LAS VEGAS – The Nationwide Marketing Group’s PrimeTime show (see p. 42), held here earlier this month at The Venetian, was a coming-out party of sorts for Haier.
Although a longtime presence in the U.S. market, and parented by arguably the world’s largest majap maker by unit volume, Haier America has been reborn over the past three years with a new management team, a new R&D facility, and a new go-to-market whole-home strategy.
The fruits of those efforts ripened here in Las Vegas, where the CE and appliance powerhouse showcased its new lifestyle kitchen line.
The urban-living side of the suite formally debuted at Los Angeles’ influential Dwell On Design show last May. It includes a 24-inch dual-fuel range with true European convection; a 24-inch chimney hood; a 14.2-cubic-foot, four-door refrigerator; and a 24-inch combination washer/dryer, all spec’d for urban condos, small houses and micro-spaces.
The assortment was joined here at PrimeTime by Haier’s “Traditional” kitchen platform, which includes a 36-inch, 23.5-cubic foot French-door refrigerator; a 36-inch chimney vent with tempered glass; a doubledrawer under-counter fridge; and a 36-inch dual-fuel Pro-Range with true European convection.
To help usher in Haier’s new look and line, the company enlisted celebrity chef Dana Cohen, a finalist on season 10 of Fox’s “Hell’s Kitchen” cooking competition TV series, to prepare dishes on the show floor using a new 36-inch electric cooktop and 30-inch double-wall oven.
“We are excited to have Dana Cohen help us demonstrate our new cooking appliances launching this year,” said Paul Riley, recently-named sales and marketing senior VP.
