfort, which it is all about the people that live with you and your home. And it is about spending time together with your family, right, in the living room. It could be movie night. It could be board games night and...

And we are there, you know, quietly, lazy boy, playing a role, enabling these memories, creation of memories. And there's also social comfort. This is when actually you bring people like your friends and family to watch the Super Bowl, watch, you know, a movie, and you feel confident, you feel proud of hosting, right? And so how can we tap into those

emotional moments, occasions, that means a lot to our consumers. And in front of that, we were able to define a new brand architecture, right? That it is all about delivering not only on the functional benefits, but also on the emotional benefits. And from there, our campaign was born.

And that is, I don't know if you have seen it, but...

Jess (12:05)
yes, I have. I love

it. Yeah. Tell us about it though.

Jorge Calvachi (12:08)
All right. And by the way, so I want to hear what you think about it. So I'll do a little bit of research with you as well.

Jess (12:15)
Absolutely. I'm

here for the the IDI right now, Jorge. I will tell you. I'll tell you right now. The the part about, you know, I work we work full time and we parent full time. So we deserve to be lazy. One hundred percent resonated with me. And I do cherish my lazy time. I actually I really it really resonated with me. So tell us about the campaign.

Jorge Calvachi (12:18)
.

So

look, so the campaign is the long live the lazy, right? And what is beautiful about that, that it also doubles down on who we are in our brand name, like La-Z Boy, right? And people find that super cool, authentic, unique, and only us, we can only do this as La-Z Boy.

But what we tap into is into this universal human truth that you just mentioned. We all deserve a lazy time. Especially now. There are a lot of unknowns, uncertainty. There is a lot of complexity in the world. And that creates the stress.

you need to, you need to, your me time, our we time, with your family as well. And mental health is a big issue, right? And how can we tap into that as well? The society today is expecting a lot from us. This is this, the hustle mentality, right? Which is driven by FOMO, right?

year of missing out. You have to be on the know every time with your phones when you're working. Even when you are like you know like buying something and you're online you're trying to text somebody you're trying to you know it's like can we just have a moment of

silence and relaxation. And by the way, in Japan, there is a word for this and that is called ma, which is M-A. And it is that moment of silence between conversations, between noise. We want to create more of that ma.

to keep ourselves with good mental health. So, Long Live the La-Z is all about, as you mentioned, Jazz, it's like, hey, there's a lot going on. You need your lazy time, right?

And it has been a really successful campaign and everybody can see themselves in that advertising because they go, my God, that is me. You know, I have been parenting all day. You know, I need a little break. Guess what? We're not doing the dishes tonight. You know, like that could be there until, you know, tomorrow. That is reality, right? We're not going to mow the lawn.

today, maybe tomorrow-ish, you know, it's just like, yeah. And we're not saying be lazy, we're just saying you deserve your lazy moment. We're taking a stand, right? In a way, La-Z Boy is standing up for your right to sit down.

Jess (15:16)
Tomorrow-ish. I love that part, yeah.

I love that. I love that. And it's also so powerful to take what could be a negative connotation to the word lazy and actually making it more, you know, you have permission, you are empowered to be lazy. I love it. I love everything about it. And I do think the creative, you know, it exudes that comfort that you're talking about because the, you know, the physical representation, people do look physically comfortable, right? Kind of cozy and in this lazy boy furniture.

but also I love what you're talking about, that it's creating mental comfort as well. So it's just a phenomenal campaign. And bravo to everyone who developed insights to bring it to life.

Jorge Calvachi (16:12)
Fantastic. Thank you. Do you know what is the most beautiful thing about this is when you actually, when you are watching consumers sit down in a recliner and then they, as soon as they sit down, they go, my God, this is it. This is the one. Yes. And then, so that is like, okay, check, you know, this is, this is perfect.

Jess (16:31)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Fulfillment. Absolutely.

Gosh, you've done so many great things in your time at La-Z Boy. What's one of the most meaningful milestones that you've achieved during your time there?

