High-end home appliances have added a dark horse to foreign companies? Recently, "Home appliances" learned from the Thomson China Brand Management Center that in August this year, the international electronics giant Thomson has officially introduced the household appliance business into the Chinese mainland market. In the future, Thomson China will rely on the century-old heritage of the brand, deeply integrate the industrial chain, and lay out the segment of China's high-end home appliances.
The century-old brand entered the Chinese home appliance market
To Chinese consumers, Thomson may not be so familiar. "Home of Home Appliances" combed through the relevant information and found that Thomson's historical connection with China, in addition to 2003, TCL and Thomson's joint venture company - TTE, and Thomson's entry into the Hong Kong market, there is little information about it in the Chinese mainland market.
In fact, in Europe, North America and other countries and regions, Thomson has long been a household name brand. It is understood that Thomson was founded in 1893 in Paris, France, by Eliehu Thomson, president of the American Institution of Electrical Engineers, chief engineer of the General Electric Company, and the main inventor of the electric lamp and power system. After 128 years of development, Thomson has become a world electronic technology giant specializing in household appliance business, entertainment and multimedia services, and one of the world's four major consumer electronic and electrical product manufacturers, with users in more than 120 countries and regions.
Why is Thomson entering the Chinese market now? Li Tao, general manager of Thomson China Brand Management Center, said in a media interview that Thomson's entry into the Chinese market is mainly due to two reasons. The first is the active adjustment of Thomson's internal strategy. Thomson has a global layout, but has not had the right opportunity to show his fist in the Chinese mainland market, this time with the household appliances business officially cut in, just to complete the last piece of the puzzle, for its global market share to increase the help.
On the other hand, it is the needs of the external market. The Chinese market is the world's largest consumer market in the future, in other regions of high-end home appliances growth slowdown, and even a few places in the context of decline, Chinese mainland of high-end home appliances but the rapid development momentum, the market growth rate is accelerating year by year, in the blue ocean market. Thomson's entry into the Chinese mainland market at this time to meet the needs of Chinese consumers for high-end home appliances is opportune.
Li Tao said that with the improvement of the living standards of Chinese residents, consumers' requirements for home appliances are not simply satisfied with "simple and easy to use", but also put forward higher demands in terms of quality, comfort and beauty. He pointed out that at present, the base of China's middle class and above is expanding, and the demand for home appliances is clearer, reflected in the purchase of home appliances, product selection is layered, and the demand for quality and high-end is gradually highlighted.
Luo Qingqi, senior director of Pale Consulting, believes that "at present, the overall development of the home appliance industry has slowed down, but high-end products have grown against the trend, and domestic home appliance giants have accelerated their high-end transformation process, and for foreign brands that are originally positioned as high-end, the entry at this time is based on their judgment of the advent of high-end market opportunities in China." The high-end market in the field of home appliance segmentation is where the opportunities for foreign brands lie. ”
Aim at high-end subdivisions to meet the needs of new middle-class consumption upgrades
According to reports, Thomson's strategy is mainly to rely on the brand's century-old heritage, deeply integrate the industrial chain, focus on the new middle-class people living in first- and second-tier cities aged about 26-46, systematically lay out the four major life scenarios of the new middle-class families - kitchen, bathroom, living room, bedroom home appliance needs, and provide system solutions to meet the consumption upgrade needs of new middle-class families. Li Tao told reporters that Thomson has made refined planning from the dimensions of product planning and brand building to prepare for the layout.
According to data from Aowei Cloud Network, in the first half of 2021, the overall kitchen and bathroom market size reached 72.6 billion yuan, an increase of 25.8% year-on-year. In terms of specific categories, the trend of high-end traditional kitchen appliances represented by range hoods and gas stoves is obvious, while emerging kitchen appliances such as dishwashers, embedded machines, and integrated stoves continue to exert force.
Thomson's product planning also reflects this market trend. It is understood that Thomson currently provides four sets of system solutions for the four major life scenarios of new middle-class families: kitchen system, water treatment system, indoor cleaning system, and clothing care system, covering 6 major categories such as kitchen appliances, kitchen small household appliances, water heaters, water purification, living appliances, and personal health care.
Combined with the current situation of user demand and market competition, Thomson starts from the three demand directions of quality, self-pleasing and health, and the first stage mainly lays out embedded steam ovens, built-in dishwashers, new wine cabinets, multi-functional chef machines, desktop drink purifiers, coffee machines, sweeping robots, steam mops and other sub-categories.
Inherit the brand's century-old heritage 10 years revenue target of 10 billion
What is the secret of a brand that lasts for a hundred years? For Thomson, the answer may lie in his brand philosophy: "friendly technology."
According to reports, Thomson once hired designer Philippe starck as the creative design director of products, he is known as "the world's most prestigious ghost designer", almost all international design awards, including red dot design awards, IF design awards, Harvard design excellence awards and so on. He designed former French President Mitterrand's private residence at the Elysées Palace, as well as the Asahi Beer Building in Asakusa, Tokyo, and was invited to design medals for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
During his tenure at Thomson, Philippe Starck came up with a design philosophy that goes from technology to caring. This defines the relationship between brand and technology, innovation and design. Following this philosophy, he designed many classic products for Thomson.
Li Tao introduced that Thomson China has cooperated with the top domestic industrial design company Oriental Wheat Field, on the one hand, to deeply understand the essence of the brand concept, absorb the connotation of the brand inheritance for a hundred years, and facilitate the brand to better integrate into the Chinese market. On the other hand, it has a deep insight into the living customs, consumption patterns and habits of China's new generation of middle-class consumers, systematically studies market demand, and provides a solid basis for future product strategy.
In terms of brand building, Li Tao revealed that according to the platform planning, Thomson China will continue to invest in brand image building and marketing promotion at no less than 3% of sales every year. "With the help of official websites, self-media, search engines and authoritative media in the industry, omni-channel and systematic brand recognition construction; through a series of advertising, publicity and promotion and creative activities, to create a representative core image products; brand VI standards, SI image, PI system and other norms, management and maintenance of a unified, complete and systematic brand image."
"We are confident about our future business goals!" Li Tao said bluntly: "After 10 years of efforts, Thomson will grow into a head brand in all operating sub-categories, and the total revenue will reach 10 billion yuan." He said that in the future, on the basis of good operation and smooth expansion, Thomson China will lay out more product categories according to market demand.