Hold on, my washing machine is text-messaging me
New research from Internet Home Alliance, a cross-industry network of companies advancing the concept of the connected home - in which appliances and other machines are linked and controllable by a single system - shows that an “intelligent” laundry solution may make clothes washing less of a chore.
Participants in the Alliance’s Laundry Time Pilot, an eight-week, real-world test of a connected laundry room, said that connecting washers and dryers to a central home system makes sense and promises to be a beneficial component in a home control system. Remote notification stood out as a key benefit, enabling participants to handle laundry more efficiently and process more loads during the day.
Conducted in three Atlanta homes from May 30 through September 7, 2006, the study involved products, services and intelligence from companies including Whirlpool Corporation, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft Corp., Panasonic and Procter & Gamble. The study was conducted by Zanthus, a technology marketing research firm, under the direction of the Alliance.
The Laundry Time system connects a washer and dryer to a home network and delivers messages about the status of laundry and washer/dryer progress to home PCs, TVs and cell phones. Its technology enables consumers to manage the laundry process from remote locations such as a grocery store or soccer game. “I love the pop-up notifications as I tend to forget everything when I am working,” said Laundry Time Pilot participant Lisa Gunning of Roswell, Ga. “It really does save time as it allows me to get my laundry done while I am doing other things.”
In addition to efficiency, Gunning also found family involvement in the laundry process with the remote notification of the system. “On odd days when I just do one load at night, getting the alerts on the TV is great. Even when I’m not watching TV, one of the kids will come and remind me.”
In the pilot, the laundry chore was managed by consumers from a regular-capacity washer and dryer made by Whirlpool and with Laundry Time application software loaded on the primary home PC, a wireless router placed on the home network, an H-P Media Center PC, a wireless Media Center Extender and a phone with wireless Web access. Messages were delivered via pop-ups that appeared on the TV, PC (using MSN Messenger) and cell phone (using SMS messaging).
Message options on the washer included wash complete, malfunction, unbalanced load and door open. The dryer message functions featured cycle complete/wrinkle guard on, malfunction, 85 percent complete, 50 percent complete and door open.
In addition, Laundry Time was designed so participants could control the washer (remote start) and dryer (extend the fluff cycle or remote start) when prompted by a pop-up message.
Key findings of the pilot include:
- Of the TV, PC and cell phone, the TV was the most popular way to get laundry messages. Homeowners tend to do laundry while they are home and either watching TV or have it on for background noise. The TV is often located in a central gathering place in the home.
- The most beneficial messages delivered were finding out when the wash and dry cycles are complete. Laundry-doers tend to forget about their laundry once they walk away and get involved in another activity. “Wash complete” and “dry complete” messages act as a reminder so that users can reload machines faster and get more laundry done in a day. For more information visit www.caba.org/iha.
Wal-Mart courts the “selective” shopper
A PROMO Xtra article by Betsy Spethmann outlined Wal-Mart’s plan to alter part of the merchandise mix in its 
stores based on local consumer segments. The Bentonville behemoth will upgrade and tailor its merchandise mix in five key categories that appeal to occasional Wal-Mart shoppers: consumer electronics, pharmaceuticals, home goods, apparel and fresh food.
“Our task is to upgrade our brand offering,” said Wal-Mart’s Senior Vice President of Marketing Stephen Quinn, promising a “different Wal-Mart in 2007” as the company evolves the brand experience to suit local communities and to be as relevant as possible to each customer segment.
The move is part of Wal-Mart’s focus on “selective” shoppers, the group with the most profit potential among its three consumer segments (followed by “loyalists,” then “skeptics”). Brand image ads that broke in February 2006 court selective shoppers, who tend to be more upscale than Wal-Mart loyalists. “That’s our most attractive audience segment now,” Quinn said.
He held up three stores as an example of the new merchandising strategy: a suburban Chicago store in Evergreen Park, Ill., caters to African-Americans with apparel, hair care and music; a New Jersey store in a Hispanic neighborhood carries selected merchandise favored by Hispanic-Americans; and Wal-Mart’s prototype “affluent” store in Plano, Texas “proves Wal-Mart can appeal to the Cadillac set and can sell a bottle of wine for $200,” Quinn said.
Wal-Mart hasn’t decided how far it will drill down to tailor its merchandise mix, but it won’t happen at the store-by-store level as that approach is too expensive, Quinn said.
How do brands fit Wal-Mart’s new merchandising approach? Quinn urged marketers to tailor a brand’s message to court Wal-Mart store associates. “Marketers should champion their brand story in such a compelling way that our associates intuitively know what to do,” he said.
“Wal-Mart to Tailor Merchandise Mix, In-Store TV,” PROMO Xtra, October 9, 2006