American Standard
American Standard Brands is a leading North American manufacturer of a wide range of high-quality building products, including decorative panels, faucets, fixtures, furniture, vitreous china fixtures, cast-iron sinks, whirlpool tubs and other products for the bath and kitchen. The company currently offers total project solutions for both residential and commercial customers and employs more than 5,000 people in the United States, Canada and Mexico, marketing products under well-known and respected brands such as American Standard®, Jado®, Porcher®, Safety Tubs®, Crane®, Eljer®, Fiat® and Decorative Panels International®.
We want people interested in American Standard’s products to see that quality and innovation are important attributes of the brand. The Brightcove platform helps us deliver that engaging product content.”
Senior Marketing Manager for Online at American Standard
Situation
In February 2008, American Standard Brands was born from the merger of American Standard Americas, Crane Plumbing and Eljer. This consolidation into a single brand created an overabundance of new product information on the company’s website. The company decided on a website redesign that would better profile the product offerings and would include a single, centralized video viewer as a test run for product videos. By June 2010 viewer feedback and the DIY market trend pointed to an increased demand for videos featuring performance demonstrations and installation tips, and American Standard Brands decided to launch a more integrated video experience on the website.
Solution
Brightcove online video platform, June 2010.
ROI
- Experienced an increase in video views
- Faster publishing rate for video content uploading
- Increased sharing opportunities and drove traffic to website
- Improved content management
Brightcove Attributes
Flexible, Fast, Integrated
Increased Product Awareness
American Standard’s revamped website launched in December of 2010, and Brightcove now hosts more than 100 video playlists in multiple players across the site’s different category and collection pages, including bathroom and kitchen faucets, toilets, bath tubs and showers, vanity and countertop options, commercial options and repair parts. This integration gives site visitors seeking one specific category or product line easier access to installation and demo videos directly related to the content they are browsing, while generating awareness of related products and options.
“We needed to provide a level of service that would allow both dial-up and broadband Internet users to view our product videos,” said Jonathan Houck, Senior Marketing Manager for Online at American Standard. “We’ve had a great experience with the Brightcove platform and the content delivery it provides.”
American Standard also launched a mobile application for the iPhone that uses Brightcove’s application program interfaces (APIs) to stream nearly 200 video files. The app “The American Standard Toilet Challenge,” allows users to download and watch videos of American Standard’s Performance Toilets taking on conventional household items never considered flushable, such as golf balls.
The mobile app’s success led to plans for synching the website content with the brand’s YouTube channel, where American Standard hosts 150-200 additional videos. Houck said American Standard Brands is currently developing mobile video players for five brand websites, scheduled to launch in Spring 2011. These sites include JadoUSA.com, a luxury faucets line; Porcher-us.com, luxury fixtures and furniture; Craneplumbing.com, a builder product line; Eljer.com’s retail line; and AmericanStandardPro.com, for industry professionals.
Increased Sales Opportunities
Because American Standard is not a retailer, generating awareness for its product offerings can greatly impact sales. The company’s sales reps are now able to access and share full-screen, smooth-playing video presentations featuring product demo videos and installation guides. This solution has streamlined the sales process and provided a great alternative to carrying around a handful of DVDs.
In addition, the continued rise of the DIY market has created additional opportunities for sharing product information and generating interest with potential brand loyalists.
“People want to see something that works,” said Houck. “If you can’t do a demo for them in person, the video delivery method is the next best thing.”
While videos featuring the brand’s high-performance toilets are the most popular, how-to videos provide a useful service for customers with installation-related questions.
