On the China Consumer Electronics Expo 2016 (CEE 2016) held in Qingdao early this month, Haier announced the breaking news to the attending media, consumers and distributors of the formal establishment of the "Haier Kitchen Appliance" matrix comprising the five major brands of Haier Cooking, GE, Fisher&Paykel of New Zealand, the international premium brand Casarte, and Leader. According to the announcement, Haier may support such integration in two ways: firstly, "Haier Kitchen Appliance" will comprehensively roll out its internationalization strategy, and secondly, Haier will build scenario-based user experience through this brand matrix. The domestic and western kitchen appliance released there, such as Xingkong range hood, anti-dry gas stove, and steamer/grill combo, further confirmed Haier's movement.
This marks the "rebirth" of Haier, at least to a certain extent.
1. Haier's restructure of the 5-brand matrix may facilitate its internationalization process.
The new brand matrix strategy announced by Haier during the CEE 2016 comes with significant implications that are distinct from other brands in terms of both strategic decision-making and marketing. Such unified matrix of the 5 major brands further casts light on Haier's new movement in the kitchen appliance industry, which has been made entirely visible to the audience. Given the current size of Haier, the layout of new brand matrix based on the brands themselves can be taken as Haier's brand-new overall planning for its brands and businesses. By doing this, Haier embarks on a new journey for its marketing and branding, to a certain degree.
According to the official sources, the 5 brands of Haier's matrix correspond respectively to the following markets, user segments, and brand positioning:
"Haier Cooking targeting Smart Kitchen provides quality life with a fusion of both Chinese and Western styles mainly for mainstream elites living in modern metropolises; American GE supplies international and American lifestyle products for the urban upper-middle class and the well-off people by positioning itself as Professional Kitchen; Fisher&Paykel is oriented towards Social Kitchen designed for the upper class in metropolises, providing them luxurious lifestyle and design that embodies their prominent status; Casarte aims at Art Kitchen that provides superior and sophisticated living style that matches the individual taste of rich urbanites; Positioned as Fashion Kitchen, Leader mainly targets young adults who pursue simple lifestyle by providing them customized kitchen."
In addition to more refined market segmentation for various user groups, what has also been most clearly revealed from this presentation is the internationalization of brands. For example, the competitiveness of brands such as American GE that place more emphasis on internationalization and American lifestyle marks Haier's ongoing practice of internationalization movement. Besides, throughout Haier's performance and achievement in market branding, it is easy to figure out that internationalization strategy is exactly the demand strategy that Haier needs to push forward immediately on a full scale. Therefore, the return to brand matrix marks the prelude to Haier's acquisition of the No. 1 position in global kitchen appliance.
2. Preaching the age of scenario-based experience: Return to the user demands for quality.
Given the popularity of intelligence and the Internet, the upgrading of the kitchen appliance experience drawing on such industrial trends has become the inevitable tendency in the kitchen appliance industry. In this respect, Haier acts by firstly consolidating its technical capability to develop products fitting with the times, and then drawing up product upgrading plans based on user experience and demands, and finally, creating a series of new products that combine the trend of the times and the experience of innovative functions for users. The world's first ozone-free disinfection cabinet, the unprecedented “Wind Following Fire" series of Skyline range hood and other innovative products successively developed by Haier since the establishment of kitchen appliance portfolio in 1996 are perfect illustrations. This time, the rebuilding of the 5-brand matrix indicates that Haier has been assured the creation of innovative user experience.
For example, the anti-dry gas stove with the power of 0.3kW-4.5kW ultra-range fire, in addition to preparing Chinese and Western cuisines, also offers the protective and convenient feature of anti-dry temperature detector. Another example is the Xingkong range hood that pioneered the autonomous "trapping" oil-fume separation technology. It is not only highly efficient for purifying the inner core but also reduces the volume of accumulated oil and fume to 1/12 of that of other products. These innovative functions not only satisfy the basic user demands, but also bring leapfrogging improvement to innovative efforts.
In the Internet age, however, Haier has striven to create new scenario-based experience based on such innovations. Through building scenario-based kitchen across the country, Haier provides users with one-stop experience stores that offer display of home appliance and experience of living scenarios and technology, allowing its users to embrace both domestic and western kitchen lifestyles at a very close distance. In addition, Casarte has been timely spreading lifestyles under the theme of "Master of Living Art" culture each year to the users. These combinations between products and cultural concepts reveal the advent of the age of scenario-based experience preached by Haier.
3. "Haier Kitchen Appliance" planning: leading in the new era
Haier has changed the development rules of the industry through rebuilding the 5 major brands. In the past, all kitchen appliance companies were merely responsible for the production and marketing. However, under the increasingly popular trend towards intelligence today, Haier pioneered the further movement on a comprehensive scale into the new age of product experience. Its relentless pursuit of product refinement and experience enhancement has, to some extent, become the role model for companies in this industry. For Haier, such results have also become a testimony of the maturity and excellence of its competitive advantages in terms of experience and quality.
Additionally, the age of scenario-based experience driven by Haier also offers better experience for users. As in the case of products, through building scenario-based kitchen across the country, Haier provides users with one-stop experience stores that offer display of home appliance and experience of living scenarios and technology, allowing its users to embrace both domestic and western kitchen lifestyles at a very close distance. According to statistics, Haier plans to build 1,000 impression kitchens across the country, and Casarte will establish 100 creative living centers. These efforts will help build a scenario-based ecosystem for more user interaction and greater proximity to them.
The approach of rebuilding the 5-brand matrix will have a positive facilitative effect on Haier's integration of global resources, building global brand portfolio that provides premium and sophisticated kitchen appliance solutions for customers of different classes, to further satisfy their demands for quality. At the same time, the brand management philosophy based on innovation and prospective planning has fundamentally contributed to the scenario-based age initiated and led by Haier and set the new starting point for Haier to potentially lead the development of our age in the future.
