Innovative product launch drives Steamist growth
BY MARY JO MARTIN
Editorial director
When Jeff Noll and Jeff Carney partnered with RAF Industries, a private equity firm, about three years ago to acquire Steamist, they realized that while the brand had a reputation of high-quality products, the line was somewhat lacking in aesthetic design and the vision for the brand had become a bit stale. So the long-time plumbing industry veterans — who had previously worked together at Grohe — set about with a three-pronged approach to improve Steamist’s offering to the market.
For Noll, who serves as president, and vice president-sales and marketing Carney, their first order of business was to develop a new branding strategy.
“Both Jeff [Carney] and I have long thought that a steam generator is an essential element of a ‘power shower,’” Noll explained. “We were both familiar with the growing popularity of power showers from our Grohe days, and thought the best way to grow the steam business was to tap into this growing product segment.
“However, we also recognized that very few showroom salespeople were comfortable with the process of selling ‘steam.’ Formal product knowledge training had been dependant on local reps and was sporadic at best. To overcome this issue, we hired industry veteran Fred Fedewa to be our full-time corporate trainer. Fred’s mission is to travel the country and train showroom associates on how to sell steam. We aren’t as concerned with making Fred’s training program Steamist-specific as with simply making showroom consultants more comfortable in the general process of selling steam. Our thought is if the category grows, then our slice of the pie will grow with it. The first step is to get the showroom consultants as comfortable selling steam as they are with selling faucets and fixtures.”
The second challenge for the new Steamist leadership to tackle was to quickly freshen up the product offering — and, over time, create an entirely new product line that would truly enhance the steam bathing experience.
To do that, Steamist launched an aggressive product development campaign. They started by freshening up the look of their digital control package and steam head. As Noll described it, this “relatively simple design project” enabled Steamist to roll out some targeted new products in spring 2007.
“More challenging was the creation of a totally new premium line — the Total Sense Collection — that creates a spa-like environment for the user by bringing steam, aromatherapy, chromatherapy and music together through a single digital control that is mounted in the shower,” Noll shared. “This project was very complex and ultimately took us about twice as long as planned. However, we launched the Collection earlier this year to rave reviews. So far, sales are ahead of projections, and we are very encouraged for what future sales will be for this exciting line.”
The final step in their initial strategy was to relaunch the brand in relation to these innovative new products and the new corporate vision. Over the past few years, this has evolved into a complete remake of Steamist’s marketing collateral, website and logo.
Carney noted that the entire Steamist team is very pleased with the progress they have made toward achieving these goals. They believe Steamist is now viewed as a fast-moving, energetic company with products that meet the needs of consumers in today’s market.
“The new product initiatives, along with the brand re-launch, have been very capital intensive, but well worth it,” Carney said. “The steam category is only going to get bigger. As consumers embrace the home spa concept, and showroom associates get comfortable selling steam, we are poised to benefit greatly.”
Innovative product launch
The recently launched Total Sense Collection is something completely new in the marketplace and includes several residential steambathing options that provide a complete, customized experience for users.
“This is without a doubt the most exciting launch in company history and a game-changer for the industry,” Noll explained. “The Total Sense generators are available in three models that cover steam baths of all sizes, which simplifies the selection process for the customer. Their enhanced design ensures quiet, continuous steam output modulated to the precise specifications of the room, and the selectable InstaMist™ feature provides quick-response steam in less than a minute.
“Enhanced controls are also a huge component of the Total Sense Collection. The Total Sense Digital Control [tsc] is designed for installation inside the steam shower. It offers user-friendly touchpad operation and provides the full menu of Total Sense functions. Two user profiles can be programmed into the control memory, allowing each user to step into a steam shower customized to his or her personal preferences, including temperature, duration and any additional sensory settings.”
