• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, August 27, 2008

 

GE Consumer and Industrial launched a marketing campaign Tuesday to highlight its new line of frontload washers and dryers that can hold and wash up to 17 pairs of jeans and up to six months of detergent and fabric softener. The technology enables the washer to dispense the right amount at the right time.

A TV spot scheduled to break next week on network and cable speaks to consumers, focusing on their homes. The ad "dramatically" demonstrates what six months of laundry looks like. "Someone's house gets attacked by six months worth of laundry," says Paul Klein, GM of branding and advertising for GE Profile, who is reluctant to share details.

Print ads began running this week in such magazines as People, Parade and Good Housekeeping. The headline asks: Why load detergent 365 times per year when you can just load it twice?

Marketing and advertising will promote several innovative technologies built into the GE Profile washer and dryer--from the SmartDispense that holds up to six months of detergent and fabric softener and then dispenses just the right amount based on soil level, load size, water hardness and fabric type, to CleanSpeak, which lets the washer electronically tell the dryer which items to expect.

While convenience plays a role in branding the washer and the dryer, environmental issues are also key. "We want people to do things that are better for the environment," Klein says. "The frontload washer uses about 15 to 16 gallons of water per load that you have to heat, compared with a traditional top-load washer at between 39 and 40 gallons."

Consumers also can save money and wear on their clothes by allowing the machine to measure the correct amount of detergent based on if the type of water in their homes.

As part of the campaign, Alison Sweeney, "The Biggest Loser" host and "Days of Our Lives" actress, kicked off a celebrity auction to benefit the Clothes Off Our Back Foundation. The event, The High Profile Pair in the Square, took place at New York's Times Square, where hundreds of jeans and shirts were hung like laundry from clotheslines above the streets to kick off the auction and marketing plans.

The more than 50 pairs of jeans being auctioned were worn and donated by celebrities such as Ryan Seacrest, Miley Cyrus, Nick Lachey, Ashlee Simpson, Lauren Conrad, Rachael Ray, Minnie Driver, Debra Messing, Brittany Snow, Terrence Howard, Forest Whitaker and the cast of "How I Met Your Mother," including Josh Radnor, Neil Patrick Harris, Jason Segel, Alyson Hannigan, Cobie Smulders. Many of them were autographed by the original owner.

Seacrest's pants fetched more than $300, says Klein.

Consumers who are unable to attend the event can bid on the celebrity jeans at www.clothesoffourback.org through Sept. 8. A sweepstakes for a washer and dryer will be held online at www.washingmyjeans.com, too.