PR21 followed up with media materials and phone calls. This enticing pitch helped to snag interviews with over 20 publications in just two days. Editors were asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement and to hold the story to a strict embargo. The event was masked in secrecy they were told, to protect the company from the threat of industrial espionage.
In order to encourage editors, weary from long days spent walking the trade show floor, to take some time out to view the Duet, PR21 had to take a unique approach.Įditors were invited to preview an unnamed product during one-on-one interviews in a private suite. The oasis was designed to create an experience that communicated not only the empowering spirit of the Whirlpool brand, but the innovation and vision behind the company’s newest product offering. Instead, PR21 and Whirlpool created a “press oasis” in a hotel suite located across the street from the convention center. However, the company was not ready to tip its hand to competitors by placing the Duet on the show floor in April of 2001. The Kitchen and Bath Industry Show, with its high press attendance, was the perfect chance to show off the new appliance. PR21 and Whirlpool created a multi-tiered media outreach, beginning approximately six months prior to the retail launch of the product.
The strategy was to create an aggressive media relations campaign targeting media outlets read by active balancers, remodelers, and home builders. However, for long-lead, glossy coverage, the design angle was conveyed, which PR21 did through slick product photography and by emphasizing the products roots in European design. PR21 crafted materials and pitches, as well as the targeted daily media lists, around this angle. PR21 discovered that the “hot topic” of the day was energy and water efficiency, which gave Duet a distinct advantage. In order to decide which feature of the Duet would make the most appealing, sustainable news hook, PR21 surveyed and analyzed Whirlpool and its competitors’ media content. In addition, Whirlpool needed to communicate the benefits of this washer and dryer to remodelers and home builders, many of whom play a major role in making decisions about the appliances placed in new and remodeled homes. Values progress towards achieving home life goals and life balance.Holding high performance expectation of appliances.Time constrained, reliant on home appliances and services.Energetically involved in life’s activities.Whirlpool’s target consumer audience has been nicknamed “The Active Balancer,” and is described as: Moreover, due to budget cuts, the Duet had little to no advertising support for the first year of its launch, so Whirlpool relied on the power of PR to spark consumer interest. And the Duet faced tough consumer-recognition competition from the Maytag Neptune, a front-loading machine that beat the pair to market. PR21 carefully timed its outreach to create a sustainable buzz around the product that would begin concurrent with the products’ arrival in stores and would continue throughout the year.Ĭonsumers needed to be educated about the category of front-loading washer and dryers and persuaded of the advantages of a high-priced appliance. PR21 and Whirlpool conducted a full-scale media relations campaign to generate awareness and consumer interest in this new product, with no support from advertising. The Duet is extremely gentle and provides superior fabric care, allowing consumers to wash items that previously had to be dry-cleaned uses 28 percent less water and 27 percent less electricity than standard washers is ergonomically designed for ease of loading and unloading and features a high-temperature sanitizing cycle that kills 99.999 percent of bacteria on clothing without the use of chemicals. While the Duet, which can retail for up to $2000 per pair, represents one of the highest-priced laundry appliances on the market, it has several advantages over the competition. It also presented a communications challenge for a company trying to step outside of that white box. This new pair represents a distinct departure from the traditional top-loading ‘white box’ that dominates the appliance market in the US. In 2001, the company conducted its first United States launch of a high-end, front-loading washer and dryer pair. It’s not a new car it’s the Duet washer from Whirlpool. It’s sleek, powerful, fast, German-engineered yet all-American, and it represents the latest state-of-the-art technology.