Blog post by: Becky Bauer, Baer Performance Marketing Intern
The time has come for robots to have a place in our homes — starting with the floors. Roomba is a newer gadget from iRobot, a company that focuses on creating robots for multiple uses.
This specific home robot will vacuum your floors, but they also have robots that can mop your floors, clean your pools and empty your gutters. Other robots they have are used as military drones and used in deep ocean settings.
So, how did the brand get these artificial intelligent products out to the consumers? Originally launched in 2002, the company invested in infomercials along with selling the robot vacuums in upscale stores and magazines such as Brookstone and the Sharper Image.
Based off the information found, the target audience seems to me to be tech savvy, 30+, career driven, busy homeowners. And in order to reach this audience, iRobot needed s to have a strong online and social media presence, along with creative ways to make the device seem ‘cool.’
They launched their new multifaceted campaign in mid April of this year with the debut of their commercial which showed people dancing like a robot while the Roomba cleans. The slogan iRobot created was: “iRobot, Do You?” Having the slogan with the name of the company in it helps with brand recognition and development.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lu_61SCjUAg
The company is also currently running a contest where consumers can post their best robot dance onto the company’s YouTube channel for a chance to win a Roomba. They also have a Cool Stuff page on their website where you can learn about iRobot “DNA” and explore the building blocks of the world’s coolest robots.
An app game was also developed for the product; where you pick up dust bunnies before time runs out. The app was voted one of iPhone’s top games when it debuted.
According to first quarter 2012 financial results, strong growth occurred in the home robot’s revenue with a 20 percent year over year Q1 increase. They now expect revenue in home robots sales to go from a current 60 percent of its total company revenue to 75 percent by the end of 2012. And their marketing campaign will no doubt play an important role in succeeding in this percentage.
So, does the innovative iRobot brand excite you or do you believe it is just one step closer to robot domination?
(iRobot movie)
Resources:
http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/news/2012/01/31/irobot-ceo-robot-doctors-will-drive.html
http://www.brandchannel.com/features_profile.asp?pr_id=329
