designreport promotion edition 04/2016 – Kaldewei

German Brand Award

Kaldewei: Shaping Icons – unwavering style paves the way to premium brand status the world over.

How does a manufacturer evolve from washtub maker to international luxury brand?

How does the fourth generation of a family-run company from Ahlen in Germany make the leap to international success? Today Kaldewei is one of the bathroom segment’s premium brands.

We learn its story and where the journey of this successful brand is heading.

By Hans Meier-Kortwig

Founded in Ahlen in 1918 by the great-grandfather of today’s CEO Franz Kaldewei, today the company is a premium luxury brand that operates all over the globe.

All traces that it once produced washtubs and dairy equipment have vanished. Kaldewei now stands for sophisticated bathroom solutions. It has already won a number of international design accolades and many of its products have what it takes to become design classics.

Cornerstones for today’s brand success It was Franz Dieter Kaldewei, the father of today’s CEO, who took the first step in this direction. From 1973 onwards he appointed renowned designers like Tom Schönherr and Andreas Haug of Phoenix Design or Ettore Sottsass to come up with innovative bathroom and shower solutions for Kaldewei. This was a key step in building the brand. After all, at the time public perception was still dominated by the company’s high-volume business in Germany. Communications concentrated on purely functional product benefits and proverbial German quality. The designs of that period already combined many aspects still typical of Kaldewei today. They include a characteristic design language, which is never an end in itself but always incorporates a high level of functionality, the typical Kaldewei steel enamel and the courage to strike out in new directions. The current designs by Arik Levy and Anke Salomon continue this line of development.

From product design to holistic branding In order to ensure holistic brand management and create a distinctive brand image, the company hasn’t just restricted itself to product design but deliberately included every element of the brand experience chain. Examples range from prize-winning fitting instructions all the way to a multi-award-winning trade fair stand or the brand world in Ahlen.

By ensuring every detail of the distinctive communications design reflects the three principles of luxury branding – understatement, enhancement and emotional appeal – and stylising the products as icons on an uncompromisingly black background, Kaldewei sets itself apart from com­petitors and creates a unique positioning for itself.

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Awards as key performance indicators The diverse nature of the prizes Kaldewei has won reflects the holistic nature of its branding. With way over 120 design awards, it now ranks among Germany’s top 50 producers of luxury goods. The company recently received the German Brand Award 2016 for its pioneering and consistent brand management. The interdisciplinary panel of judges picked Kaldewei as the best corporate brand from over 900 submissions.

During the award ceremony in June 2016, Hans Meier-Kortwig spoke to entrepreneur Franz Kaldewei and Arndt Papenfuss, divisional head of marketing and PR at Kaldewei.

What does this award mean to you as an entrepreneur?

Franz Kaldewei: It confirms we’re on the right track and motivates us too. It’s confirmation inasmuch as a prestigious panel believes our path to becoming a global luxury brand is worthy of a prize. And motivation in the sense that it encourages us not to waver from this path in the future.

How important is brand management at Kaldewei in day-to-day operations?

Arndt Papenfuss: We believe the brand is a major factor in our success, which is why it has been an ­integral part of our corporate strategy for many years. Our objective today is as simple as it is ambitious: to become the most valuable brand in every bathroom. This is what spurs us on each and every day. It’s expressed in our iconic brand identity with the typical brand codes. It’s also revealed in the aesthetic of a luxury brand that is totally unique within the industry.

What kind of thing does the brand strategy influence at KALDEWEI? Franz Kaldewei: The KALDEWEI brand can only really show what it can do if a consistent message is conveyed at all touchpoints. Therefore, a homogeneous design and brand experience across all channels is crucial, whether we’re talking about what we convey to architects, at wholesalers’ collection points or via the website. Superior quality must be consistently maintained, especially in the case of a luxury brand. It goes without saying that the brand lies at the heart of our product, design and range strategies, as well as shaping our internati­ onal launches. The brand also has to be reflected throughout the sales and service experience.

And finally, the brand must convey an identical message at trade shows, in showrooms and in all its communications across the world.

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kaldewei.de

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Waschtisch CONO

MEISTERSTÃœCK EMERSO by Arik Levy

German Brand Award

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kaldewei.de

17.06.15 14:40

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How does the brand influence product design development at KALDEWEI? Arndt Papenfuss: Several years back, we developed a product design guide as a tool. It defines the style environments relevant to us and includes design requirements for the various market segments and product areas. We want to create exceptional brand experiences that never fail to add functional value as well.

What role does the workforce play at KALDEWEI? Arndt Papenfuss: We can only ensure a consistent brand experience across the globe if we embed the brand idea in the whole of our organisation and point out the consequences the brand has for the dayto-day work of each and every individual. This is an indispensable factor en route to becoming a global luxury brand. Which is why we’ll be putting our internal branding activities on a much more professional footing.

What can we expect from brand management at KALDEWEI in the future?

Franz Kaldewei: Our endeavour to become a worldwide partner for iconic bathroom solutions will include expanding our ranges, particularly in the shower and washbasin segments. The future promises a lot of exciting design developments from KALDEWEI in these areas. At the same time, making the company more international is one of our top priorities. We’ll be treading new ground in communications in this ­respect too. In our industry, the opportunities inherent in mobile and digital communications are far from exhausted.

The brand as a source of development potential If we consider how many German companies are included in international brand rankings, the result is sobering. German brands are few and far between, apart from a few exceptions in the automotive industry. In other words, in terms of brand management and international brand value development, there’s plenty of catching up to do, or to give it a more positive slant, a lot of unharnessed potential. The route taken by Kaldewei is an example of how German SMEs can develop their own brand to create a competitive edge. By adopting a brand-driven style of management and having the energy and courage it takes to innovate and break new ground, they can make a major contribution to their own success.

In presenting the German Brand Award, the German Brand Institute (which was initiated by the German Design Council) aims to give brands and brand makers a new forum for showcasing their achievements. The German Brand Award pays tribute to innovative brands, consistent brand management and sustainable brand design by honouring pioneering people and companies. It identifies and presents trends and thus aims not only to promote the winners, but the entire German brand industry as well. Last but not least, the goal is also to help make Germany more competitive.

Andrej Kupetz, General Manager German Design Council