Indesit to take Hotpoint into Europe

HotpointsIndesit, the Italian-owned white goods company, is launching Hotpoint in mainland Europe as part of a strategy to phase out Ariston and simplify its brand portfolio.

The company is launching a dual-branded range in Italy and plans to roll it out across Western and Eastern Europe over the rest of the year. It will be supported with a TV campaign, created by Leo Burnett, for the Hotpoint Ariston Aqualtis washing machine.

The Ariston brand will be phased out over the long term and Hotpoint will be positioned as a mid-to-upper market brand for the whole of Europe. Ariston is currently a key brand across Europe and Hotpoint is the UK’s leading brand in domestic appliances. Ariston was scrapped in the UK in 2003 (MW March 27, 2003).

Indesit UK marketing director Neil Tunstall says that many industry sources thought that the Hotpoint brand would be scrapped after Indesit, then called Merloni Elettrodomestici, bought it in 2002.

He adds that it is rare for a British brand to be launched into Europe rather than the other way round but that Hotpoint’s strength in the UK has made it an “extremely powerful” brand.

Indesit is also investing in its eponymous brand and aims to position it as a brand that offers “simplicity”. It is just launching the new Moon washing machine in the UK, which aims to offer consumers a simple but innovative product. It only has five buttons and, unusually for a washing machine, it has a covered door. It also has sensors that are programmed to detect the most often required settings.

It will be supported with a TV campaign, created by Ogilvy & Mather Milan, which will break in July.