Watercooler Marketing Explored – January 2008

Ebac Director of Marketing Scott Miekle discusses the value of the marketing mix in the Watercooler industry.

Do you think that cooler companies are good at PR and marketing generally?
Scott Meikle, Director of Marketing, Ebac (SM): "Compared to other industries, I would say that the cooler industry has a significant opportunity to use marketing and PR to drive business forward. On an individual basis, businesses can win more market share through appropriate marketing and on a broader level grow the market and get more coolers out there. That said, many of the smaller distributors are quite entrepreneurial and do very well."

Why do you think some cooler companies fail to invest in their marketing?
SM: "In terms of the larger operators, I think they do invest and they do reasonably well. The smaller distributors donít do as much, but remember they are running a business day to day and are very busy. At Ebac, we are working on marketing tools that can help our customers, with a minimum amount of effort on their part, to grow their business. We hope this will help them from a time and cost perspective and encourage them to be more proactive in this area."

How important are marketing and branding to your company? What rewards do they bring?
SM: "Marketing is at the heart of what Ebac does - listening to customers, understanding their needs, learning about markets and channelling all of this into products that our customers will value. We believe that high quality brands are created through their performance - rather than a clever marketing slogan. We invest a great deal in both online and offline promotion, ensuring that our message gets out there and people understand what Ebac is all about."

How would you briefly sum up your marketing strategy? Do you think it is proving successful?
SM: "For coolers our strategy is to match our products with the right markets and the right players within the market. We have a series of patented features on our products, such as the WaterTrail or the vacuum sealed hot tank that deliver excellent benefits and return on investment for our customers. Using these, along with our 37% market share in Western Europe, we are rightly seen as the leader in the market."

How would you want your company "brand" to be perceived?
SM: "We want the Ebac brand to be perceived as a leader in the market that delivers quality products at reasonable prices. We help businesses become successful through our innovation, but our sound commercial offering also makes buying Ebac coolers commercially sound."

Which of the following do you dedicate resources to: website, press releases, mailouts, newsletters, advertising, exhibiting at trade shows?
SM: "We use all elements of the marketing mix to ensure that our message gets across. The web, even in this relatively small market, is becoming increasingly important. We advertise, we use PR, we use trade shows. We have a full gamut of activity."

Which do you find the most effective?
SM: "We receive a return from all of our activities - to varying degrees. Pound for pound, it is very hard to beat the website."

How would you describe your latest series of adverts in terms of what they say about your company?
SM: "Aesthetics play an important part in everything we do; we are naturally drawn to attractive things and the photography we are now using reflects the quality of the products and attention to detail we put into it. We also try to keep things lively, use interesting headlines to grab the attention of the reader and have a sense of humour, so that comes across too. But primarily our adverts are about detailing the incredible range of features and benefits our coolers offer - that is our strength and what our customers benefit from. We donít try to make the ads too clever."

Are you looking to make improvements to your marketing in the future?
SM: "We are always looking to make improvements. Look out for a new website early in 2008, which we hope will be the best in the industry."

Are there any general marketing campaigns that you admire and would aspire to?
SM: "There are many fantastic advertising campaigns, many of which I enjoy, but thatís as someone who works in the industry. For Ebac however, itís not about showcasing our creative talent in advertising, itís about being a good company that our customers want to continue to work with, delivering high quality products and great service."

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