Exclusive interview with CEO.
In his first trip to Australia as BSH CEO, Dr Karsten Ottenberg, sat down with Appliance Retailer to discuss the new four-brand strategy for the company. This follows Bosch and Siemens joining the Neff and Gaggenau brands on 1 March 2016 after being managed by Sampford IXL for 21 years and 36 years respectively. During his visit, Dr Ottenberg met with retailers and internal staff to explain the next steps forward for the local subsidiary and also provided a preview into the products of the future.
The Brand Plan
“Bosch has developed a new global brand plan over the last two years, focused on the right positioning and brand management. However, I believe this is an opportunity for us in this market to deliver a competitive edge and use clear positioning combined with consistent brand management through design and advertising, to hit the right consumers with the right brand and product.
“This is the approach we are taking and we look forward to working with our retail partners to help us consistently tell this story to consumers who we believe fall into specific target groups. We have a portfolio of four core brands – and we are delivering consistent stories on each brand.”
Bosch and Siemens
“Bosch and Siemens have been fairly close in perception in the past, even in Germany. So we are very excited to have found the right story for each of these brands,” Dr Ottenberg said.
“So what is a ‘Boscher’? We call them the ‘quality passionates’. It is someone who in everything they do, are interested in the quality of the result of the product, as well as the quality of the design and the technology. It is this ‘quality passionate’ that is the core of the Bosch brand.
“The ‘Siemenser’ on the other hand is a leading-edger. This cosmopolitan person likes products that are innovative and new, loves to show off the newest technology and being at the forefront of innovation. So based on the design of the product, you are able to see that a Siemens consumer is a completely different person by perception from a Bosch consumer.”
Gaggenau
“We own the only global luxury brand in the world. It doesn’t mean that in some regions of the world there are other luxury brands, but globally from the US to Europe, and China to the rest of Asia – Gaggenau is the only global luxury appliance brand. And what is a luxury brand? Take Hermes for example – a truly luxury brand in terms of its product, distribution, communication as well as the things they do and importantly what they don’t do with the brand. So if you are a consumer and you are into these luxury brands, then Gaggenau is a must-have.”
Neff
“Last but not least is Neff – our hidden gem. ‘Neffers’ are characters we call the ‘Social Individualist’. This is someone who is clearly very different but is an individualist who is a very social person and loves to cook. They are passionate not only about food quality, but they like to entertain and are more likely to cook a whole fish for a group of friends to share. We see this trend back to nature and looking at how food is created as a big trend globally and here in Australia, it is a fact of life.”
Australian Retail
“I think in general Australian retailers are serving consumer groups which are comparable to what you can see in the rest of the world. However, in many of the stores that I visited, the average willingness for Australians to pay for quality products and services is higher than the average elsewhere, which is great and this is something that we will definitely nurture in our business. With the work we have done on our four brands, I can see greater opportunities for BSH to assist with the consumer journey in retail stores.
“Our overall message to our retailers is that BSH in Australia is switching gear on driving the brands to the Australian consumers. We want to make sure we have a consistent story and let’s work together to create a value perception for the consumer with a consistent brand story. By doing this, we can build a great partnership together to be even stronger than we have been in the past.”