A Cleaning Revolution

I realise that for my next interview I really need to get a man's perspective.

Phil will surely reveal some hard core masculine brands when asked what his WOW!-Brand is?

But not so.....'Dyson', he says after some thought.

 

Dyson Vacuums

Well I wasn't expecting it but can see where he is going with this.
'Tell me more', I say.             

'It's certainly not a glamorous industry', Phil says, 'but there isn't the same emphasis as in other industries to launch products continually and end up fixing the problems afterwards'.

I wonder which industries he is referring to as 'Windows' springs to mind, Phil continues, 'Dyson poducts are designed to do a job well, often adding extras that customers weren't even aware that they needed, but cannot live without afterwards'.

Ok I get it, I think - Dyson has some pretty good innovative products.

James Dyson, the founder, studied architecture, but instead of colonnades and cladding, robust marine engineering was the order of the day. He developed a flat-hulled high-speed landing craft and, with it, his passion for engineering. Pretty soon, he’d also developed a new kind of wheelbarrow – one with a big fat ball that didn’t sink into mud and chunky feet for stability. Wow I remember my parents had one of those! I never thought it would end up on a vacuum.

All the while Dyson learnt to take risks, make mistakes and use frustration as a fuel for creativity and solving problems - like vacuum cleaners that lose suction.

Could the cyclone technology he’d first spotted on a sawmill work in a vacuum cleaner? He ripped the dusty clogged bag from his old vacuum and replaced it with a crude prototype. 5,126 prototypes later: Dual Cyclone™ technology and the first bagless vacuum cleaner.

A problem that I am sure we hadn't really thought about, had probably learned to live with and were suddenly presented with a solution we didn't know we needed.

And now - who wouldn't be without a bagless vacuum cleaner!!

But Dyson didn't stop there. During the five years it took to develop his first vacuum, Dyson was also battling.

First to convince other manufacturers to embrace his new technology. Then to protect his invention when they copied it.

James Dyson's experience of these battles informs the way Dyson works today. 

Keeping it's inventions secret. Protecting it's ideas. Always taking risks. 

Like developing a washing machine with 2-drums; emission-filtering diesel exhausts; clean air hand dryers; balls instead of wheels; robots – even a new type of school to get young people into engineering.

Dyson Hand Drier

Dyson certainly revolutionised the way in which vacuum cleaners now operate.

Dyson hand cleaners now adourn our public bathrooms.

Have you tried the bladeless fan?

Remarkable products, I agree, but is it a WOW!-Brand I wonder.....I guess for some people it must be and the one thing that stands out from my interview with Phil is 'adding extras that customers weren't even aware that they needed, but cannot live without afterwards'.

Is this another key attribute of a WOW!-Brand - anticipating consumer needs before they even know themselves?