Jorge Calvachi (16:48)
Well, I don't know if it just milestones a bit because frankly, what is exciting about this job is always there. New opportunities slash challenges that, you know, that emerge. But I am very proud that within three years we have been able to build

a very strong foundation of strategic knowledge about our consumer. And I wouldn't have been able to do it if it wasn't for the support of leadership. So when it comes to consumer insights, you've got to have that support. You've got to be able to

be able to say, okay, I'm going to do this. The return on investment is not like I do this, I get 20 % return on investment. This is a low burn return on investment deck. It's just like compounding interest. The more you know, you know, and you leave it there and continue to compile, accumulate your knowledge, to connect the dots, the company is going to be able to con...

Make decisions that are better decisions, faster decisions, and you are going to feel more confident and empowered.

about those decisions. That doesn't happen the next day after you share the report. So I'm very proud that we have been able to do segmentation. We have been able to conduct jobs to be done, customer journey mapping.

we have enabled to test this type of advertising based on that foundational knowledge. We have recently done also a market structure, a consumer decision tree on how consumers approach and buy recliners. And it is super fascinating. I have done those type of studies

with.

Kraft Macaroni and cheese with cereal, with skincare creams. But I gotta tell you, doing this for recliners is so unique. How do you pull that apart, right? But you can. And there are consumers that it is all about the comfort, right? That place. There are consumers that are more about the style,

Jess (19:03)
turn.

Jorge Calvachi (19:18)
design.

So for them is about social comfort, right? I want to bring people in and you know and so they can take a look at my living room because this represents me, right? This is my personality, right? So with all the knowledge that we have

Decisions are happening faster. People feel more confident. And we're talking about consumer insights now being a competitive advantage over the industry. So I don't know if you know this, but the furniture industry is going through a contraction time right now. And it's very difficult.

for many retailers in this industry, but we are growing.

That is a testament

Jess (20:02)
Well, yeah.

Jorge Calvachi (20:06)
the confidence that we have on our decisions when we put the consumer first.

Jess (20:10)
I mean, it's incredible and truly a testament to the value of insights. And if we turn to your role as a thought leader in the industry, Jorge, you're pretty passionate about that role of insights, right? And the impact that insights leaders can really have. I don't know, tell us more about the impact that you've seen or you've been able to bring to bear and maybe some advice that you have for other insights leaders that wanna have that same impact.

Jorge Calvachi (20:34)
I don't know if this is advice now, but let's talk about this. When you take a look at the business, any business, any organization, then you look at marketing. Let's just say most consumer insights function are under marketing, the marketing umbrella.

Marketing has changed significantly in the last 10 years. But you know what hasn't changed when it comes to marketing? Really great strategies. We changed the way we

go to market, the way we talk to the consumer, the channels to reach consumers have changed. But at the end of the day is all about that connection with the consumer. That is what great brands do. That hasn't changed in the last 50 years, 60 years, even longer than that.

The same thing applies to consumer insights. So this is what I will say to consumer insights leaders is that yes, consumer insights, I would say even more than marketing has been impacted by...

technology by different tools, by different methodologies. All of that has evolved significantly, not even in the last 10 years, but even in the last five, three years, even with the AI. I believe that AI has impacted number one, content marketing, number two, market research.

more than any other functions. So all of that has changed on how we go to understand consumers, right? But you know what hasn't changed in consumer insights is what we must deliver, and that is a deep understanding of the consumer. Right? Let's keep all of that in mind, right? So...

I like to think as well that we have to be more

let's go to the bottom will be somebody comes, your stakeholder comes and asks for research. That is super, super late, right?

You should have known that this is common to you. Nobody wants to be an orator to take care, right? So, okay, that is, we shouldn't be there. The next level is they engage you because there is a problem, there is a challenge that needs to be fixed. And we are all proud to solve a problem, right? And that is great. Good place to be.

