Superbrands 2004 - Brand Autopsy

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APPLIANCES Machines Do More Than Make the Clothes Go Round By Karl Greenberg The appliance market has taken the shape of a dumbbell, with mid-priced appliances withering under an assault from value brands on one end and so-called “near-luxury” on the other. The former circumstance is driven by volume retailers like Lowe’s and The Home Depot powering a housing boom, while the latter is part of a trading-up trend that has seen more accessibility of top brands via mall-based luxury boutiques. That means companies across the board have been focusing more marketing dollars on high-profit and high-image nameplates, and expanding those concepts to countertop appliances, the laundry room, even vacuum cleaners (read: Dyson and Electrolux). In a strong year for appliance makers, total sales rose 8.5% in 2003 with 73.7 million units delivered. The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers reported that washers, dryers, dishwashers, fridges, freezers and built-in ranges gained 4.2% last year with first quarter ’04 numbers also moving higher. For all near-premium marketers, higher end means higher tech. Whirlpool, which is still using the “Goddesses” campaign from 2002, is touting its Senseon drying system; GE Appliance’s Profile Harmony system features a washer that sends instructions to the dryer. The brand bowed ads last year drawing a comparison between odd couples—an artist and a busi- nesswoman, for instance—and the marriage of art and science in its machines. Sample text: “Digital marries DaVinci.” Maytag, meanwhile, saw its long-time repairman icon, Gordon Jump, retire after a 14-year stint as “Ol’ Lonely” (though his apprentice sidekick remains). That wasn’t the only change at Maytag, which saw a restructuring focus attention on individual brand identity and new products, such as countertop appliances. Rachel Dircks was named Maytag brand manager and Kristi LaFrenz shifted to director of marketing for strategic initiatives, which yielded the high-end countertop line, Attrezzi. Whirlpool’s KitchenAid brand also bowed a new line of countertops called ProLine, while Black & Decker got into the act via a licensing deal with Procter & Gamble to co-market Home Café, a cup-at-a-time espresso maker that uses proprietary coffee “pods” made by P&G. BRAND COMPANY NAME, LOCATION Superbrands The ominous news for the big four domestic appliance players—Whirlpool, General Electric, Frigidaire/Electrolux and Maytag/Amana—is that Asian brands have gotten a mass-market foothold, via volume retailer Best Buy. Last year, LG Appliances, Haier and Samsung all signed deals with the big box chain. AB Electrolux, based in Sweden, is putting its premium nameplate behind a decidedly down-market product: vacuum cleaners. Creative for the Electrolux-branded models is due from Lowe Worldwide, New York, which won the $75 million global creative account in January 2003 with a Euro campaign tagged “Makes life a little easier.” In a market that has been dominated by sub-$60 bargain styles, Electrolux put print, targeted TV and promotions behind hightech machines that include robotic, anti-allergenic and super-quiet vacs. Ads, launched in February 2004, included two-page inserts in Food & Wine, Atlantic Monthly, Vanity Fair and Architectural Digest. Targeted TV buys follow, all setting up an Electrolux major appliance launch this fall. BSH Home Appliances, the company that sells high-end appliances Thermador and Bosch, is bowing a third brand, Siemens. The latter, known in the U.S. market for cell phones and in its native Germany for just about everything, is bowing a line of major appliances, including wash- Heavy hitter: GE called on Donald Trump to ers, dryers and countertop items. BSH, tout its Monogram brand of appliances. which spent $3 million on marketing last year, will double its spend to pitch Siemens to tech-savvy urbanites, Bosch to upwardly mobile families and Thermador to the trophy kitchen set. LG is readying its first integrated effort uniting consumer electronics