Europe is facing an energy crisis, how can Chinese home appliances quickly capture consumers' minds? Recently, F5 has delivered a remarkable performance for Midea air conditioning. This time, not by touching or funny stories, but by inviting internet celebrity designers who are admired by millions of people to use rational and elegant storytelling to create a decent social influence for the brand.
In Milan, Italy, F5 invites top designer Matteo Nunziati to endorse Midea's new products.
Matteo, with his imposing appearance, is considered one of the most influential designers of his generation. He is skilled in the design of luxury hotels, health centers, spas, and residential projects. Through years of project practice, his works have spread across Italy, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, India, Maldives, China, and the United States. His most outstanding residential projects include the interior design of Bosco Verticale Vertical Forest Apartments in Milan, which won the 2018 Royal Institute of British Architects International Excellence Award (RIBA), and the skyscraper penthouse apartment on 432 Park Avenue in New York, considered one of the most notorious residential buildings in the world and also the most expensive, as one of the apartments sold for as much as $95 million. Private villas in Kuwait City, Dubai, Singapore, San Marino, Muscat, Pune, and Bangalore are also works of Matteo.
Chinese home appliances precisely target Europe's essential needs
The Russia-Ukraine conflict has led to an energy crisis, and the gas and electricity charges of European households have increased dramatically in recent years. To this end, the Italian government has specially introduced subsidy policies to encourage residents to replace and upgrade their HVAC and refrigeration equipment at home. Heat pump technology is more energy-efficient compared to coal-fired, gas-fired, and electric boilers, and has gained high favor in the European market.
Starting from 2022, energy prices in Europe will soar sharply
In the spring of 2023, Midea seized the opportunity in the European market and launched the CirQHP household one to many heat pump system. One outdoor unit integrates multiple devices such as air conditioning, heating, and water heaters in the home, providing a one-stop HVAC and cooling solution for the whole year, which is very in line with the energy-saving demands of European people. F5 supports Midea and fires the first shot of new product promotion.
Catch the hearts of the local people with local influencer
Although Midea air conditioners have strong competitiveness in terms of innovation level, product performance, and price, they are still latecomers in the market, and it will take some effort to open the hearts of European consumers. The top priority of the project is to find and sign a local influencer to endorse the brand. In the preliminary household survey of European consumers, it was found that the recommendations of interior designers and home decoration professionals have a key impact on consumers' decisions regarding heat pump products. F5 selects employees with study and work backgrounds in Italy and Germany, mobilizes European network resources, and quickly finds multiple candidates. After multiple rounds of interview communication and selection, Italian interior designer Matteo has been chosen. He has excellent business skills, outstanding appearance, and promised to let a family of five appear happily together, echoing the characteristics of Midea's multi-split heat pump product that meet the needs of the whole family.
The award-winning production team elevates the film to a higher level
The film style, based on NOWNESS, is characterized by contemporary, experimental, visually impactful, and international elements, emphasizing high quality and storytelling. F5 has invited the award-winning team MyBossWas to lead the production. They are particularly skilled in documentary films related to architectural design, and their works such as "Beautiful Things" and "The Importance of Being an Architect" have been selected for internationally renowned film festivals such as the Venice Film Festival, Locarno Film Festival, CPH: DOX, Vision du Reel, Hot Docs Toronto, and Cannes Docs.
Matteo X has been highly recognized by the market, and the films and posters produced for Matteo have been exposed in over 10000 media outlets across Europe. After its debut at ISH (Frankfurt HVAC, Refrigeration, Kitchen and Bathroom Exhibition) in March 2023, Midea CirQHP immediately gained high attention and recognition from global buyers, professional audiences, and major well-known media.
Influencer and product complement each other, achieving a communication effect where 1+1 is greater than 2. Like the classic design furniture of 20th century modernism collected in Milan Apartments, the Midea CirQHP multi-split heat pump system combines aesthetics and practicality, is durable, efficient and energy-saving, and complements the interior design style of European households: Midea has applied heat recovery technology for the first time in household scenarios, which can recover the heat generated by outdoor units during operation for heating domestic water, thus maximizing energy savings in the home. With only one outdoor unit, up to four indoor units and water tanks can be connected, greatly saving installation space and difficulty.
Several experiences of Chinese brand globalization
Winning in overseas markets is not an easy task for brands. With the upgrading of China's manufacturing industry, Chinese brands are no longer facing issues of product quality and performance, but rather issues of consumer trust and loyalty towards the brand. We believe that the key to breaking through barriers lies in overcoming cultural barriers, utilizing global resources, and telling local stories well in the target market. In the Midea Italy project, F5 has summarized the following experiences:
1. Make good use of local influencers: Select and sign frontline influencers for clients, use their image, resume, philosophy, and awareness to stimulate consumer resonance and emotional identification, while highlighting the uniqueness of the brand, enhancing brand recognition and attractiveness.
2. Establish cross-cultural communication skills: Build a team with cross-cultural backgrounds, cultivate cross-cultural management and communication skills, and ensure that brand and partner team members can achieve efficient communication and collaboration during the project process.
3. Attracting consumers with high-quality creativity: comprehensively considering the uniqueness, depth, diversity, storytelling, expressiveness, brand relevance, and practicality of creativity to shape brand value.
4. Cross time zone collaboration capability: F5 Milan team, F5 Shanghai team, Midea Milan team, Midea China team, influencers, and production companies work together to achieve barrier free communication. In response to the tight schedule of the project, we also need to deal with the time difference during the Spring Festival and work hard to ensure the implementation of project details.
Renee, the European Marketing Director of Midea Home Air Conditioning, commented, "This project is jointly launched with Midea Air Conditioning's overseas marketing, Midea Italy branch, and Midea Milan Innovation Design Center. F5 impressed the local market with high-quality creativity in creative conception, project collaboration, and overseas shooting, and also demonstrated excellent execution ability in the process, strongly assisting Chinese brands in their next journey of going global."
