Philips Backgrounder on Sense and Simplicity

The current perception of Philips is changing, but it is still far from the reality of what Philips is today. Philips is a market driven company focused around healthcare, lifestyle and technology, and is committed to delivering on the new brand promise of Sense and Simplicity.

Philips is convinced that no matter how complex and advanced an application or solution is, it should be simple to use and make sense. Technology is there to help us, make our lives easier and more productive. So why is it so often such a hassle, full of complexity and frustration?

The brand positioning around Sense and Simplicity, sets the foundations for Philips to grow its existing healthcare, lifestyle and technology business and enter into new product categories and market sectors, such as personal health and wellness.

Philips is committed to delivering applications and solutions that are easy to experience, advanced, and designed around you - the three filters that help Philips to define Sense and Simplicity. This commitment may be expressed in a new way but it is at the heart of the company's long term vision and mission: to improve the quality of people's lives through the timely introduction of meaningful technological innovations.

The global advertising campaign and the re-design of the website were the first public examples of Philips delivering on its brand promise and this has been followed up by the launch of the Simplicity Advisory Board. However, this is not something that will happen overnight and Philips started on this journey over a year ago and is now looking to progress further along the path.

Somewhere along the way, the promise of the digital revolution to make our lives easier, simpler, better has not been delivered. In fact, in many respects, it's only made life more complicated. Philips will start making applications and services that make sense and are easy to use in order to prepare for future strategic business opportunities and to continue to grow.

To put it bluntly, people - whether customers or customers - will not buy complicated products and they will drop services that are too complex. Philips research shows that their customers are looking for Sense and Simplicity. And that's what Philips is going to give them.

Philips as a company has made a commitment to start to change the way it thinks, how it does business and what it delivers both internally and externally. It is about becoming a market-led organization. The brand promise, Sense and Simplicity is part of the change mechanism that will enable Philips to become more market-led.

Philips has completely redesigned the Philips.com website, making it easier to navigate, find relevant information and giving a better reflection of Philips. To achieve this Philips had to apply the three filters to the way the website was and the look and feel, hence the website is now easier to experience, designed around the used and technically advanced.

The new brand positioning advertising campaign demonstrates to the public for the first time what Philips is about, concentrating on healthcare, lifestyle and technology. These adverts, be it broadcast, print or online are all easy to understand, designed around Philips target audience and advanced, concentrating on applications that are simple to use and make sense.

This SAB will enable Philips to take on board the knowledge, expertise and creativity of people who do not necessarily work in their specific market sector, but share with Philips the belief that technology should improve the quality of people's lives. Like Philips they are driven by the essence of Simplicity. Listening to them, how they perceive Philips, and how they think Philips can better understand its customers, will only help Philips in producing the next generation of applications that are easy to experience, designed around customer needs and advanced.

As part of the drive towards becoming more market driven and in order to live up to its brand promise of Sense and Simplicity, Philips has developed three key filters that are starting to inform and influence everything the company does - from business processes to application creation. These filters (listed below) are becoming part of the Philips DNA.

• People should be able to enjoy the benefits of technology without any hassles or frustrations. Philips products and solutions, as well as the way of Philips does business, may be very sophisticated, but should always be easy to experience.
• Applying this in practice:
  • Is Philips the easiest to do business with?
  • Does Philips seamlessly integrate with customers?
  • Do I need to a technology expert to use Philips applications?

• All Philips activities must be driven by insights into how the company's stakeholders experience the benefits of technology.
• Applying this in practice:
  • Is this driven by a customer insight?
  • Is this the result of collaboration?
  • Are both aesthetic and functional designs based on end-user research?

• Something is only truly advanced when it improves the lives of people. Advanced isn't just about technology, it's also about smart thinking and preparing for the future.
• Applying this in practice:
  • Does Philips offer forward thinking solutions?
  • Is it adaptable, future-proof and interoperable?
  • Is it a tangible improvement?
  • Does a technological innovation deliver a better experience to end-users?

The filters have been kept deliberately 'simple' and sensible so that they can become a fundamental element of every aspect of Philips business, informing its interactions with their customers, employees and business partners. There is no point having complex filters that cannot be applied universally.

As an example, Philips already has products that support the brand positioning:

HeartStart:

• Easy to experience: So simple, even a 5 year old can operate
• Advanced: Can only be operated if properly applied
• Designed around you: Design to be used where people need them most - everywhere

Senseo:

• Easy to experience: One press button for coffee
• Advanced: Innovative steaming technology
• Designed Around You: Customers want café quality coffee at home without the hassles of complicated machines

Since the brand positioning launch, the following products have been launched:

Philishave Cool Skin 7000 series:

• Easy to experience: 100% waterproof so can be used in the shower
• Advanced: Specially shaped blue rings that spread gel or lotion evenly over skin
• Designed Around You: Customers can choose the NIVEA FOR MEN gel or lotion that suits their skin type

Perfective:

• Easy to experience: An iron with anti-crease agent that works the same as an ordinary iron
• Advanced: The integration of an iron with a self-contained anti-crease cartridge
• Designed Around You: The smoothest ironing results with one movement

PerfectDraft:

• Easy to experience: The perfect draught beer in your home at the turn of a tap
• Advanced: A metal keg with internal cooling system for optimum conditions for beer
• Designed Around You: Providing beer at its best in your home

IntelliClean System:

• Easy to experience: A toothbrush that dispenses liquid toothpaste itself
• Advanced: In-built timers and signals to indicate the recommended brushing time in different areas of your mouth plus varied brushing speeds
• Designed Around You: Toothbrush and toothpaste in one

This is not just about products - this approach is also designed to ensure that Philips, as an organization, adheres to the three filters in the way that it works with all its partners and suppliers, the way that it communicates with all its stakeholders, and the way that Philips operates as a business. Ultimately, this is about being easier to do business with.

The brand positioning has also been incorporated across the business within business processes. An e-learning module has been developed about the brand positioning as well as an e-learning module about the Touchpoint tool, which is an organization tool that helps to identify priorities and make sure they are managed in the most effective, simple way. The Global Brand Management team has been collecting and communicating feedback from the simplicity micro site as well as undertaking a tracking study to understand consumer reactions to the brand positioning.

• Simplicity micro site

The brand positioning will help Philips meet customer needs by delivering a distinctive Philips experience at each touch point, no matter whether it is via the company website, advertising, our sponsorships, pricing or its packaging.