Dream in Kohler: Turning a Bathroom Fantasy Into a Real Design Brief
Most bathroom brands show you a showroom. Kohler wanted India to actually design its own dream bathroom, then make a few of those dreams real. ibs Fulcro built the tool that let anyone with a camera roll and an idea build a real moodboard, and a real shot at getting it built.
At a glance
Client: Kohler (Home & Kitchen/Bath Fixtures)
Problem: Most bathroom fixture brands only let customers passively browse a showroom, with no real, personal way to design and claim their own dream space.
Solution: Dream in Kohler: a real, personal moodboard-building tool, backed by a genuine prize structure, letting participants design their own dream bathroom and win a real shot at getting it built.
Result:
ibs Fulcro's role: Digital Strategy
The Idea
Kohler set out to make the bathroom the actual centrepiece of the Indian home, not an afterthought fitted out at the end of a renovation budget. Dream in Kohler, positioned under the brand's "Bold Look of Kohler" identity, invited people across India to imagine their own bathroom and then gave a real number of them the chance to see it built.
The campaign's own line said it plainly: “Spill your desire for a stunning bathroom and watch it take form with Kohler Bold Bathrooms, a program designed to bring your designs to life. Choose from a wide range of selections, create a distinct moodboard, and you could be one of the chosen few to have their bold bathrooms redesigned by leading interior designers, compliments of Kohler.”
Building the Tool: Create Your Look
ibs Fulcro built the actual mechanism behind the promise: a moodboard-building tool at dreaminkohler.com called Create Your Look. Entrants could upload their own inspiration images directly from their camera roll, alongside a curated library of real Kohler product photography, fixtures, faucets, tile shades, and finishes, and arrange them into a genuine visual moodboard for their ideal bathroom.
Once a look was built, entrants named it, added a description of up to 150 words explaining their vision, and submitted it as a real entry, then shared it on Facebook and Twitter to gather public votes.
The Tool, As Built
What Was On Offer
| Prize Tier | Detail |
|---|---|
| 20 national winners | Each received a ₹1,00,000 (₹1 lakh) Kohler product voucher, redeemable in-store |
| 5 select individuals | Received a complete bathroom makeover, designed and built by top Indian architects, including Arun Balan of Balan & Nambisan Architects |
| Selection method | A combination of public votes (via Facebook and Twitter sharing) and a jury's assessment of aesthetic merit |
Source: official press release, PRNewswire India.
A Campaign, Not Just a Contest
The digital tool sat inside a genuinely 360-degree campaign spanning digital, print, and television, plus dedicated promotional events, positioning the bathroom as a space worth genuine creative attention rather than the last room anyone thinks about. Salil Sadanandan, President of the K&B Kohler Brand for South Asia and EMEA, framed the ambition directly: “The careful curation and personalization of objects is what makes a house a home. Dream in Kohler is our endeavour to make the bathroom the centrepiece of the home. We invite you to create your dream look for this most personal of spaces, and we might just bring it to life for you.”
The Campaign Visuals
Why This Matters Beyond One Contest
The genuinely interesting design decision here wasn't the prize structure, plenty of brands run vouchers-and-votes contests. It was giving entrants an actual, functional design tool rather than a text box to describe an idea in. A moodboard built from real product imagery and a person's own inspiration photos produces something a jury can actually evaluate on its merits, and something the entrant has genuinely invested creative effort into, which is exactly why the entry mechanic doubled as organic social sharing rather than needing to be incentivised separately.
Frequently asked questions
A campaign by Kohler India, built by ibs Fulcro, inviting consumers to design their own dream bathroom using a real online moodboard tool, Create Your Look, with a chance to have the design brought to life.
No. Kohler has run a separate, unrelated design competition also called Dream in Kohler in South Africa, judged by a different panel and won by a different designer. This case study covers the distinct India campaign, built by ibs Fulcro and live at dreaminkohler.com.
Entrants built a real moodboard by combining their own uploaded inspiration images with a curated library of real Kohler product photography, fixtures, faucets, and tile shades. They named their look, added a description of up to 150 words, and submitted it as an entry.
20 national winners each received a ₹1,00,000 Kohler product voucher. A further 5 select individuals received a complete bathroom makeover designed and built by top Indian architects, including Arun Balan of Balan & Nambisan Architects.
Through a combination of public votes, gathered via entrants sharing their moodboards on Facebook and Twitter, and a jury's assessment of aesthetic merit.
Salil Sadanandan, President of the K&B Kohler Brand for South Asia and EMEA, said the campaign was Kohler's endeavour to make the bathroom the centrepiece of the home, inviting consumers to create their dream look for that space.