Haier returns to Roland-Garros … still chasing a Center for Attention at Samsung level

Haier Smart Home could well be the world number one appliances brand for market share, but I would not know only with the name recognition.

That is exactly why the Chinese company is back in Roland-Garros for the third consecutive year (after an Australian open sponsorship, also using the scope of prestige and star schedule of the iconic French tennis tournament to bring its premium image to a broader crowd and centered on lifestyle.

Once again, the brand serves as an official partner of the Grand Slam event, leaning strongly in the overlap between its appliances focused on the design and elegance of sport.

On the courts and its surroundings, Haier is putting everything from dishwasher to his new televisions on display, and former world number 1, Ana Ivanović, returns as an ambassador of the brand to provide an additional star power.

But this year, Haier is pushing more outside the court too, launching a web series that documes the struggles of six tennis stars, including Ivanović, to try to achieve and maintain that state No.1 … that obviously aligns with what the brand is trying to do.

Everything is part of a broader strategy to win the brand that the brand’s global market share already implies.

I have had an advance in the series and combines shots of elegant products with lifestyle narration, in an attempt to change the perception of the “Chinese appliance giant” to some more design and emotionally resonant.

Haier Smart Home is a huge conglomerate that also includes more conventional brands such as Hoover in the United Kingdom and the United States in the United States, and the web series, along with Premium Sports Associations, are aimed at making Haier the group’s premium brand.

The tastes of Haier X Series 11 (a highly recommended environmental product) demonstrates that the brand has hardware to support its high ambitions.

Together with his work by Australian Open and Roland-Garros, the company has also opted sponsorship claims in the Hamburg Open finals, Madrid Open and Nitto ATP.

The true objective here is not just the placement of the product, it is cultural placement. While LG and Samsung are already synonyms for premium technology in all categories, Haier is still working to build that type of global brand consciousness outside China.

But, like his Korean rivals, Haier Smart Home wants to be more than a brand of appliances. In Paris, I visited the new Mini-Led television of the Haier M80 series, which the brand worked in association with a high-end audio expert Kef On.

The plan is to launch televisions to the trial markets with a broader launch in the line and, given what I saw, it seems an intelligent game, especially because brands such as Hisense and TCL have seen great expansions in television sales outside China, following high profile sports associations.