Now that’s a problem. Because you were looking for someone who’s special, someone who’s unique. One who stands out and says something to you; means something to you. And yet they all look alike, sound alike and act alike.
Welcome to home appliance shopping in China.
Vast retail floors where all the displays are almost identical.
Where nearly everyone tries to present themselves as “space
age,
high tech”.
All the displays are dripping in chrome, translucent
plastic, bottom lit floors and blue lights...lots of blue lights.
It’s one big Starship Enterprise.
No individual products stand out.
No brand is distinctive.
It’s a wonder customers are drawn to
anything at all – unless it’s
a “huge reduction” sign, which
of course wreaks havoc with
margins and bottom lines.
Hardly. A lot of brands have good products.
“Good” is pretty much a given. A commodity. And while there are
moderate differences between one fridge and another (capacity,
climate zones, compressor efficiencies, etc), to most people the
differences are
negligible, obscure and mostly unimportant.
Beyond size and price, a fridge is a fridge. One of many similar
white boxes.
Retailers in this environment have failed to understand
that
to move more products and command premium prices,
strong branding, distinctive imagery and unique product
presentation have to carry the day.
The new management of Electrolux China realized their brand was stuck in the same bland mire as everyone else. To solve the dilemma, they asked Gravitas to assess the situation, recommend a solution, and put the recommendations into action.
Electrolux really values the fact that Gravitas does not give advice and then walk away leaving clients on their own for implementation. This added ability to get down on the ground and execute is what makes Gravitas so unique to other business consulting organizations.
Electrolux designs and manufactures very high quality products. With that established, the way to proceed was very clear:
1. create and support a new image to differentiate the brand, and
2. redesign the retail environment to reflect that new image.
This would, by definition, make Electrolux stand out from the
showroom clutter because the look,
the feel, the values and the tone of voice of the Electrolux brand is nothing like that of the competition.
