Thermador Transcends Age
Posted by: The Thermador Team
05.16.2011
As the appliance brand that’s hotter, cooler, faster and better than the rest, one might say that the Thermador of today is most certainly not your grandfather’s Thermador.
The innovation behind our appliances is Apple-crowd worthy, our cooking performance and BTU capability has been hitting the gym, and our sleek, modern designs would translate nicely to any fashion runway of the world. The new, bold Thermador is flat-out “sweet” — pretty much the opposite lingo of what your grandfather might say.
Or perhaps your grandfather would say that?
In reality, the notion of your grandfather is changing as well. Recently, we were featured in an Ad Age story focusing on brands successfully marketing to baby boomers. Thermador was a case study. “Many U.S. buyers are electing to age in place rather than relocate to Arizona or Florida, and that is driving our business. Boomers still love to cook, love to eat and love to entertain, they’re just doing it in their homes,” I told Ad Age.
The age-old notion of baby boomers being, well, old and stodgy, is just not the case anymore. Adults 50 and over are the fastest-growing demographic to tap into social media, according to the Pew Research Center. The boomers of today are a marked change from their parents, who went off to war, got married, had children, stayed at the same company for 30 years, retired and moved to Florida, wrote Ad Age — they’re getting remarried, having children and stepchildren live under the same roof, and going back to school later in life.
Most importantly, Boomers, who comprise roughly 25 percent of the U.S. population, have approximately $3 trillion in buying power. And because they’re choosing to “age in place” now more than ever, this demographic is prime to help rebound the sagging building industry.
Aging in place is also a key trend that will greatly benefit the home remodeling industry and appliance makers. Thirteen percent of Boomers said it was likely or very likely they would remodel their kitchens in the next 12 months. And roughly 90 percent of people 50 or older wish to remain in their current homes indefinitely, while more than half of all 55-plus households rate their current home a 9 or 10 out of 10, says the American Housing Survey.
Meanwhile, some appliance marketers fear “aging” their brand by targeting baby boomers. But one cannot ignore the truth: Boomers are the single largest segment of the population buying appliances.
For us at Thermador, we don’t get hung up on age. We’re hung up on cooking. The truth is, we’re not your grandfather’s Thermador anymore; we’re the culinary enthusiast’s Thermador.