Whirlpool 2003 Annual Report Download - page 21

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■Woolmark Company, the world’s leading wool textile organization,
certified the Whirlpool Duet washer for the safe cleaning of washable
wool. The certification is the first for a North American appliance.
■The Cause Marketing Forum presented KitchenAid with a prestigious
Halo Award honoring Cook for the Cure®, the brand’s initiative benefiting
the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.
The Whirlpool Duet clothes washer
and dryer is the company’s highest
capacity, and most energy- and
water-efficient fabric care pair.
Sales of the pink KitchenAid stand
mixer support Cook for the Cure®
and the Susan G. Komen Breast
Cancer Foundation.
The Whirlpool g2microven speed-
cook appliance and the Whirlpool
Polara refrigerated range deliver
true cooking innovation.
Gladiator GarageWorks provides
an organizing, workplace and
appliance system for the home’s
long-neglected space.
The Whirlpool g2microven speedcook Appliance is a microwave
cooking innovation that combines light and microwave technologies to
provide fast, energy-efficient cooking, while delivering all the tastes,
textures and appearances consumers want from traditional cooking.
These and other innovative product solutions require even deeper
sales and training collaboration with the company’s trade partners, as
well as with its fast-growing relationships with regional and national
contract homebuilders. Open and attractive sales formats on retail
floors, staffed by knowledgeable sales people, continued to catch on
last year as the smart way to sell appliances and the best way to treat
customers. From initial design process to final occupancy, leading
homebuilders are partnering with Whirlpool for a full range of
Whirlpool and KitchenAid branded products and services.
Another sign of Whirlpool’s partnering efforts was its participation
last year in the Internet Home Alliance’s Mealtime project. The
company’s special Internet-enabled Whirlpool Polara refrigerated
ranges and remote Web tablets are in 20 Boston-area homes as part of
a consumer study of wired homes and appliances for the future.
Last year, the company was awarded a gold award in the 2003
Industrial Design Excellence Awards competition for the Whirlpool Duet
fabric care system and for its European counterpart, Whirlpool
Dreamspace. Presented by the Industrial Designers Society of America
and sponsored by BusinessWeek, the IDEA is widely regarded as the
premier award for industrial design in the United States.
Whirlpool also received recognition for the company’s commitment
to the environment. This year, the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) and Department of Energy (DOE) named Whirlpool Corporation
as an ENERGY STAR®"Partner of the Year" for its 2003 commitment to
reducing greenhouse gas emissions and for making and promoting
energy-efficient products.
Whirlpool also stepped up its national partnership with Habitat for
Humanity by co-sponsoring the 2003 Jimmy Carter Work Project. This
annual project will be held in the company’s headquarters community
of Benton Harbor, Michigan, in 2005. Whirlpool donates an ENERGY-
STAR®qualified refrigerator and freestanding range for every Habitat
home built in North America.
Likewise, the KitchenAid brand fundraising partnership with the
Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation raised about $750,000 in
2003 for the fight against breast cancer. Each sale of a pink KitchenAid
stand mixer and other selected KitchenAid products generates a
donation to the foundation. Since 2001, KitchenAid has raised more
than $1.5 million for the cause.
Outlook
The company expects industry unit shipments in the United States to
grow moderately in 2004. Whirlpool North America expects to expand
and grow customer loyalty for the company’s industry-leading brands
throughout the region, primarily through the continuous introduction
of relevant branded innovations. The operation also plans to extend its
industry leading position with all value-added distribution channels and
trade partners, and to deliver another record year of productivity.