From the geranium box to the Armani of pots
Living New products, a new design and a relaunch package are intended to correct Eternit's image and make the traditional product trendy even abroad.
Living New products, a new design and a relaunch package are intended to correct Eternit's image and make the traditional product trendy even abroad The ash-grey Eternit geranium box is as much a part of the Swiss postcard idyll as the Matterhorn and the chalet. The fact that sales have fallen steadily in recent years could therefore not be due to their popularity. Marianne Zweifel, concept designer at the Basel-based advertising agency Una, is convinced that the quality of the planters is equally unimportant. But the image of the Eternit flower box is nowhere near as enduring as the flower box itself. In its 90-year history, it has not only gathered dust. Even today, the brand is still suffering from the late effects of its asbestos past, although the asbestos era has been over for more than ten years at the BA Holding AG Group company, and the flower boxes have even been asbestos-free and frost-proof for twenty years. The Glarus-based manufacturer is also convinced that the material is still one of the best available for plants. It was more due to aesthetic reasons that interest in the pots and balcony boxes plummeted. Since Willy Guhl and other industrial designers created furniture classics from Eternit in the 1950s, the product group has hardly seen any major innovations.
However, after years of going it alone, the self-starter from Niederurnen faced competition - mainly from Asia and Italy. "In nurseries and garden centers, Eternit pots became less and less popular. Terracotta ornamental pots or colorful glazed pots were in demand," says Zweifel.
An astonishing development, because it completely contradicts the current, simple architecture. Eternit's own survey brought the old-fashioned image to light. This gave the company the necessary impetus to act.
Beauty contest of designs From then on, nothing was left to chance. Although the garden pots product group accounts for just five percent of net sales of around 90 million Swiss francs, it is by far the most image-enhancing compared to the façade and roof divisions. "Our efforts in this area have to do on the one hand with the production process, which allows a higher utilization of the workforce. On the other hand, the Eternit brand reaches a broader range of consumers with these products than with the others, which are aimed almost exclusively at architects and construction companies," explains Daniel Hauri, Product Manager Garden and Design at Eternit. Several designers were commissioned to create new planters.
The favorites were tested at dealers until six new shapes and two new colors (anthracite and ruby) were selected for series production. The fact that the most important retailers were involved in the decision was also met with a very positive response.
The first step had thus been taken. Now the new product range and image correction were to be made known to the target group, i.e. 30 to 50-year-old women who treat themselves to something beautiful on the balcony and in the garden.
Daniel Hauri decided to develop the advertising and communication measures with the "target group" women Kate Isler and Marianne Zweifel from Una, Basel. The eye-catching retailer mailing boosted orders from retailers, while a well-designed appearance at the Giardina lifestyle and garden trade fair and an unusual image brochure for end consumers reinforced the pull effect. Una also made a massive change to the visual appearance of Eternit's garden area. The factual and architecturally cool implementations have given way to people and emotions.
The effect did not fail to materialize. The immediate response was so great that Eternit AG's production was well over budget even before the image ads with inserts. The first push in Switzerland seems to have been successful. This bodes well for expansion into neighboring countries, where the growth potential of the garden pots segment (until 2004 only a small proportion of sales) still appears huge.
Cool, modern shapes that evoke emotions: Eternit campaign by Una.
Image correction: Handmade, not industrial goods.
Luca Aloisi
However, after years of going it alone, the self-starter from Niederurnen faced competition - mainly from Asia and Italy. "In nurseries and garden centers, Eternit pots became less and less popular. Terracotta ornamental pots or colorful glazed pots were in demand," says Zweifel.
An astonishing development, because it completely contradicts the current, simple architecture. Eternit's own survey brought the old-fashioned image to light. This gave the company the necessary impetus to act.
Beauty contest of designs From then on, nothing was left to chance. Although the garden pots product group accounts for just five percent of net sales of around 90 million Swiss francs, it is by far the most image-enhancing compared to the façade and roof divisions. "Our efforts in this area have to do on the one hand with the production process, which allows a higher utilization of the workforce. On the other hand, the Eternit brand reaches a broader range of consumers with these products than with the others, which are aimed almost exclusively at architects and construction companies," explains Daniel Hauri, Product Manager Garden and Design at Eternit. Several designers were commissioned to create new planters.
The favorites were tested at dealers until six new shapes and two new colors (anthracite and ruby) were selected for series production. The fact that the most important retailers were involved in the decision was also met with a very positive response.
The first step had thus been taken. Now the new product range and image correction were to be made known to the target group, i.e. 30 to 50-year-old women who treat themselves to something beautiful on the balcony and in the garden.
Daniel Hauri decided to develop the advertising and communication measures with the "target group" women Kate Isler and Marianne Zweifel from Una, Basel. The eye-catching retailer mailing boosted orders from retailers, while a well-designed appearance at the Giardina lifestyle and garden trade fair and an unusual image brochure for end consumers reinforced the pull effect. Una also made a massive change to the visual appearance of Eternit's garden area. The factual and architecturally cool implementations have given way to people and emotions.
The effect did not fail to materialize. The immediate response was so great that Eternit AG's production was well over budget even before the image ads with inserts. The first push in Switzerland seems to have been successful. This bodes well for expansion into neighboring countries, where the growth potential of the garden pots segment (until 2004 only a small proportion of sales) still appears huge.
Cool, modern shapes that evoke emotions: Eternit campaign by Una.
Image correction: Handmade, not industrial goods.
Luca Aloisi
