Speaking of ELECOM, many office workers will probably say that the company is a manufacturer of computer peripherals and accessories. Founded in 1986, ELECOM’s growth once coincided with the spread of personal computers. Currently, the main product is accessories for smartphones.
ELECOM sells approximately 20,000 products. By developing 2,300 new products each year, the company has established itself as a top manufacturer of computer peripherals. ELECOM’s characteristic is that it produces many products.
In addition, the company is expanding its business format through aggressive acquisitions. Elecom was known as a so-called “fabless” manufacturer that did not have its own factories, but in 2004 it acquired Logitech, which develops and manufactures computer peripherals, from the Marubeni Group. In 2017, we purchased a DX antenna from Funai Electric. Recently, the company has expanded its business as a manufacturer with factories, including acquiring Tescom, which manufactures and sells hair dryers for commercial use.
As ELECOM expands its business domain, it is also taking on the challenge of cooking appliances. In 2022, the company entered the cooking appliances market for single users under the LiFERE brand.
Why is ELECOM working on cooking appliances for single users now? When we spoke to designer Ayako Saeki, who was the leader of this project that started in 2018, she had a lot of tips on modern product marketing that would be useful to marketers who are readers of MarketTrunk. I would like to introduce the contents.
Start with an IH hot plate
The products sold under the LiFERE brand are made by a select few. For a company as big as ELECOM, it would be nice to have a large lineup all at once so that one person can buy in bulk, but first of all, we only have the IH hot plate “HOT DISH.” It debuted in June 2022 using the support purchase service “Makuake.”
“HOT DISH” is a round pottery-like plate that turns into a hot plate. The biggest feature of this product is that the IH heater and hot plate parts are separated. Since it is compact and sized for one person, it has a design that allows you to eat while baking or to serve the finished dish as is. You need to be careful not to get burned, but you can eat it hot.
“Bruno, which has a colorful and stylish design, is popular as a small hot plate.I think the Bruno has the image of being used for home parties.While I acknowledge its merits, it has a strong presence in terms of design. There are too many things, so it’s a little difficult to use on a daily basis.When we were developing the project, all of us were living alone, so we wanted to create something simpler and something that could be used on a daily basis.
“Bruno” is the king of small hot plates because it has a big presence and is used for special occasions such as home parties. After acknowledging its existence, I confronted it with the LiFERE I normally use in a position that would prevent it from colliding head-on. This means that they are clearly positioning their products, which is one of the basics of marketing.
There is a wide range of cooking appliances. There are a variety of products including coffee makers, rice cookers, toasters, ovens, kettles, and food processors. Elecom is a company that has the strength of developing a wide variety of products, and if it were to suddenly have such a lineup, it would be able to demonstrate its strength in creating sales spaces at mass retailers.
However, they started with just a small hot plate. This was also the aim. “As a creator, I developed the product with the image of a young woman living alone, but I don’t know what kind of people will actually buy it.This is a challenge to a new genre, and I will start with one product as a test marketing. We wanted to see the reaction of our customers by selling them.”
In 2022, when “HOT DISH” was released, we were in the middle of a prolonged coronavirus pandemic. This is a time when people have become accustomed to eating at home and refraining from eating out. What kind of people will buy it at a time like this? I couldn’t make any predictions.
What was the result? “I didn’t expect much, but elderly people also bought it.Also, it seems to be the perfect size for people who have children living independently and live with their husbands and wives.” This was surprising, but once we understood the needs, we were able to utilize it in subsequent product development.”
Assembling a large lineup at the hypothetical stage is risky. First, we will release one product that we are confident can be called an ace, and after carefully checking the reaction, we will revise our sense of direction and utilize it in subsequent product development. This point can also be said to be a development based on the basics of product marketing.
Cooking appliances for one person are just right for two people.
Although it is often referred to as a “one-person cooking appliance,” it can actually cover enough food for two people who eat small meals. Although the main target is single-person households, elderly couples whose children are now independent and who live together are also coming into view. So how should we design it? It was here that his experience designing ELECOM products came into play.
“At ELECOM, we update a large number of products every year. Each product has a detailed design tailored to the characteristics of the target user, and we have designs specifically for seniors. I’ve made the mistake of making several products and not selling them at all.”
For example, my experience with camera accessories. I created a camera case with an easy-to-use design for seniors as an accessory for carrying around a camera, but this did not sell at all. Even if you are a senior, you want to enjoy traveling and walking with the same excitement, positivity, and fun that young people do, and use your camera while doing so. Designs that are “for the elderly” are avoided.
