THE ERT INTERVIEW CIH/EURONICS


Paul Tyler


‘We knew it was time to take action’


20 I


n September last year, CIH/Euronics launched two new home appliance own-brands that will be sold exclusively through Euronics retailers. The announcement came at the buying group’s ‘Gamechangers’ Member Conference


in Windsor where CEO, Paul Tyler, highlighted the growing concern over manufacturers entering the direct-to-consumer (D2C) channel. ERT Editor, Jack Cheeseman, was there to see the unveiling of two completely new brands – called Sensis and Schönhaus. They are owned and run by CIH and will only be available in Euronics stores and via the website. Each brand is aimed at different demographics within the UK market and each includes a collection of essential appliances – including washing machines, tumble dryers, washer dryers, refrigeration and dishwashers – that will be landing in showrooms throughout Q1 this year. Here, Jack Cheeseman catches up with the CIH team to discuss the latest developments since the initial launch, and to learn more about the individual products within each range. “We started out on this journey two-and- a-half years ago, and as you can imagine an awful lot of thought and planning went into these brands,” explains Paul Goldsmith, Head of Marketing at CIH. “We wanted to be as scientific as possible with all our decisions based upon consumers’ wants and needs.” Rich Wyeth, Buyer SDA and Own Brand, adds: “To begin with we have mainly focused on freestanding models, but we don’t want to stop there so we are looking at adding more


CIH has launched two new home appliance own- brands that will be sold exclusively through Euronics retailers. Jack Cheeseman recently caught up with the buying group’s top team to learn more about the new product ranges and how their introductions have been perceived across the industry…


built-in models later this year. In fact we’re off on factory visits in the coming weeks to see how we can extend the ranges even further. “When we began this project we had a lot of


proactive conversations with various members from a curated Member Focus Group, and we all came away from those meetings feeling positive because we knew that we were all aligned and on the same page with what we wanted to achieve with these new brands. “Not only that but they also helped us define some of the product features and benefits; for example we changed to a bigger port hole on our Sensis washing machines and we added an extra gentle drum cycle, based on member feedback.” Mr Tyler explains that they haven’t just sourced basic product and put them in the warehouse… “there’s been an awful lot of work behind the scenes to make sure these new brands and the new ranges support the members and their consumers’ needs,” he says.


“After our September conference we faced a couple of challenges from the membership, but overall the feedback we received was largely positive and we came away with a good uptake on display deals from over half of our members. Personally I’ve been very pleased with the overall engagement from them.”


Sensis


The Sensis brand has the tagline ‘Makes sense’ and it will offer quality, affordable products aimed towards busy young families. Mr Goldsmith explains that the Sensis range was developed for consumers who rely on their appliances every day, but they are also careful how they spend their money and they look for reassurance during their purchase process. He says: “We knew we were leaning into that


reliability message so we needed to ensure that our ranges were fit for purpose and aligned to our target audience.”


Schönhaus


The Schönhaus range adopts the slogan ‘Beautifully at home’ and is aimed at the 50+ consumer who is looking for a more considered purchase as well as in-depth support and advice. Mr Goldsmith says this is a legacy consumer who might have a few more purchase choices compared to others; as a result, the team created an emotive depth to the Schönhaus brand that emphasises quality and loyalty. The products, meanwhile, boast “uncompromising style and performance”, he adds.


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