GE Appliances Seeks Creative Agency 18 Months After Sale to Haier

Haier-owned GE Appliances has issued an RFP for an agency to support creative services across its portfolio of brands and to help reposition and expand Haier in North America, according to a document obtained by Ad Age. The review comes about 18 months after Chinese manufacturer Haier bought the appliance division from GE. Representatives from GE Appliances did not respond to inquiry for comment. Longtime incumbent BBDO declined comment about the review and deferred calls to the client. The Omnicom agency has worked with GE since 1920 and continued to work on GE Appliances following its sale to Haier. As part of the agency's remit, which will include advertising, digital, social and shopping marketing, GE Appliances has listed several key tasks in the RFP. One of the tasks in the document is to promote the Haier brand in North America with a campaign in August that provides a "unique position and story that will help grow share in the mass market segment." "With LG, as a key brand we want to compete against, we're looking to launch the Haier brand with a unique position and story that will help grow share in the mass market segment," the RFP states. "In order to conduct a full-scale launch in 2019, we need to prove our case in a model market test scenario with a select retail partner to maximize our learning this year." Another task is to re-introduce the GE Café line of products in September, which will include positioning it as a standalone brand without the GE mark. Current projections on account size range from $6 million to $8 million for 2018, with an estimated increase of $9 million to $12 million in 2019, according to the RFP. The work will be for all brands, including Hotpoint, GE, Haier, GE Café, GE Profile and Monogram. According to the RFP, GE Appliances has "aggressive goals of doubling the business in the next five years" and the "only way we'll achieve that is to become the leading appliance company with the most iconic brands in marketplace." "Our goal is to work with a passionate team to help us uncover insights that translate into big ideas," the document states. "We're looking to create work that connects with our owners, gets recognized, and drives results." Before choosing a winning agency, GE Appliances will select a "number of agencies" to participate in a creative project for both the Café and Haier tasks.

GE Appliances Seeks Creative Agency 18 Months After Sale to Haier

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