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Belch: Advertising and
Promotion, Sixth Edition
IMC PERSPECTIVE 5-3
III. Analyzing the
Communication Process
5. The Communication
Process
Whirlpool Connects with 21st-Century Women
Household appliances are a
product category where the
advertising has traditionally
been pretty bland, with most
ads appealing to consumers’
rational, functional motives.
Television commercials generally
would show the capacity of
a refrigerator, explain how a
washer or dryer works, or tout
their reliability; while print ads
would feature a shot of the
appliance and give a detailed
description of how it functions.
For example, among the most
memorable appliance ads are
those from the campaign featuring
the Maytag repairman
who would wait in vain for a
repair call. The campaign was
created more than 30 years
ago, and the lonely Maytag repairman is still waiting
for the phone to ring.
In recent years appliance companies have been
focusing on form as well as function and have been
touting the design of their products as much as their
functionality in their ads. However, one company that
has taken a very unique approach to its advertising is
Whirlpool, whose “Just Imagine” campaign features
Household Goddesses—five ethereal female figures
who use water, fire, or air to take control of their environments
while promoting various Whirlpool appliances.
The campaign is designed to connect with the
modern-day “supermoms,” working women between
the ages of 25 and 54 with children. These women’s
homes are very important to them; the women are
challenged, yet capable of handling a very demanding
and busy lifestyle, and they want control of their lives
and acknowledgment for all they do and for being very
capable. They set new standards and appreciate
beauty in their environments. They do not give appliances
a great deal of thought until there is a moment
of need, such as a broken appliance or a home renovation.
Innovation, style, and time saving are all important
factors to these women.
The idea for the “Just Imagine” campaign originated
in the late 90s in Europe, where Whirlpool was
eager to build its brand name and capture a larger
share of the appliance market, having acquired the
appliance division of the Dutch firm Philips Electronics.
The campaign connected well with women in
Europe, so in 1999 Whirlpool and its French agency
Publicis decided to adapt it to women in the U.S. market.
However, before bringing the campaign to the
© The McGraw−Hill
Companies, 2003
States, Whirlpool conducted
more than 20 focus groups with
women throughout the country
to test their reaction to the
goddesses.
According to Whirlpool’s
manager of brand communication,
the ads with the goddesses
celebrate the growing power of
women in the 21st century. They
are aimed at striking an emotional
cord with modern-day
women, showing them as strong
females in control of their environments
who can be made even
stronger through the latest
Whirlpool technology. The
mythical figures in the ads
include a blue-skinned ice diva
who represents the Whirlpool
Conquest refrigerator, a silkenrobed
water nymph who appears in commercials for the
Catalyst washer, a heat maiden in cascading red robes
who promotes the Senson and Duet dryers, a firebreathing
goddess who helps sell the Speed Cook
range, and a flying blonde clean-air angel who extols
the virtues of Whirlpool’s dehumidifiers and airconditioners.
The goddesses promote many of the
innovative features found on Whirlpool appliances,
such as a dryer that gently dries clothes in the time it
takes to wash them, a washing machine that does not
require pretreating because concentrated water and
detergent spray through clothes before they are
washed, and a refrigerator with more space inside.
The goal of the “Just Imagine” campaign is to use
the stylish and dramatic commercials to get consumers
to take notice of Whirlpool appliances and
make them feel the brand is in tune with their changing
needs and values and thus has something more to
offer than competing brands. In addition to being in
the television commercials, the goddesses appear in
print ads, on the Whirlpool website, on company
brochures, on billboards on the side of the company’s
trucks, and in point-of-purchase displays for local
retailers. The campaign is the biggest in the appliance
maker’s history. To many women, using a washing
machine or dryer means nothing more than cleaning
clothes. However, Whirlpool hopes this campaign will
help them feel they are taking control of their lives
when they use its appliances.
Sources: “Whirlpool’s Worship-Worthy Goddess,” Brand Marketing,
June 2000, p. 33; Katheryn Dranhold, “Whirlpool Conjures Up Appliance
Divas,” The Wall Street Journal, Apr. 27, 2000, p. B14.