The Hindu Business Line : Catching them young, Electrolux style

DON'T be surprised if your child talks to you about his `dream' refrigerator, air-conditioner, washing machine or microwave oven. White goods major Electrolux Kelvinator Ltd (EKL), a subsidiary of Electrolux Group, has decided to capture the imagination of youngsters and base future products on it.

The company on Thursday launched a nationwide customer interactive and insight recognition programme, the `Dream Machine 2020'.

It is an integrated marketing programme that would involve over two lakh school students, from the 6th to 9th standard from 320 schools of New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Pune, Ahmedabad and Indore.

The students would be asked to write a 250-word essay on topics such as `My Dream Refrigerator', `My Dream Air-Conditioner', `My Dream Washing Machine' or `My Dream Microwave Oven'.

Brushing aside the comment that the company was using strategies of `pester power' or `catch the young' to boost its sales, Mr Sanjeev Wadhwa, General Manager (Marketing), EKL, said, "Dream Machine 2020 has been launched to comprehend the current and the future customers' present and latent needs and desires, and increase customer involvement in the company's new product development strategy."

According to Mr Muder Chiba, Vice-President - South Operations (including Sri Lanka), NFO MBL India, "Students of class 6 to 9 are at an age where they can provide `technical inputs' in the decision-making process. Ideas could result in product variants that are futuristic in nature."

Explaining further, Mr Chiba said, for example, a housewife would be more strait-jacketed and come up with say "decreasing the egg-tray space". A youngster on the other hand, will not operate from fixed paradigms.

Interestingly, it has been found that a consumer cannot envisage the future and finds it easier to react to an innovation.

"All over the world, public space encroachment is increasing. India is no exception," he said.

The one-month programme would bring in a fresh dimension to the existing new product development process.

"With this, the company hopes to delight its customers by producing product variants they most desire," says Mr Wadhwa.

Mr Wadhwa told Business Line that "These dream machines as envisaged by young consumers would include their visualisation of existing products in the year 2020, in terms of their looks, aesthetics, features, colour, shape, size, functionality, etc. The inputs from these essays would be then shared with the company's R&D team, which would keep in mind the suggestions in developing and designing new products."

As further encouragement and recognition of young talent, the company could also reward the winners of the competition, he said. A renowned jury would judge the essays and present the prizes. The first prize is Rs 10,000 and a personal computer.

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