Ogilvy & Mather and MindShare were the incumbents on the account, which is estimated to be worth US$7 million in annual billings. The brief includes brand-building work for all white goods as well as specific product work on refrigerators and washing machine. OMD China managing director, Rob FitzGerald, said it won the business by adopting a consumer and communication-led approach, spearheaded by focus groups in Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing. "We conducted the exercise to try to understand the consumer in order to be more strategic. We wanted to find out what people go through in purchasing products - how they get their information and how they make purchasing decisions.
"The reason why we went through all of this is because Siemens' targets the more affluent people with high-end, aspirational qualities," FitzGerald said. BS Home Appliances China president, Franz Bosshard, added: "OMD was able to generate and deliver real consumer insight and understanding of the home appliance market and translate this into an effective communication strategy and proposal."
