Exclusive Interview Jean
Exclusive Interview Jean dufour Born in Suttgart in 1955, he graduated in Business Administration, Marketing, and Politics after studying in France and the USA. In 1981, Dufour started as a sales trainee for Robert Bosch GmbH and after a steep career in the company, became a Member of the Board of BSH Bosch und Siemens Haushaltsgeräte GmbH in 2005. 125 th anniversary Bosch is celebrating its 125 th anniversary in 2011. The company was set up in Stuttgart in 1886 by Robert Bosch (1861– 1942) as “Workshop for Precision Mechanics and Electrical Engineering.” The special ownership structure of Robert Bosch GmbH guarantees the entrepreneurial freedom of the BoschGroup, making it possible for the company to plan over the long term and to undertake significant up-front investments in the safeguarding of its future. 92% of the share capital of Robert Bosch GmbH is held by Robert Bosch Stiftung GmbH, a charitable foundation. The majority of voting rights are held by Robert Bosch Industrietreuhand KG, an industrial trust. The entrepreneurial ownership functions are carried out by the trust. The remaining shares are held by the Bosch family and by Robert Bosch GmbH. The Bosch Group generated sales of 47.3 billion euros in fiscal 2010. Intelligence Everywhere Focussing on consumer needs goes beyond R&D into the channels IFA International talked to Jean Dufour, CEO, Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH about the Internet, retailing, YouTube, and what consumers are really searching for... Customer desire remains mostly the same: operating convenience, ease of use and attractive design. But more and more frequently, they also expect low energy and water consumption, meaning high resource efficiency. At the moment, only developers are concerned with topics like the networking of household appliances or connection to a smart grid. But customers will become more aware of these features in the next few years and BSH will continue to focus on energy efficiency. More and more consumers are using the Internet for shopping. With regard to that, which measures are being taken by BSH? We have recently added new online tools to the Internet presence of our brands, including an appliance advisor on the Bosch homepage, where via a mouse-click, we introduce consumers to new, modern appliances with high resource efficiency - be it for planning a new kitchen or modernising the old one. The appliance advisor allows potential buyers to get an initial overview of technology and products prior to receiving personal sales advice from a retailer. Sales staff also benefit from a dealer version of this online tool. We are also accommodating changing customer wishes with a range of applications for smartphones. For example, the “shopping list” iPhone application has recently become available in the App Store. This Interview by Richard Barnes programme makes it easy to compile and send individual shopping lists in a simple, effective and convenient way, wherever you are. And with the energy savings calculator from Siemens, which is also available as an iPhone app, you can quickly and easily find out how much energy and water can be saved by replacing an old appliance with a new one. Will that make the s p e c i a l i s e d t r a d e irrelevant? Not at all. Our high-quality household appliances r e q u i r e e x t e n s i v e consultation. Therefore, we will continue to support our specialist retail partners. The wide variety of models with different technologies and features makes it a challenge for the user to find the right appliance straight away. A competent specialist retailer helps by providing extensive information and convincing arguments. For this reason, our website has a retailer search function. How do the Internet and social media affect your marketing? Will IFA remain a part of BSH’s strategic promotion for home appliances? We re c o g n i s e d t h e importance of social networks very early. Our appliances made their first appearance there with a video on YouTube in 2008 and the product videos have been downloaded about 100,000 times. Siemens' Facebook account has over 15,000 active fans and we have more than 1,500 followers on Twitter So the different offers are being very well received. Bosch Hausgeräte has also recently started a Facebook page with information on the latest trends, appliances and service offers, as well as tips and tricks for energy saving. But having said that, last year the IFA had more than 230,000 visitors on our stand, with almost half of them being consumers. We simply can't get such extensive and direct feedback about our new and upcoming products anywhere else. Hall 3.1 Stand 101 Jean Dufour CEO Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH “The ‘shopping list’ iPhone application has recently become available in the App Store” 20
Exclusive Interview Rob Clark Rob Clark studied electrical and electronic engineering before starting his working life as a technology officer of the Ministry of Defence. He later moved to the commercial sector where he worked for a peripherals distributor from the late 80s. Clark joined Epson in 1992 and was appointed product manager for dot-matrix printers, which constituted the majority of the company’s sales at that time. From 2004, Clark then oversaw the incredible ascension of Epson’s inkjet printer business, until June 2009, when he was named Executive Director of Marketing – Epson Europe and now in 2011 he is Vice President. A KEY MOMENT FOR EPSON 1993 Epson launched its first mono inkjet printer and then in 1994 the first colour inkjet. Epson’s core-business was transformed by this, moving from being largely B2B with the dotmatrix printer, to being much more orientated towards the consumer market. By 1996 the technology had moved on enormously and Epson launched a wide range of products, including dedicated photographic printers, with projectors also starting to be a large part of the company’s range of products. Planning on Staying Number One Epson changes distribution focus to get the most out of its broad range of projectors Interview by Richard Barnes As the world’s number one projector manufacturer for 10 years now, Epson refuses to rest on its laurels. In Europe, the company is working to broaden its product base further still, and develop its distribution channel. When the company launched its first projectors in the mid 90's into what was considered a niche market, Rob Clark, now Vice President of Epson's European Marketing Division, was working for Epson UK as a Product Manager. Rob Clark Vice-President of Epson’s European Marketing Division Obviously the market has moved on since then, and we have now established specific units within the European operation for different areas of the business. We have five business units; projectors, laser printers and business inkjets, consumer products, LFP and business systems or cash-till receipt printers. Epson was previously present in a low-key fashion at IFA, but since last year, the brand has been back in a big way. Is the event seen as an important marketing opportunity? I took the decision last year that if we were going to be there, we should reflect the scale of the organisation and the value of the brand. I believe that what we did last year is the proof of that change of attitude and this year we have committed to a similar level of investment. Wherever we go, we have to be seen as the brand that we truly are. IFA is a big opportunity, because a lot of the people we sell to, both channel and endcustomers, visit the event. What has changed in Epson’s strategy and the ways in which it deals with retailers? The first thing that has fundamentally changed is that when I started, Epson was a B2B company, selling mainly through small resellers. When we launched the inkjets, it really opened up the retail marketplace for us. There was a wave of growth right across the inkjet sector, which saw the entire market change, and at that point, our main channel became retailers we could then introduce other products to. For projectors, the majority of our sales are to AV resellers and specialists. This year we’re launching over 40 new projectors in order to enhance the range, covering everything from installation projectors and mobile devices through to home cinema. Hall 21 Stand 103 Financial statistics Epson will target a 200 million euro revenue increase for FY11. To support this, the company is launching 100 new products 260 million dollars will be invested into new manufacturing facilities taking production capacity to 22 million printers and projectors a year Epson has a strong commitment to R&D, spending an average 6% of turnover on investing in the future. Projector statistics For the past decade, Epson has been the world leader in projectors, holding a market share of around 22% - three times that of its nearest competitor Over 8000 units are produced per day – that’s over 150,000 over month Home Cinema Epson expects the home entertainment market to grow by 10% year on year This year: 40 projectors launching covering ultra-mobile through to desktop, gaming, education, home cinema and installation EB-Z8000WUNL Projector Turnover last year was over 11-billion dollars — about 2 million dollars per day invested into R&D www.ifa-international.org IFA International • Monday 29 th August 2011 21