But if you are truly, truly proactive, consumer insights should be finding problems.

What is, based on your knowledge, is stopping the company from unlocking growth? That is where we need to be playing. And that is about proactive leadership, proactive role of insights to guide the strategy and the organization. And you get a lot more.

trust and respect from that perspective.

Jess (23:21)
Sure. Yeah,

absolutely. Bringing those consumer truths, those big ideas to the business and to your stakeholders and saying, what can we examine based in this foundational truth? And I think that that's really great advice for taking a consultative and proactive view from an insights

You talked about AI and I agree with you that market research is one of the most impacted industries, disciplines, et cetera, which is really exciting. What's your hot take on the future of the insights industry? What do you think AI is going to fuel?

Jorge Calvachi (23:51)
I am super excited about it. So again, I went from what is it? Yeah, I about about maybe a year and a half ago two years, right and They just watching from the sidelines and then I started to get a little bit curious and then I was a little bit, you know, cautiously optimistic and By now I am super excited by by it and what he can do for our function now

I believe that AI in consumer insights will help us be more efficient. Okay? And it is all about efficiency, agility, adaptability. Survival of not the fittest, but survival of the most adaptable.

that will lead us to be the problem finder, right? So I will say that what I am seeing right now is that efficiency to create, to look into data and just spit out different ways to look at data. I find that amazing. And then also,

using AI as a springboard for ideas is fantastic. I will never take what AI is actually doing and just share that with my stakeholders. That is where we come in. That is after AI is where we actually bring the value of a true

insights person. And remember that I mentioned that our value and what we deliver is that human truth, right? The true deep understanding of the consumer, AI can't do that. But we can connect the dots. And we use that as AI as a building block.

to help us do that. Sometimes AI come up with some interesting ideas that then I can take and I said, okay, that is a great idea. But if we do this or that, now that is connected to our business. And I really love that as well. So excited about the future.

Jess (25:59)
Yeah, well, you mentioned some of the possibilities there and I share your optimism and love that we can be more efficient and possibly, you know, come up with even better insights, but then acting on those and putting them in the context of the business, that is indeed where the human intellect comes in and empathy that humans can bring to that. so I completely agree.

Jorge Calvachi (26:19)
You know, thing,

you know, we're also starting to test this, how can we share insights in a more engaging way? We're looking into creating podcasts.

Just

Jess (26:30)
to share

Jorge Calvachi (26:32)
show exactly in it. And it's so engaging. And the feedback that we're getting is very positive.

Jess (26:31)
Yeah, absolutely.

Jorge Calvachi (26:38)
Right. I was like,

Jess (26:38)
Very cool. I like that you're

with that.

Jorge Calvachi (26:42)
Fantastic.

Jess (26:42)
Yeah, and a brand manager would love to, you know, listen to a podcast version of a report readout on their way to work or whatever versus, you know, going through a 50 slide deck. So that's a great example of AI helping the socialization and sort of upping the game there. So fantastic.

So we're gonna go to the final dig Jorge. This is all about you as a person and maybe as your own consumer. So feel free to take off the professional hat if you wish. What's the last product or service you bought on Impulse?

It was not a recliner. I'm going

bet on that.

Jorge Calvachi (27:15)
Yeah,

no, no, no. I gotta tell you, I laugh about this is because I am a true example of irrational behavior.

Jess (27:27)
Really? That surprises me. That's so interesting. Okay, tell me more.

Jorge Calvachi (27:31)
yeah, you know, so my kids and family will just like be afraid of going shopping with me. I'm like, squirrel, and I need that, you know? And so an example of that is going to a Harley-Davidson to buy a t-shirt coming out with a

limited edition Harley Davidson motorcycle. Which by the way, I didn't have a motorcycle driver's license and I didn't even have a place to park at home, but heck that didn't stop me. yeah, So what is funny is that I could actually

Jess (28:03)
my gosh.

