My visit to the Chair Research Society: 'A chair for marketers'
Hi there.
I'm Josh, a marketer at Indent Corporation, where we help e-commerce brands grow sales with AI technology.
In August, as summer was winding down, an event caught my eye on Instagram and I signed up on the spot.
It was a discussion-style lecture program called "Chair Research Society: A Chair for Marketers," hosted by SIDIZ, a Korean office chair brand.
What felt fresh was that this promotion, aimed at marketers, focused purely on delivering a message rather than pitching a product or service.
And the two hours really were carefully designed across four elements: the space, the program, the goods, and the people.
Every chair has a story: a 'space' packed with hands-on experiences
The event was held at a venue called 'SIDIZ The Progressive Hapjeong'.
I got to try a range of SIDIZ products, centered on their flagship T-50.
What I found interesting was that each desk had a tablet where you could set up the chair and read about the correct way to use it and the intent behind its design.
What I liked most was their honesty: a more expensive product isn't better in every respect; each one has the right target depending on what it was designed for.
A chair that's comfortable for sitting and talking, a chair for deep focus at work, a gaming chair, and so on. Trying them all and figuring out which one fit me was genuinely fun.
It was also an excellent lecture space.
During the main program I'll describe below, the roomy space and comfortable chairs meant I could move around for the full two hours and still experience everything comfortably 😀
A chair for marketers: a 'lecture' that gave me a lot to think about
To be honest, the thought I'd had since signing up was "Why target marketers?"
Marketers aren't the only people who spend long hours in a chair, so I was curious about the intent.
Did they need people to act as megaphones for them? 🤔
But the lecture program itself was far too well put together for that to be the explanation.
Over two hours, participants were given a long list of questions, and each one felt like something a marketer needs in order to grow.
My read was that SIDIZ, as a brand, intends to start "growing together" with its customers.
Key questions posed in the lecture
1. What does marketing mean to you?
2. The concept that runs through my life
3. What does growth look like?
4. Is marketing closer to intuition or to analysis?
Of these, "marketing" and "my life" were two topics I make a point of thinking about every year, which made them all the more interesting.
I also enjoyed finding the common ground and the differences as I swapped thoughts and stories with marketers from a range of fields.
Finally, through a group discussion, we got to design a chair for "a marketer's growth" ourselves.
I learned that when you plan a product like a chair, it's not just about comfort; you have to weigh a huge number of factors and land on a compromise.
A design that was great for one person turned out to be the worst for someone else.
My idea was a "chair with a built-in timer" to boost productivity, one that would send you a notification if you left your seat.
Sketching it out myself made me understand why a basic product like the SIDIZ T-50 is such a big deal.
All of this left me with the impression that the program was remarkably polished as a piece of education.
Discovering that there's an education company called 'Paul & Mark' was another takeaway from this event.
The 'goods' that made me respect the SIDIZ brand team
Just for attending, they handed out a seriously generous haul of goods as souvenirs.
I loved the clever lineup: even items that weren't SIDIZ products were all about making the chair experience better.
- A portable tumbler and ballpoint pen
- A fragrance made for spraying on your chair
- A vacuum made just for chairs
What hit my tastes dead on, though, was the 'SIDIZ T-50 plastic model kit' made in collaboration with Academy (a Korean model kit maker).
After sight and smell, I think the touch of building the product yourself is what will make it stick in memory 😄
Personally, I believe 'successful brand marketing has to feel at least a little bit unhinged.'
SIDIZ's goods went beyond being serious about chairs; they left me thinking, "You can go this far for a chair?"
The 'people' who built SIDIZ up to today and will build its future
Honestly, the best part of this program was getting the chance to meet the people who actually plan and make the products I use.
Those who have designed and built SIDIZ chairs and managed their production for more than ten years are given the title "Seating Master."
Meeting and talking with craftspeople who have spent that long on trial and error in a single field is always a joy 😁
And I learned a lot from the SIDIZ brand marketing team, who planned this event and designed it carefully from start to finish 👍🏻
Overall: the moment I got to know SIDIZ as a brand all over again
Before this event, SIDIZ was vaguely "a good chair brand" to me.
I had no idea they could deliver an experience this good outside of the product itself.
As a fellow marketer, I was impressed by how much care went into helping customers on both the "product" and "content" fronts.
Beyond this event, SIDIZ plans to keep expanding the chair experience and meeting more customers through a variety of promotions, so if you get the chance, I highly recommend joining one.
I'll keep showing up, too, with more content that supports marketers' career growth.
Thanks for reading!
**As of today, I've found myself rooting for SIDIZ, the brand that gives every office worker the 'ultimate productivity tool': a chair :)*
