Timeless and timely luxury brand.
Reframing faucet engineering expert as a bold, yet elegant luxury experience.
Introduction
In a project at Parsons together with WaterWorks, a legacy brand for high-end bath and kitchen design, our team was challenged with a strategic brief on creating a standard for full-service kitchen solutions.
Process
Within a condensed period, our team reframed the vision of the challenge, and conducted secondary research at competitor sites, interviewing brand experts, e.g., LMVH.
Outcome
Our team created a strategic umbrella to a timeless, yet timely brand. Our strategic pillars were illustrated by actionable tactics that can be implemented in current showrooms and exhibits.
Expert research
“Material reflects luxury and ensures durability” (LVMH expert). WaterWork’s core is built around metal and expertise in faucet engineering. Previous users have proven to lack brand awareness apart from faucet consideration. Our challenge was to reframe WaterWork’s material advantage as a holistic and long-term solution.
Reframed vision
Our North Star vision is to close the gap between faucet and full-service and become the first choice for comprehensive luxury kitchen and bath solutions.
Sprint questions
Our questions were “HMW shift into the psychological awareness and consideration set for full-service luxury?” (consumer-perspective) and “HMW create a timeless and timely brand that omits luxury yet reacts to current trends, breaking stereotypes of seriousness?” (brand-perspective).
Consumer psychology
Consumers filter between an awareness set, evoked set, and consideration set before a purchase, based on individual factors such as price, relevancy, personal taste, or current memory (e.g., WOM). The goal for WaterWorks is to shift into the consideration set for full-service bath and kitchen solutions.
Recommendations
In order to evoke brand awareness, WaterWorks requires omni-channel communication focusing on full-service, perhaps neglecting the word “faucet”. New specific word associations, for instance, metal, luxury, cabinet, second home, and euro-charm are to be created.
Waterworks customer lifecycle
Compared to natural lifecycles like adulthood and old age, WaterWorks customers may go through phases such as working professional, single-household, marriage, divorce, procreation, second home, mid-life crisis, and impaired vision. Meeting the customer in their current life stage results in personalized design and long-term loyalty.
Strategic umbrella
Timeless and Timely brand: Represent a lifetime product, yet introduce according to society’s current.
Redefine luxury: Embody luxury engineering combined with exclusivity, quiet luxury, privacy, and warmth.
Experience: In a tech-world, be the in-person luxury. Break free from seriousness and keep excitement.
Actionable tactics
Catering towards the strategic umbrella, recommended tactics could include seasonal showrooms moving with the emotional calendar, exclusive private access to cooking and dinners, tech- and light-integrated cabinetry, or high-end satirical art.
Brand identity
Waterworks evolves into a brand that analyzes lifecycles, moves with the emotional calender; designing not only a kitchen and bath, but a home to an everchanging world. Craftsmanship-oriented and home-creating. Timeless, yet progressive. Elegant, with a sense of intellectual humor.