Jorge Calvachi (28:09)
think about buying something for maybe like six months, like, do I really need an Apple Watch? Do I really need, and I'll take my, like, a couple of months, three months, thinking about it and all that. But I can go and spend like this much money, but I don't even have a place where to put it, but it's like, makes total sense for me.

And I've been known to buy cars also. I'm like, oh, wow, this is great. know, by the way, I don't like my car anymore. like, I'm buy this other one, you know, in 15 minutes. And it's like, woo, okay. My family will have a different opinion about that.

Jess (28:44)
That is the very best impulse purchase we've heard on this podcast. that's amazing. Yeah.

Yeah, I can see that. I can see that. that was my husband's impulse buying, we'd have some issues. But that's amazing. What's a category or a brand or a product that you could rationalize any price point for? You just have to have it in your life.

Jorge Calvachi (28:59)
Thank

I don't know if it is a brand, but it is about how it makes me feel. And I will say that the reason that I purchased a Harley Davidson is just, it's how it made me feel, right? So.

then I rationalize the purchase. BMW is also, you know, it's like how it makes me feel when I drive. And by the way, here's the thing, the ironic thing. About 20 years ago, I conducted research on cars and I segmented the different brands and particularly,

understanding BMW drivers. It was a research where we actually segmented people based on pictures and how they felt. What is very interesting is that the main reason that BMW owners bought that brand

is because they wanted to feel like a tiger

when they drove

car. Yeah, but not one person said that. It was all based on based on exactly this very analytical complex pictures, right?

Jess (30:19)
Yeah, the visual metaphor elicitation. Yeah, we do

a lot of that as you know. Yeah. So powerful. Very fascinating. Yeah, what a great example too. And it ties back to what you talked about with La-Z Boy in that comfort aspect because when you deliver that emotional connection, then people just need to have that product or brand, whatever it is in their lives. It's like the rest of the rationalization goes out the window. So that's wonderful example.

Jorge Calvachi (30:24)
Yeah, I find that fascinating, right?

Jess (30:46)
We all know that brands have distinct personalities, Jorge. This is one of my favorite questions. What's a brand that you would like to date and maybe a brand you would like to marry? And they don't have to be the same brand.

Jorge Calvachi (30:56)
Yeah, I don't know. I think like Apple will be an interesting brand.

I think that it will be like, let's say somebody to have a beer with, will be Harley Davidson. I think that is more fun, more freeing. But I don't know about marrying a brand. I just cannot make that connection yet.

Jess (31:13)
Mm-hmm. Yep.

Yeah, that's fair, that's fair. Maybe La-Z Boy is a brand that you hope people would want to marry because that is a long-term commitment and you're looking for stability and comfort and functionality and all those things. So I would actually think of La-Z Boy as a brand that's good to

clearly are so inspired about the work that you do. So what is it about your job that really keeps you going back day to day?

Jorge Calvachi (31:43)
So there are a couple of things that I always enjoy wherever I work. Number one is learning and that is learning about the consumer, learning about how people make decisions, learning about the business model. So all of that is really exciting to me. And Lazyboy has a very...

complex business model that everything comes together and how we can actually make it work even more in unison is one of my goals. And at the same time, with that learning is making an impact. And that making that impact has two different...

two different signs. One is the actual business impact, return on investment, higher revenue and all of that. And that is just fine. The one that I care the most is about the emotional benefit that I can see people's faces excited about knowing something that can help.

them with making decisions better and faster. So I love when I get this email saying, I love our partnership. Thank you so much. helping our team for doing that. That is a huge, that keeps me inspired.

Jess (33:02)
Yeah. Well,

absolutely. You can feel that inspiration from you, Jorge. And you're also a client who is so giving with your partnerships and how you engage your vendor partner. So we appreciate that very much here at Dig. And just really appreciate your time today and your wisdom. Thanks so much for joining us on this conversation.

Jorge Calvachi (33:18)
Absolutely. Thank you so much, Jess.