3 Hoover: the synonymous brand
Hoover is, in the truest sense, a household name. It is also, in the English language, a household verb. ‘Could you hoover the carpet?’ is a phrase that inspires lethargic grunts almost anywhere in the English-speaking world.
The reason the brand became so synonymous with the product was because it invented the category. Or, more accurately, Murray Spangler did. Murray was a relation of William H Hoover’s wife. Unlike William, Murray didn’t have his own company. In fact, he was a janitor at a department store who spent his working life sweeping dusty floors. Bad enough, you might think, but poor Murray also suffered from chronic asthma. To make his job easier, he experimented with bits and pieces he had lying about at home – a metal box, a broom, a pillow case, a fan – and came up with a device that sucked the dust particles away as he swept. He then approached William and asked if he was interested in manufacturing the device. After his wife had tested and approved the product, Hoover bought the patent in 1908.
With the help of various free-trial offers, the ‘suction sweepers’ became a success, and word spread across the United States and Canada. Hoover then decided to give up selling the products he had originally based his business on, as leather harnesses for horses and carts were struggling due to the rise of the automobile. The company then devoted all its energies to vacuum cleaners. It is ironic that the company was nearly killed by the rise of one new technology, and saved by the invention of another.
The brand succeeded even further after William H Hoover’s death in 1932, and continued to lead the way in the market it had started. It has expanded into other categories of household products, such as washing machines and refrigerators, but the name remains synonymous with the vacuum cleaner.
In recent years the brand has faced tough competition from the British company Dyson, which revolutionized the market with its patented cyclone system. Hoover has fought back by patenting its own equivalent new system, called the Wind Tunnel. This may have been necessary to stop Dyson from sucking up its market share, but the perception in terms of the Hoover brand is negative as it turns the brand leader into a brand follower.
That said, Hoover remains by far the most recognized name within the category. Whether a perceived lack of innovation and extensions into other categories will eventually weaken the brand remains to be seen.
Secrets of success
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It invented the category. The market for vacuum cleaners didn’t exist before Hoover. It is therefore the natural leader.
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Home improvement. New products only work if they offer a visible improvement on the way things were done before. The invention of the vacuum cleaner provided a clear step up from the broom.
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Try before you buy. Free 10-day trials in the early 20th century were key to Hoover’s market dominance in North America.
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