Manufacturer of: Charcoal, gas & electric outdoor grills, smokers and related accessories
Facts & Figures
Founded: 1948
Headquarter: Columbus, Georgia, USA
Solutions Used
Flexing brand muscles with brand health analysis
The Char-Broil brand is recognized globally by professional and home chefs alike for its gas and electric BBQ grills. Founded in the US, the company has expanded into Europe, opening an HQ in Hamburg in 2016 where the team is based. The brand is sold via retail partners who are a vital part in the success of the brand’s range of products.
GfK works with the team at Char-Broil in Hamburg to help understand market share and sales performance both by segment and also by channel. This analysis supports the company’s important retail relationships by providing evidence of the brand’s authority and appeal, as well as its metrics versus the competition.
With innovation central to its ethos, Char-Broil has built a reputation for being cool and modern, with great product features complemented by brilliant design. It’s vital that the brand team stays up-to-date with changes in its overall performance to maintain – and of course, improve – the premium brand’s positioning in a crowded market.
“As a relatively recent subscriber to GfK’s monthly Market Intelligence, it has quickly become a core element of our KPIs, feeding into our brand health tracking and analysis. We’re operating in a crowded and competitive marketplace, so knowing how we are performing and being able to evaluate and act on changes quickly is something we really value. We incorporate the insights at a market, category, and product level to track how we are doing against our own internal targets. Knowing where we’ve come from and how we are performing right now means we are well-placed to adapt our communication plans and marketing activities to ensure we maintain our premium market position and excellent brand reputation.”
Thorsten Schwenecke, Director Marketing Europe, Char-Broil
Tracking performance against KPIs
Internally this information is core to the company’s own metrics, including its brand value index. The intelligence feeds into KPIs including aided and unaided brand awareness, top-performing products, performance improvements over time, and more. These data points and insights are used to evaluate progress against targets and to develop and improve sales, marketing, and communication campaigns.
Setting the course for future success with consumer insights
GfK not only helped Char-Broil to track their current performance, but also assisted with making strategic decisions for the future. GfK integrated the syndicated segmentation “Roper Consumer Styles” into the brand health study. This gave Char-Broil the opportunity to focus their strategy on the most valuable segments, thus maximizing the return on investment of future marketing and innovation activities.
A close working relationship
Char-Broil and GfK started working relatively recently, just pre the start of the pandemic in 2020. During the challenging years that followed, the brand was able to use Market Intelligence reports, sales data, and customized studies to understand how consumers were reacting to lockdowns and how to respond. As the ‘at home’ trend embedded during pandemic lockdowns is embraced by consumers as we emerge from the crisis, the working relationship looks set to grow along with demand for BBQs.
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