Client Corner: BISSELL

This week’s featured brand is BISSELL. It’s a fourth generation family company that will celebrate 138 years in existence next month but is moving with the times and taking a really fresh approach in its advertising strategy.

The vacuum cleaners and floor care company is proving to be a business that’s really internet savvy. The shots team couldn’t believe their eyes when they saw the recent promotional video for the Symphony steam mop. The film (below) was created by kbs+ Toronto and showed BISSELL's senior brand manager Ravi Dalchand eat pasta off the floor of a subway station.

Although he’d cleaned the area with the Symphony vacuum, it was no surprise to see that onlookers in the online film were horrified by the stunt! It’s not every day that you see a man eating his dinner off a public floor. 

Below, Craig Emmerson, VP general manager for BISSELL Canada, tells us more about the promotional stunt which has already had nearly 60,000 views on YouTube as well as the company’s new product.

Tell us more about how the idea for the Symphony All-in-One Vacuum and Steam Mop was born…

Our focus was driving the message that the Symphony All-in-one vacuum and steam mop not only vacuums, but steam cleans hard surfaces to deal with germs and bacteria at the same time. The consumer today is looking for products that are multi-functional so they can do more cleaning in less time and still feel confident in the quality of the cleaning. We thought the best way to prove the effectiveness of the product was to have a BISSELL employee showcase the Symphony’s cleaning power and dual capabilities on extremely dirty surfaces.

How well received has the product been so far?

The Symphony has been extremely well received – currently at 4.4/5 stars on Amazon in consumer ratings and in many cases it has been the best-selling hard surface cleaning appliance in many retailers’ assortments where the product is currently available. Consumers love its multi-functional capabilities so they do more cleaning in less time!

Tell us about your marketing approach and the promo video you came up with…

We wanted to develop a unique brand positioning. While this could easily have been a product demo ad, we wanted to do something that would better resonate with consumers and show that we really stand behind our product. This spot is a product statement of the BISSELL brand.
 

What sort of reaction have you had to the video? Is it what you expected?

The early reactions have been amazing. People can’t believe that Ravi would actually eat off the subway platform! But what’s most amazing is the comments about a brand manager so confident in his company’s product that he is willing to personally vouch for its performance by putting it to a test like this. 

How did it feel to have onlookers looking so disgusted with what was happening in the video?

The reactions were great! It was shot in front of extras that were told they’d be filming on a subway car and were asked to wait on the platform. They were not told the stunt would take place, so their reactions were genuine. Today, cutting through the noise and clutter to have your message heard is so difficult but I think this approach has certainly got people’s attention!
 

Why was pasta the chosen food – is it a favourite of yours?

We chose pasta because it’s easily identifiable and a tough mess to clean. Also we liked that there were multiple steps when eating pasta and the use of the bread is the clincher in making our statement.