When Whirlpool launched its KitchenAid Series II line of appliances in 2007, the company was taking a bigger-than-usual gamble. Whirlpool's designers didn't just imbue the Series II—a refrigerator, microwave, range, oven and dishwasher—with the kind of sleek, industrial look popularized by TV foodie shows; the appliances shared distinctive design touches like responsive black touch display panels and bow-shaped chrome handles—clear indications that each appliance was meant to be part of a set.
That may sound simple, but in fact it broke with industry orthodoxy. Conventional wisdom holds that consumers buy stuff like this piecemeal, most often as a "distress purchase" when the old one breaks down. So why did Whirlpool spend a lot of its own money to create a uniform look when most consumers wouldn't care? The company's approach to advertising was similarly counter-intuitive: The brand advertised the whole line at once. Usually, ads for refrigerators come in March and campaigns for ovens hit in late summer.
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Tuesday 18 November, 2008 06:49 AM |
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