KBIS Review As we walked this year’s Kitchen and Bath Show in Chicago, we were overwhelmed by the technological advances being made in so many different product categories. There were refrigerators that gave weather reports. Microwaves with built-in televisions. Ovens that used not one, not two, but three different types of energy to cook the meatloaf. There was even a voice-command faucet.
If not for the guys in the back booths selling wood-carved toilet paper holders, we would have sworn we had wandered into The Consumer Electronics Show.
But, we were at KBIS. And we detected the distinct odor of “Feature Creep” permeating many of the booths.
It was everywhere. In bathtubs. In washers. In dryers. In home spas. And while a good number of the innovations seemed to be natural evolutions of the products, there were an equal number that had us asking, “Huh?”
Once easy-to-comprehend products had morphed into strange hybrids. Overnight, it seemed, functional, reliable appliances had become entertainment centers. Products designed to protect our food were now products that told us how warm it was outside.
And while we were genuinely impressed with where technology could take even those most mundane and commonplace products (a toilet seat that lowers itself?), we were also a little curious as to how all these bells and whistles would affect branding and the relationship consumers have with the various brands.
As we wandered from booth to booth, we got the real sense that “Innovation” was starting to replace many long-established brand positions. And technology – which was designed to make the consumers’ lives easier – was actually lulling marketing managers and their ad agencies into doing less.
It seemed as if the caretakers of the many brands are choosing to sit back and let research and development woo their customers for them. After all, who needs to build a brand when you can build a dozen more jets into your tub? Who needs to carve out a niche in the customers’ minds when you can just carve out a place in your oven for a plasma screen television and cable access?
We saw evidence of it all over the show. One bathtub brand, which for years stood for luxury, now had a booth that simply listed its latest technological advancements on posters. It was less of a booth, and more of a huge three-dimensional sell sheet. The essence of the brand was gone. And the emotional relationship it once had with its customers had somehow disappeared amidst the “effervescent bubbles” and “125 pulsating jets.”
Before we get all caught up in the technology race – before we attach another home entertainment device to our toilet seat – we as an industry need to ask ourselves some very serious questions.
First and foremost: Are we going to allow technology to drive our brands? From a marketing perspective, it seems risky. Innovation is an unwinnable brand position. It’s based on the notion that you will always be more innovative than the next guy. And who can ensure that? Technology is constantly changing and there’s going to come a time when a competitor develops something newer and cooler than you. And when that happens, what happens to your brand?
More importantly, “innovation” doesn’t connect with the consumer nearly as strongly as the experience does. People don’t buy “innovative” tubs. They buy tubs that pamper them. They don’t buy “innovative” ovens. They buy ovens that give them a great cooking experience and food that tastes good. They don’t buy “innovative” washers and dryers. They buy washers and dryers that get their clothes clean. Innovation, as it turns out, isn’t a brand at all.
If you stick to the old-fashioned idea that it’s important to own a strong brand identity and a well-defined position, you can be innovative without leading with innovation. Players in the automobile industry have proven that. Take Volvo, for instance. Over the decades they have been amazingly innovative in the area of passenger safety. But instead of touting each and every innovation they’ve come up with, they’ve smartly demonstrated how those innovations build on their commitment to safety. Their innovations become reasons to believe, not the identity of the brand.
On the flip side are the G.M.’s of the world, who don’t have a brand position that’s as clearly defined. As a result, they rely on the new gizmos and gadgets to connect with their consumers. Commercial after commercial, we see long lists of features. “Dual overhead cam.” “15 cup holders.” “20 speakers.” And the result? Declining sales and lagging consumer interest.
Which leads to another important question: How far off course are we willing to go with technology? The stuff we bolt onto our products should enhance the brand experience, not dilute it. If your refrigerator brand, for example, has long stood for fresh food, what does an imbedded weather screen/photo album do to build on that?
If your microwave products have long stood for reliability, what does a plasma screen TV do to reinforce that position?
Technology for technology sake – no matter how cool and futuristic you think it might be -- can actually take your brand backwards. So we need to be very selective about what innovations we pursue.
And speaking of the “tech race.” How fast are we all going to go? How many features can we add to our product at once without completely confusing the consumer?
Remember, the buying cycles for most kitchen and bath products aren’t days or weeks or months. They’re years. Or sometimes, decades.
So when a consumer, whose idea of innovative refrigerator technology is an in-door water dispenser, sees a fridge with a computer screen and a television monitor, what’ s she to think? How is she going to process all this new information? How is she going to prioritize the features? Will she embrace the idea of a refrigerator/entertainment center or will she be so utterly confused that she can’t begin to make a decision?
Only time will tell.
Make no mistake, technology is a good thing. But our job as marketers is to figure out how to maintain brand integrity and communicate our single-minded differences in the face of these technological breakthroughs.
Now more than ever, there is a need for branding.
Branding will give meaning to the technology.
Branding will prevent us from all becoming “The Innovator.”
Branding will keep our customers loyal to our name, instead of the bullet points on our sell sheet.
And if we don’t take branding seriously, we might as well just find one of the convection/microwave/self-cleaning/programmable ovens and stick our heads in it. Because it’s over.