In late 2009, Dyson approached Bing Lee and other major retailers with a proposal to sell a top secret new product. At the time, it was very hush-hush and quite intriguing. Dyson are very similar to Apple in that they have a very loyal following. New products are gobbled up and analysed by end users and reviewers alike, so Dyson felt the need to keep this info under wraps.
The mystery product ended up being the world’s first bladeless fan, and the rest is history. They ended up selling tens of thousands of units, selling out of their initial shipments and making a significant dent in the average sell price of the fan category.
At Bing Lee, we knew the interest was going to be huge. The video we produced for the first range was viewed on our website front page over 50,000 times in the first week, and has gone on to be our most popular video on the Bing Lee Youtube channel.
To completely overuse a pun, I’m a Dyson fan myself. At home we have a handheld cordless Vacuum, a larger one for floorboards and one of the original 12 inch fans. This isn’t strictly brand loyalty for me – the products work well, haven’t broken down and look great.
Dyson breathed new life into the vacuum category and made it more than just about about function, it was also about form and design while being innovative in its cleaning technology to be very different from other products in the market.
The fan release, or “air multiplier” as Dyson termed them, adopted the same strategy – it offered a radical alternative to a common product already used by millions, and presented a reason to replace or at least add the product to a household.
I have two young children – my boy is 2 years old and my daughter is turning one this month – and you really can’t overstate the safety aspect of the Dyson Bladeless concept. Kids are curious and will explore everything, including the grills protecting a traditional fan blade. My little ones can, and have, put their heads straight through the ring of the Dyson fan while it’s blowing air, and that’s the best safety demonstration you could possibly make.
So here we are, it’s another summer and Dyson have introduced a few more models to the lineup, with remote control, height adjustment and larger vertical size. It all means more choice and added functionality.
Yes, these products are at the premium end of what you’d normally consider investing in a room fan, but like the vacuums that came before and after them, Dyson have taken a pretty pedestrian product category and produced new products that just beg to be out on display whether or not they’re being used, and the safety factor is such an attraction to young families.
Here’s the video we produced for Bing Lee for the new Dyson range. We actually feature the same young girl from the first video we did, and she’s grown up in the time that Dyson has firmly established itself in the cooling market!