and an expanding lineup of major appliances. The Korean nameplate will raise media by 10% this year to back its commitment to Best Buy and launch both countertop and white goods for the laundry and kitchen. LG, which last year aired its first national ad effort with the tag, “Life’s good,” via WPP Group’s Team LG, New York, is now pushing a premium positioning with TV and print for its Tromm direct-drive washer/dryer. Likewise for the home that has everything: LG’s $3,000 TVequipped refrigerator, a more accessible take on the $8,000 Internet refrigerator that sold in limited numbers last year. B LEAD AGENCY, LOCATION 1. Whirlpool Whirlpool, Benton Harbor, ME Publicis, Chicago $12.2 $44.3 7.07 87% 7.81 64.2 2. GE Consumer Products General Electric, Louisville, KY BBDO, NY 8.3 42.7 7.00 92% 7.76 63.6 3. Electrolux Home Products* Electrolux, Augusta, GA Lowe, NY 6.3 3.3 6.81 80% 7.22 58.1 4. Maytag (all brands) Maytag, Newton, IA Leo Burnett, Chicago 4.8 102.9 7.32 84% 7.83 64.3 Amana (Maytag unit) Carmichael Lynch, Minneapolis ** 2.8 6.72 59% 6.96 55.0 * includes Frigidaire Sources: Brandweek research (sales); ** Amana sales included in Maytag figures; TNS/CMR (media); Harris Interactive/EquiTrend: QxFxPI=E (see key, page S18) www.brandweek.com JUNE 21, 2004 S21 TOTAL SALES (billions) MEDIA EXPENDITURES (millions) QUALITY FAMILIARITY PURCHASE INTENT EQUITY
Superbrands BRAND In Tight Market, Car Makers Seek Branding Alternatives By Karl Greenberg With 16.6 million new cars and light trucks delivered in 2003, the auto industry overcame war, economic uncertainty, gasoline shortfalls and overcapacity to record its fourth-best year ever in total sales. However, as that figure was a 1.1% drop over the previous year—at a time of record incentives of as much as $5,000 per vehicle, and continued U.S. market incursion by imports—Detroit isn’t exactly singing “Happy Days Are Here Again.” Already strapped for cash, the Big Three last year faced a surprise at the network TV upfront: double-digit increases in cost-per-thousand impressions. Some automakers cut back, citing declining viewership among young males. Overall spending on TV ads was $6.5 billion last year, about 2% less than in 2002. While it’s unlikely automakers will bow out of the upfront anytime soon, several are redirecting funds into alternative marketing strategies that cover sponsorships, Internet ads, product integration and branded entertainment. Advertising aside, if there’s an underlying automotive agita, it’s the simple arithmetic of oversupply: too many cars, too few buyers. Like Big Apple apartment dwellers who dream that they’ve discovered a hidden room in their studio apartment, marketers may well fantasize about a vehicle category that hasn’t been mined. Hybrid, anyone? In the meantime, Detroit is vigorously defending against an Asian-led incursion into its inner sanctum of pickup trucks, namely by Nissan’s Titan and Toyota’s Tundra crew cab trucks. Ford last fall gave the 2004 F-150 the flawless launch it desperately needed, with a massive $100 million campaign that included a blitz of NFL spots, via J. Walter Thompson, Detroit. Country star Toby Keith starred in ads and a transforming F-150 graced the stage during his live shows. The results: F-150 won six straight months of sales increases until April. In general, Ford has had a lot of climbing to do. Its market S22 JUNE 21, 2004 COMPANY NAME, LOCATION AUTOMOBILES share in 2003 dropped to a 75-year low of 19.5%. Still, cost cutting has improved the company’s bottom line, surprising analysts by recording $2 billion in first-quarter earnings. It was Bill Ford’s best financial quarter since becoming CEO two years ago. Premier Automotive Group performed particularly well, with Volvo sales up 8.4%, Jaguar up 3.5% and a startling resurgence at Mazda, a third of which is owned by Ford. Mazda sales are up a whopping 36.6% in the first quarter. Mark Fields, the former head of PAG who initiated Mazda’s resurgence with vehicles like RX-8, Mazda6 and Mazda3, this year was promoted to evp of Ford Europe. The middle of the car market remains