By James Wells
SYDNEY: Sunbeam has appointed Dimplex marketing manager, Adam Tacey, to a newly created role of category manager – heating and barbecues.
Tacey has worked with Dimplex at Hagemeyer for six and a half years and prior to this worked at Mistral for two years in the seasonal products division where he was also repsonsible for the brand’s Olympic sponsorship.
Sunbeam’s heating range features a line of convection panel heaters and ceramic heaters including the MicroFurnace range which was acquired in 2003 from Kevin Jones & Associates.
Last week, Sunbeam officially launched its Innovo brand of barbecues on to the Australian market. The Chinese made barbecues were developed in conjunction with the brand’s local design department and celebrity chef, Geoff Jansz.
Sunbeam CEO Jonathan Lord, told Current.com.au that the appointment of Tacey will not lead to the introduction of a cooling range.
"We are not looking at the cooling market at the moment. Our focus will remain on heating and barbecues," Lord said.
"There are also opportunities to get into the outdoor heating market to complement our barbecues."
Sunbeam category manager – home care, Danielle McConnell will hand over the responsibility of the heating category to Tacey and she will continue to manage the electric blanket and ironing business. In addition to her current roles, McConnell will become more involved in the company’s web and online communication strategy.
"There is a real opportunity for Sunbeam to capitalise on the web as a means of communicating with its large customer base in metropolitan and regional areas," Lord said.
Tacey will report to Rachel Wilson who was appointed earlier this year as business development manager.
Wilson is currently conducting a national roadshow to launch the company’s barbecue range and will continue to work on other projects in appropriate new product categories.