Flashy Breakable Fisher & Paykel

Great news for Kiwi design – appliance maker Fisher & Paykel Appliances has joined the ranks of global brands like Bose, Playstation, Stella Artois, Blackberry, Audi and Chanel – based on a list of “CoolBrand Leaders for 2005” says an article in the NZ Herald.

The Fisher & Paykel dishdrawer
The Fisher & Paykel dishdrawer

The articles says F&P “has long been a firm favourite in New Zealand for its sturdy, reliable, washing machines and fridges”.

“It seeks fresh and dynamic ways to produce appliances turning conventional thinking on its head. It is a brand, which prides itself on catering for the modern consumer delivering intelligent and technologically superior products.”

A visit to product rating website Epinions confirms that, in the United States, F&P appliances generally rate highly with consumers for both ‘style’ and ‘ease of use’.

The Herald articles adds that it’s “F&P Appliances’ state-of-the-art spin on traditional appliances – like its two-drawer dishwasher – that is turning heads offshore”.

However, their flagship two-drawer dishdrawers don’t rate well on Epinions. A closer look at the reviews show that while the products rate well for ‘style’ and ‘ease of use’, they rate much lower for ‘durability’ and ‘ease of cleaning’.

So what’s going on here? Have F&P sacrificed ‘sturdy and reliable’ for ‘style and ease of use’?

While a love affair with style might land them first-impression honeymoon sales, what will this mean in the long term when their appliances have crapped out and annoyed customers have to fork out for expensive repairs or another machine?

In New Zealand F&P’s success was built on the back of ‘sturdy and reliable’, followed by some sensible, but not overly outrageous, aesthetic design.

The world is already full of enough flashy breakable applicances – don’t go there F&P…