The changing lives
of future families
How can Schiedel help? In a fast-moving and rapidly changing world we are increasingly asking ourselves: How will we live together as a family in the future? One answer is: We are spending more time at home again. For Schiedel this is an opportunity to help families not only be at home, but feel at home.
Looking at the world, people and their ever-changing lifestyle habits, one cannot help but notice that there is one single fact that determines us globally: time. We are all depending on it, whether living alone or as a family, living in the city or in the countryside, online or offline. How will we live in the future? Where will we feel comfortable and what defines that comfort?
Brand perception
Speaking of brand perception: specific requirements are to be met when it comes to digital brand communication in future years. From the premises for product design – clarity, simplicity, effectiveness – emerge new fundamental principles for the visual language and user experience of any digital channel. Completely streamlined, as simple as possible, and with a clear focus on the star products. Moreover digital distribution channels, like direct-to- customer marketing, are becoming ever more important. Finally, it should be noted that the influencer market is likely to be saturated in the not too distant future, whereas live-stream communication is gaining more and more momentum. But no matter through which channel we sell our products in the future, one thing is certain:
We think big. We think ahead. We think family.
Smooth service
The core of the customers’ interest is no longer possession of a product but rather the service and experience around the product. Everything should be seamless, involving creative solutions to establish first and foremost a positive, emotionally charged relationship with the product. Thinking both, short and long term, of course. This is probably one of the biggest shifts in consumer behaviour. For decades, customer satisfaction was in fact assured by a high-quality product. Smooth service before and after the product purchase, both online and offline, determines how consumers perceive a brand.
How Schiedel is facing the future.
- We focus on ‘cosiness’ and ‘comfort’ at home
- Customer experience and service are our top priorities
- We are innovative, progressive and energy efficient.
- Our products are appealing, clear, durable and well engineered.
- We communicate clarity, simplicity, effectiveness
Spending more time at home
The phrase ‘staying at home’ is undergoing radical change and is becoming an increasingly desirable goal for a variety of reasons. Thanks to online shopping, streaming platforms and working possibilities such as home office, there are fewer reasons to leave home these days. For brands such as Schiedel, who have been developing technologically advanced and visually appealing products for more than 70 years – products, which further improve the comfort of living – this development presents an enormous opportunity to continue satisfying families in Europe with innovative and energy- efficient stove solutions, integrated ventilation systems and chimneys.
Above all, our focus is and will be on subjects such as ‘cosiness’ and ‘comfort’. Families strive for maximum comfort at home – which leads to high expectations when it comes to aesthetics, functionality and, last but not least, convenience. The seamless integration of products into smart home ecosystems and on-demand all-round services is of great importance to them. In order to play a significant role in those homes, we need to find out how our products can live up to that new comfort. Keywords such as versatility, multi-functionality and interior design will substantially determine the quality of this new idea of comfort in the future. That is why brands need to be perfectly prepared and have to address newly evolved home and family values. With products like Schiedel’s KINGFIRE we are already trying to contribute to space- saving, cozy homes for future home- owners from Generation Y & Z. Current and future generations are willing to include the whole family, its attitudes, values, and interests in their daily lives. So what exactly is changing? Which developments do we need to take into account?
Experience over possession
Materially, this means, above all, a preference and fascination for clear, simple and effective design as well as a reluctance to accumulate possessions and a rejection of clutter. In general, it can be predicted that the customers of tomorrow will place significantly more value on the product experience (the feel, its advantages, design etc.) than on the mere fact of possession. The emotional relationship to a consumable item is more important than ownership. This makes the implementation of additional features, stories, and networking within the context of the smart home idea absolutely indispensable for future market success.
