A state-of-the-art range cooker has been launched by Beko Plc, one of the UK's White goods suppliers for all cooking, laundry and dishwashing appliances. The Range 90 model, is to be marketed under the Leisure brand Beko Plc's specialist cooking Brand, and is designed to capture the essence of the traditional country kitchen with all the features necessary to meet the demands of modern life. As such, it is ideal for families that want a stylish cooker that can also handle the demands of busy family life.
The range cooker sector has grown over the past decade resulting in greater competition within the sector and increased consumer demands. In order to satisfy these demands and stay at the forefront of the market Beko needed a unique edge, and the design of the Range 90 model does just that. The result of a successful partnership between Beko and PDD, provider of integrated design and innovation skills, the design is a modern take on old fashioned style that offers all the necessary robustness without compromising on style.
"The range cooker is a great new addition to our Leisure Branded product portfolio," commented Les Wicks, Product and Buying Manager at Beko. "We knew we wanted to start the design process from a clean piece of paper rather than trying to adapt and amend existing products. PDD brought fresh insights to the design process."
PDD has been working closely with Beko for nearly two years to develop the range cooker and has been involved throughout all stages of the industrial process; from consumer insight right through to the final design sign off. The consultancy was recommended to Beko by a previous client of PDD and their design expertise and competence has been evident throughout. Wicks comments, "We knew we needed to buy in expertise and PDD has had experience in each of the different design disciplines and research phases we have gone through. One key area for us was knowledge of the consumer; we wanted to be able to tease out exactly what the customer is looking for and design for that ideal."
Jamie Buckley, Creative Lead at PDD, started work with Beko on the project back in June 2006 and knew that an analysis of the current market was essential, Buckley explains, "We looked at what was already on offer and most importantly discovered the process a consumer would go through when buying a cooker. We found that the quality of features such as the dials was rated to be just as important as those on a car. It mattered not only how they felt but also how they sounded when in use."
The productive working partnership formed between the two companies has led to future plans to develop the range into a variety of different specifications. Wicks concludes, "When you bring together all the different features the range offers, the end result is something quite unique and we know that it will stand out among its competitors in the current market."