brutal, however, with Toyota Camry and Honda Accord still firmly on top. General Motors will devote 65% of its product development budget to cars over the next two years, in part to bow new lines for its Chevrolet and Pontiac brands. Last year, Cadillac commanded most of GM’s attention, with the XLR sports car and the SLR crossover wagon coming on the heels of the revival-making CTS sedan. Chevrolet, with 30% of the mid-sized car market and sales of about 800,000 vehicles per year, has been relying on incentive-laden Malibu, Impala and Cavalier. The redesigned Malibu, based on a Saab platform with a sleeker “European” look, is being pitched squarely at buyers of Camry and Accord. An initial series of ads, via Campbell-Ewald, Detroit, showed groups of people arrayed along a highway, waiting their turn to take a spin. A similar theme prevailed in ads for the Maxx, a wagonesque version touted for versatility. Chevrolet sold 76,495 Malibus in the first four months this year, a 52% increase over 2003, per Ward’s Automotive Report. Chevy is also going after the compact Key launch: Country crooner Toby Keith market. It finally replaced its long-lived sings the praises of Ford’s 2004 F-150. Cavalier badge with two vehicles, the subcompact Aveo (on sale now) and the compact Cobalt (due late in 2004), as well as the first crossover vehicle for the brand. Earlier this year, GM bowed its first bifurcated image campaign—one for cars, another for trucks. While truck ads still declare, in Bob Seger voice, “Like a rock,” cars get a new tagline: “An American Revolution.” The car ads, much like Cadillac’s “Break Through” spots, focus almost solely on the vehicles. LEAD AGENCY, LOCATION GENERAL AUTO 1. Ford Division Ford Motor, Dearborn, MI J. Walter Thompson, Detroit 2,848,320 $751.4 6.58 92% 6.33 54.5 2. Chevrolet General Motors, Detroit Campbell-Ewald, Warren, MI 2,642,898 630.9 6.81 89% 6.41 55.6 3. Toyota Toyota Motor Sales, Torrance, CA Saatchi & Saatchi, Torrance, CA 1,606,559 644.0 7.07 82% 6.66 56.9 4. Dodge DaimlerChrysler, Auburn Hills, MI BBDO Detroit, Troy, MI 1,223,302 545.2 6.44 82% 6.07 50.5 5. Honda American Honda, Torrance, CA Rubin Postaer, Playa del Rey, CA 1,178,929 398.4 7.05 77% 6.57 55.7 6. Nissan Nissan North America, Gardena, CA TBWA\Chiat\Day, Playa del Rey, CA 675,826 756.2 6.69 73% 6.01 50.2 TOTAL SALES (units) MEDIA EXPENDITURES (millions) QUALITY FAMILIARITY PURCHASE INTENT EQUITY Sources: Ward’s Automotive Reports (sales); TNS/CMR (media); Harris Interactive/EquiTrend: QxFxPI=E (see key, page S18) www.brandweek.com
Page 1 and 2: A SPECIAL REPORT nD Bra s r su u pE
Page 3 and 4: Superbrands EDITOR’S NOTE Heeding
Page 5 and 6: www.brandweek.com JUNE 21, 2004 S7
Page 7 and 8: Superbrands decline of the departme
Page 9 and 10: Superbrands attire rowing a mahogan
Page 11: Superbrands BRAND Sales Struggle as
Page 15 and 16: Superbrands BRAND ascension to Merc
Page 17 and 18: BEER, WINE and LIQUOR the wall. Mil
Page 19 and 20: Superbrands BRAND Colas Stuck in th
Page 21 and 22: Superbrands BRAND Microsoft Tries t
Page 23 and 24: Superbrands BRAND Amid Changing Dem
Page 25 and 26: Superbrands BRAND A Latte with That
Page 27 and 28: ENTERTAINMENT of the class,” said
Page 29 and 30: Superbrands BRAND Say Goodbye to
Page 31 and 32: Superbrands BRAND Crowded Low-Carb
Page 33 and 34: FOOD The Atkins backlash, meanwhile
Page 35 and 36: Superbrands BRAND Crest Gaining on
Page 37 and 38: Superbrands BRAND In a Rather Dirty
Page 39 and 40: Superbrands BRAND Gas Companies Ble
Page 41 and 42: PHARMACEUTICAL/PRESCRIPTION DRUGS D
Page 43 and 44: RETAIL to open as many as 100 store
Page 45 and 46: TOBACCO Consumption Down Slightly A
Page 47 and 48: TRAVEL Low-Fare Airlines Rule Skies
Page 49 and 50: WORLD WIDE WEB Web Players: Let’s
Page 51 and 52: RANK/ BRAND America’sTop 2000 Bra
Page 53 and 54: BRAND INDEX America’sTop 2000 Bra
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BRAND INDEX America’sTop 2000 Bra
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Superbrands 2004 - Brand Autopsy

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