“So, LiFERE is designed mainly for young single people, but we also keep elderly couples in mind when designing it.”
The design wasn’t just about appearance. Many IH heaters are operated using digital buttons, but the temperature can be adjusted intuitively using simple controls like an analog volume control. The reason we were so particular about the full-fledged IH method was not only because it looked good, but also because we wanted it to appeal to young single people who wanted a highly versatile and superior cooking appliance.
He said he learned a lot from the distribution field. This is a challenge to a new genre for ELECOM, but many of the mass retailers that ELECOM works with also sell white goods. Even as a mass retailer, expectations are high for ELECOM, which has a different character from previous manufacturers. As we work together to create a sales floor, various requests arise. “I want to make each one carefully, as it will be helpful when thinking about the next product.”
Following “HOT DISH”, we have an electric pot for single use that includes a small deep pot and an IH heater, and a convection oven that reheats prepared foods purchased at convenience stores deliciously and removes oil. We have expanded our lineup of simple, high-performance products that support married life after children grow up. All of these items are priced at less than 20,000 yen, making them easy to purchase.
A new brand born from the “Design Division”
What makes “LiFERE” unique is that it is a product launched by the “Design Division.”
In 2018, we launched our first dedicated design department since our founding in 1986. From this, “LiFERE” was born. “We launched this brand to design high-quality cooking appliances that meet the needs of consumers who are increasingly health-conscious and want to easily enjoy delicious meals in their busy lives.”
ELECOM’s focus is on manufacturing that emphasizes functionality to meet detailed needs. “It’s surprising that a hardware manufacturer doesn’t have a department dedicated to design. Some people may wonder why they didn’t have a design department before.” We even created a department to do this. There was a period of trial and error.”
Although ELECOM produces many products every year, the company has a company with just over 700 employees. Because many products are made by a small number of people, it would have been more efficient to develop vertically divided teams specializing in each product category. In other words, it would have been better to distribute the designers to each product team instead of gathering them together.
“However, as a designer, I still want to develop products that make the most of the power of design.I have taken on such challenges in the past, but the scale was around 10 people. Since we are a fairly large organization, we won’t be evaluated unless we produce results.Therefore, we narrowed down the number of people and formed a design department with a small number of people, so we would be able to be looked at from a long-term perspective.”
This idea turned out to be a great success. As a small group of veteran designers with extensive experience are assigned to the design department, the design department can proactively approach each department and discuss product proposals and directions for improvement. Now you can. This is the first time ELECOM has established a specialized design department.
The story goes back and forth, but first we need to create a viable team. Therefore, even if it is one small product, we will create one product that will be evaluated in its own way. And we will increase the number of products. “LiFERE” has been carefully cultivated in this way.
Can you foster a fan community?
The next challenge for marketing is also in sight. First of all, it seems necessary to actively create a fan community.
The rice cooker that the author of this article likes is a rice cooker that uses a full-fledged IH heater, but it is a compact model that has no competition in that it can cook 1 cup.
If you try to cook less than 1 cup of rice with a conventional rice cooker, the water level will be too low, preventing convection and making it difficult to cook rice deliciously. Therefore, by making it vertical and compact in size, it is possible to realize a deep pot shape even with just one cup.
Since the product is unique, users may come up with new ways to use it that the manufacturer did not intend.
“The 1-cup rice cooker allows you to cook a small amount of rice very deliciously, so we made suggestions such as eating a different recipe of cooked rice every day. You can try making crab rice using a luxurious high-quality canned crab in one go, make good use of convenience store ingredients, enjoy the daily special taste, and explore the fun that can only be found in a one-person cooker. Masu”
As users (fans) actively share these recipes on sites like X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, the fan community will expand. It can be said that this is the royal road to marketing using SNS. “We have started introducing recipes and other information on the X account. We also receive user submissions such as recommended cooking methods, so we hope to successfully establish a fan community.”
In the future, he may consider expanding the range of recipes by seeking help from culinary experts. Another option would be to collaborate with food manufacturers to create a single-serve takikomi rice base.
Although it was a tentative move into a new field, it appears that he has a solid grasp of the basics of marketing. But I’m also worried. I don’t know how to read the brand name “LiFERE”. X’s account name is “ELECOM Cooking Appliances (written as “LiFERE” and pronounced as “Refere”)”, and it’s hard to read it intuitively. In the world of fashion, there are many brands like “COMME des GARCONS” that are difficult to read but are hits, but this one is a cooking appliance targeted at the elderly.
“Bruno”, a popular small hot plate, is easy to read as “Bruno”. It may be difficult to start now, but switching to a more descriptive brand name could lead to a big breakout.