THE TRANSFORMATION OF MIDEA: FROM A STORIED PAST TO A SPECTACULAR FUTURE

TitleTHE TRANSFORMATION OF MIDEA: FROM A STORIED PAST TO A SPECTACULAR FUTURE
BrandMIDEA GROUP
Product / ServiceMIDEA
CategoryA04. Consumer Durables
EntrantRUDER FINN GZ Guangzhou, CHINA
Idea Creation RUDER FINN GZ Guangzhou, CHINA
PR RUDER FINN GZ Guangzhou, CHINA

Credits

Name Company Position
Grace Liang Ruder Finn Group General Manager
Jessie Gao Senior Account Director Senior Account Director
Christina Li Ruder Finn Group Associate Account Director
Tobe Chen Ruder Finn GZ Creative Director
Haichuan Huang Ruder Finn Group Senior Designer
Trevor Hawkins Ruder Finn Group Senior Counsel
Sofia Luo Ruder Finn Group Senior Account Executive
Helen Lin Ruder Finn Group Consultant
Irina Song Ruder Finn Group Associate Account Executive
Cindy Song Ruder Finn Group Consultant

Why is this work relevant for PR?

In recent years, Midea, an established and well-known Chinese white goods company, transformed itself into a global technology group. Midea’s product promotions were highly successful, but there was very little communication at the corporate level. In addition, the communications also did not match the company’s current development or business expansion, leaving it stagnant in its old image, confusing business partners and investors with its numerous mergers and acquisitions. Stakeholders knew little about its expansion into new technology, the integration of its business units or its ambition to make further inroads into the global market.

Background

For decades, Midea Group has been one of the top three Chinese white goods companies, manufacturing the products of the world’s leading household appliances brands. In recent years, Midea, a Fortune 500 company, increased its investment, expanded its business from consumer appliances and HVAC systems to cutting edge robotics, automation systems and smart supply chain (logistics) to become a global technology group. Despite its remarkable success, Midea’s public perception has lingered on the old image of being a white goods giant. A strategic and long-term PR campaign was needed to reposition Midea as a global group, clarify its business ambitions, showcase its technological strength and convince stakeholders, and the public, of its upbeat prospects. The agency was given a brief to leverage two key events, Midea’s 50th Anniversary in October 2018 and the 2019 Appliance & Electronics World Expo (AWE), to distinguish Midea from its competitors

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

Midea's 50th Anniversary •Created and established a powerful Vision, Mission and Values statement, a declaration of Midea’s determination to improve people's lives with technology: Vision: Bring Great Innovations to Life Mission: Integrate with the world, to inspire your future Value: Embrace'What's next' •Powerful storytelling of Midea's VMV to win recognition and trust •Demonstrate the evolution of Midea in the past 50 years and the revolutionary innovation it brings to people's lives •Reinforce Midea's image as a global technology group in HVAC systems, consumer appliances, robotics and industrial automation systems, and smart supply chain. The storytelling weaved key stakeholders'dreams of future into Midea’s VMV, depicting a shared vision and future •Communicate the VMV through strategic conference, videos, exhibitions and press releases 2019 Appliance & Electronics World Expo (AWE) •Create a technology carnival to showcase Midea's latest innovative achievements •Organize an unforgettable, immersive expo visit experience for stakeholders

Describe the strategy (30% of vote)

•Influential media, online/offline •Business partners: gain trust and boost future cooperation •Investors: gain trust, support, and demonstrate the upbeat prospects for Midea •Employees:strengthen their sense of identity •Consumers: strengthen brand’s image as a global player Midea’s 50th Anniversary October 2018 •Develop and launch a new Vision, Mission and Values (VMV) statement to enhance the new image and positioning. •Communicate VMV through a strategic conference and videos for stakeholders, including precision targeted media releases. •Create an immersive experience of Midea’s technology capabilities •Create buzz with innovative brand launches and investment announcement AWE March 2019 •Reinforce and strengthen Midea’s new image as a global technology group. •Create an unforgettable, immersive, interactive expo visit experience for stakeholders. •In addition to traditional media coverage and interviews, leverage diverse communication channels for precision targeting of different audiences. •Produce Vlogs, live-streaming broadcast. •Co-create social media content with technology KOLs on multiple social platforms

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

50th Anniversary Celebration, October 2018 A retrospective of Midea’s history, future outlook and launch of two storytelling corporate videos. •A one-day immersion experience for top-tier media: R&D center tour; history exhibition, and innovations in smart living and manufacturing. •A conference for the media, business partners, investors, government officers and Midea's global employees. •Launched M.IoT, Midea’s new industrial Internet platform and COLMO, a premium brand for AI-powered home appliances. •Announced a RMB10billion R&D investment. AWE, March 2019 Reinforced and solidified image as a global technology group •Transformed one of the largest pavilions into a technology carnival, showcasing the latest R&D innovations, digital solutions and new business models. •Organized an unprecedented, pre-exhibition night-visit for 100 key media/investors, to experience and hear about Midea’s thinking behind its achievements. •Unveiled COLMO products and launched BUGU, the first brand for connected appliances targeting the younger generation. •Creative content was developed on multiple social platforms

List the results (30% of vote) – must include at least two of the following tiers:

50th Anniversary Celebration •300 reports with 100% positive comments, reaching 74 million with 100% positive feedback. •Triggered lively discussion online. •Midea's research Index of Baidu, China's Google peaked the day VMV launched. •Leading investment institutions expressed a positive outlook for Midea. "Midea's Strategic Conference at its 50th Anniversary Celebration clarified its future path. A seed has grown into a giant tree. In 2020, Midea's market value would reach 500 billion RMB." China Merchants Securities "In the long term, Midea's business blueprints would consolidate its competitive strength." GF Securities 2019AWE •9000+ reports with 100% positive comments, reaching 100million+ •Digital content triggered widespread discussion •Live-streaming platforms: 6million+ viewership. •Midea’s stock price rose by 1.97% the day 2019AWE opened. "Midea's new image of technology group is much more reinforced by presenting innovative achievements in AWE." Xinhua Agency ”Supported by 20 R&D centres globally, and 10billion RMB investment in R&D annually, Midea reached high-net-worth individuals and segmented markets with branding strategy. Last October, Midea added the COLMO brand to its higher end product portfolio, joining Beverly, Toshiba and Little Swan. In April 2019, Midea launched lower end BUGU brand to tap into lower end market, and solidify their younger customer base.” Guolian Securities The campaign changed the perception of Midea as merely a white goods company to that of a giant global technology group with strong investment in R&D, producing innovative products for people. Even with China’s economic slowdown, Midea share price rose the day after the AWE event, showing investor confidence.

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