In addition, the radio-frequency Total Sense Remote Control allows users to turn on the steambath from other areas of the home, which sets the stage for a relaxing retreat before they even enter the room. The package also includes the 3199 Series “Halo” Steamhead, which offers a stylish, low-profile look and is designed to provide even, 360º halo steam dispersion to eliminate hot spots.
Among the innovative features of the Total Sense Collection are the AromaSense™, ChromaSense™ and AudioSense™ options. Truly making this a custom steambath experience, customers can select one or all three of these add-ons:
- With AromaSense, fragrant essential oils are released directly into the shower’s steam line from the generator. Two essential oil canisters can be stored, allowing the user to make a scent selection from inside the steambath. Each of the scented oils is designed with a specific purpose in mind, such as to restore, relax, renew or energize; an additional fragrance is also available to aid those with respiratory problems. The canisters are easily replaceable for change-out.
- Users can set the mood with ChromaSense, a single overhead fixture that produces white light as well as six unique color effects. Each color represents a different emotion: relax, soulful, harmony, bliss, creative and energize.
- The AudioSense amplifier is built into the control module, allowing users to tune into their favorite music from an iPod® or any other audio source. A special wall-mounted iPod cradle located outside of the shower protects the device from water exposure. The cradle is wired to speakers, which are available as either “classic” exposed speakers or “invisible” speakers that mount out of sight and transmit sound through the wall for a more seamless look.
In addition to the Total Sense Collection, Steamist launched a new digital control for its commercial line. The control is designed to allow health clubs and spas to independently program two different steam rooms from up to 100 feet away, meaning that it can be placed in a manager’s office for added convenience. By using an idle setback feature that allows the system to be efficiently tailored for off-peak hours, the unit also helps clubs save money.
Strategies to support its growth
To better accommodate the production of the new Total Sense Collection, Steamist relocated its headquarters to a larger facility in the Rutherford, N.J., area this year.
“The new facility houses our corporate office, customer service, manufacturing and sales and marketing operations,” said Noll. “The move has helped us improve efficiency and streamline operations across all areas of our business. We’re in the midst of an unprecedented series of exciting changes here at Steamist. This new facility provides an ideal home base for our team and will support our operations as we continue to grow and evolve.”
To help customers do advanced research on steam and the products they are interested in, Steamist recognized the need to redesign their website. With a new look and streamlined navigation, the site allows customers access to the most up-to-date and reliable information.
“In addition to the redesign, we added a microsite with detailed information on Total Sense Collection,” Carney explained. “The microsite, which can easily be reached from the home page of steamist.com or directly at totalsense .biz, also features a new video we created to educate consumers and industry professionals about Total Sense and to truly capture the steam experience.
“Not only does the site refresh showcase our dedication to innovation and continued improvement, it also makes it easier to find the information users need — in much the same way that the Total Sense Collection makes it easier to get the individual steam bath options you want and need.”
The Steamist team continues to value their relationship with plumbing wholesalers and recognizes their importance in getting the company’s products to market.
“Steamist is a technical product that needs to be presented and sold by sales professionals,” Carney said. “Wholesale plumbing showrooms offer the best environment for our products to be sold because they typically have well-trained sales staffs and excellent product displays. We strongly believe in training the showroom consultants, and we have continued to develop new materials and provide our reps with the tools to train on a consistent basis. Our goal is to solidify the base, so that when things turn around we will be in the best possible position to maximize sales.
“Thankfully we enjoy many strong relationships with some of the top plumbing wholesale distributors in the industry. Having quality products shown and distributed by top quality distributors is a key ingredient to Steamist’s continued success.”
Despite the challenging economic climate, Noll said that the Total Sense Collection launch has given the company a nice boost. And he looks forward to a solid future for Steamist.
“Long term, we see the steam category growing quite strong,” Noll said. “Homeowners are becoming better acquainted with the health benefits and enjoyment of steam bathing. At the same time, plumbing showrooms are becoming better trained and comfortable with selling steam into their power shower packages. Combined, these two forces should make for strong growth going forward.”
For information, visit www.steamist.com.