innovative thinking: talking trade ‘Without innovation you’re
not going to be successful’ Electrolux UK and Ireland general manager Peter Spencer discusses AEG’s relaunched brand proposition and making things simple for consumers
T
he AEG brand has enjoyed a considerable upgrade in recent months, with a revised brand
identity and now the unveiling of its new ranges of laundry and kitchen appliances. With messaging built around genuine consumer benefits at the core of the marketing for both the Mastery and Unprecedented Care ranges, Electrolux UK and Ireland general manager Peter Spencer feels the campaign is the perfect opportunity to cement AEG’s position as a premium proposition. “We’ve always had great technology in
our products, but the design of our ranges has started to feel dated,” he says. “The new kitchen and laundry ranges bring our latest technology innovations together with great design, and a really premium fit, feel and finish. We have made a real effort to make the ranges as a whole really simple to understand and easy to navigate for the consumer, with the technologies that truly back up the propositions. It gives us a tremendous platform to ‘reload’ the AEG brand.” The focus on consumer benefits in the
marketing materials, such as the 9000 Series washing machine being the ‘little black dress guardian’ by preventing fading, helps communicate on an emotional level with consumers, as well as providing a clear trade up proposition, Peter believes. “If you’re a consumer and you’re trying
to buy something, it is often the case of, ‘Oh I really like the look of that, but does
it have this functionality?’ It’s difficult to piece together. With our new laundry series, you have a clear range hierarchy, and as a consumer, you never feel cheated. You don’t feel you’re giving away something to get something else. “The Mastery Kitchen range is the same,
starting with SteamBake and progressing into ¼, ½ and full steam ovens and our top of the range sous vide offering choice for the most advanced home cooks. It’s all about bringing true innovation that genuinely makes the consumers’ lives easier – our ComfortLift dishwasher delivers exactly this, where the bottom basket comes up to meet them.” Peter has been pleased with the response
from the trade to the latest ranges too. “The engagement level with retailers, understanding what we’re trying to say and how our messaging will work at point of sale has been great,” he says. “We’ve been working with retailers since September, getting our messaging aligned to make sure the messaging is simple and can then be easily delivered, either by physical point of sale, online, or through our retail partners in their shop. The focus then is on bringing it to life in store.”
‘Product is key’ The work on the new ranges and brand proposition has been ongoing for three years, and the plan has not been discarded in the face of potential turbulence in the wake of the Brexit vote.
“For AEG, that means continuing to invest,
working with retailers on training and launching inspiring ranges,” Peter says. “The new showroom has been great for us,” he explains. “We want retailers to come here and be trained, to be wowed and go away thinking, ‘That was a hugely valuable day well spent.’” Use of the training suites has already been
very successful, Peter adds. “We started kicking off the range reviews late
last year,” he says. “All our key retail partners, both kitchen and electrical, have been through. We have recently trained 170 of our Premier Partner kitchen studio retailers and we’ve got 130 of our independent electrical retailers coming in over three days. Our plan is to utilise this space - we want to be training a minimum of three days a week here, forty eight weeks a year. “A lot of retailers have got some really
strong e-learning, in-house training, so we’ve been working with retailers on that front as well. We still have our mobile Academy that we take on the road - we want to be able to get out there and deliver the same consistent message. “The market is interesting at the moment,”
The AEG 9000 series washing machine includes SoftWater technology to prevent colours fading in the wash 10 |
www.innovativeelectricalretailing.co.uk
Peter notes. “Nobody knows quite what is going to happen. However, we have a really clear strategy on where we want to go, knowing what our core pillars are and where the key battlegrounds are. The UK is still largely a replacement market. At some point things will settle down, so we are sticking to our strategy.” Being able to launch exciting products is an important part of that. Peter adds: “Product is key. If your innovation and product advancements aren’t there, you’re not going to be successful as a business. “AEG is committed to always being an idea ahead and we will continue to bring relevant innovations to the market that genuinely make a difference.”
March 2017
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