AEG makeover gives brand ‘a premium edge’

Appliance specialist AEG has revealed full details of its new kitchen and laundry ranges.

Speaking at a launch event at the company’s headquarters in Luton, head of marketing Chris George told kbbreview the new collections would give AEG a “slightly more premium edge and a new brand identity”.

This, he insisted, would allow the brand to continue to take market share from its main competitors – Miele, Neff, Siemens and Bosch – and drive further growth.

“It gives us real credibility, particularly with the technology we’ve got to support it,” George said. “Through bringing retailers on a journey with the R&D, then to the launch and having sessions at the IFA exhibition, they’ve really bought into the principles of what we’re trying to do. We’ve got retail partners who are going really loud with the proposition. Then, from a brand point of view, we’ve got synergy with our campaigns.”

George said AEG’s retail network were looking for the brand to be “as bold as we can be and as noisy as possible”.

“I don’t think we’ve invested enough in AEG as a brand until this point,” he admitted. “But the plan was to ramp that spend up and support the new brand as it came through with the new products, so to have both at the same time is brilliant. It’s a consumer-led approach.”

Asked if the AEG brand had been living in the shadow of its competitors, George claimed consumers were now “looking for a change”.

“There’s a freshness to our approach,” he said. “We’re not talking about the technical details,” he said. “We’re looking at how we can actually help consumers. They’re looking for solutions. Our role is educational and our messaging is very different from what’s already in the market.”

George singled out AEG’s new “soft water technology” – a feature of both the kitchen and laundry range – as a particular highlight.

“Within laundry, we’re the only ones on the market to offer it,” he said. “Innovation is at the heart of things and having something exclusive to us as proprietary technology is great.”

AEG claimed its new range of washing machines and dryers would preserve colours and textures, while protecting fibres “like never before”.

The new AbsoluteCare System tumble-dryers (pictured) are said to precisely control the movement of the drum and the drying temperature for every type of fabric, aiming to keep clothes looking new for longer.

Highlights of the kitchen collection include the new Black Line range, which offers a modern black glass design variant of its stainless steel models.

AEG also showed off its new ComboHob – an integrated hob and hood – and its new SenseCook oven. This features a food sensor that can be inserted into the meat or dish being cooked to give accurate control over the core temperature and how ‘well done’ the food is. The precision of the sensor is combined with a smart user interface featuring a ‘command wheel’ – a responsive wheel letting the cook tell the oven what results are required, rather than what temperature.

CustomFlex, meanwhile, is claimed to be “the most adaptive refrigeration storage system on the market”, featuring customisable doors and a cooling system that preserves taste and texture. The flexible door rack system with movable compartments can be rearranged to accommodate a wide variety of groceries. It will launch across a range of freestanding and built-in AEG fridge-freezers.

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