American Standard is a 148-year old brand of people-centric bathroom and kitchen fixtures and accessories. In recent surveys conducted in the USA, American Standard enjoyed excellent marks for Brand Equity in its category, proof positive of the envious and sought-after equity it has built up over its long history. In fact, back in 1961, American Standard established a factory here in the Philippines, to signify its entry into the Asia Pacific market. I personally share a long history with the brand, as it was my late mother’s go-to in the homes we would live in, through my childhood and adolescent years.
Invited by LIXIL Philippines to Bangkok for the Asia Pacific regional launch of the American Standard unified brand identity, was a wonderful opportunity to join American Standard’s Philippine retail trade partners, guest architects and interior designers, and media, for three days of understanding how American Standard is bringing global consistency to said brand expression. A Retail Forum, a Design Catalyst Live afternoon, and visits to their Thailand factory, showrooms, and the regional trade launch were all part of our hectic Bangkok itinerary.
During my first morning, I interviewed Satoshi Konagai, LIXIL Water Technology Leader Asia Pacific, and he was happy to discuss how hygiene, wellness spaces, intuitive and human-centric, water and energy saving, long lasting quality, space optimization, convenience, and being multi-functional, were all part of how American Standard listens to its consumers, and were out to design products that answer all these needs. For Satoshi-san, creating products that constantly improve to possess these qualities, while doing so under a global Sustainability umbrella, were all part of the LIXIL strategy.
The goal is to achieve Zero CO2 emissions by 2050, and he was proud to report how their shower and faucet facilities had already hit net zero, with the ceramic and sanitary-ware plants well on their way. Sustainable paper was replacing plastic film in their packaging, the paper coming from sustainable forests in Europe. To help promote global sanitization in less developed areas, they have SATO, an affordable plastic toilet, that’s supported by UNICEF, and the Bill Gates Foundation.
He observed how bathroom space in the ASEAN region is getting smaller, and how LIXIL and American Standard recognizes the need to offer ‘sense of space’ solutions, without compromising customer benefit. Living space modules during the trade launch highlighted this, with a mock family of grandparents, two daughters with their children, and a father and son, all showcasing how various American Standard products fulfilled multi-functional needs, and even had design elements especially geared to make the lives of the elderly safer.
I posed a question about hard water and how water quality differs from one country to the other, and whether this affects the performance and maintenance of American Standard products. Mr. Satoshi was highly appreciative of my bringing this up, as there are degrees by which they can customize according to water quality. And he expanded this further by talking about cultural differences between countries, how particular areas within a bathroom can be identified as dry or wet areas. What qualifies as dry areas in say, bathrooms in Japan or China, are still part of the wet area in other countries such as the Philippines and Indonesia. American Standard design their products knowing how their products can be used differently in particular countries.
A prime example of this is their DuoSTIX Hygiene Spray. Attached to the wall beside your toilet, the spray has gentle Petal Pressure for bidet usage, but when one removes the top, it converts to a jet spray that can be used to blast stains off when cleaning the bathroom and toilet. This is part of how Multifunctional seamlessly fits into the theme of Urbanization. Health & Well-Being, Sustainability, and Urbanization are the three pillars of what has to be considered as the American Standard products are being designed.
Antoine Besseyre des Horts, is the Leader for LIXIL Global Design Asia, and he leads an international team responsible for the creative direction of the brand strategies of American Standard, Grohe, and INAX, into culturally relevant consumer experiences. He achieves this through product, packaging, environment, and communication. Speaking on the Design Identity of American Standard, I loved how he unveiled the three signature elements of Pillow, Taper, and Frame.
The Pillow shape with its rounded corners and curvatures represents gentleness and the products’ human nature. The solid Taper communicates stability, reliability and trust. While the Frame highlights innovation, bringing into focus what makes the products easier to use. Back in 2019, when I was fortunate enough to attend the INAX brand identity launch in Milan, Paul Flowers, Leader LIXIL Global Design, introduced this concept for INAX via Tension, Squoval, and Volcano. So I fully appreciated how they were carving out a unique identity and signature elements for American Standard.
During the Design Catalyst Live session, our country was well-represented by Arch. Cathy Saldana, CEO of PDP Architects. Speaking about Sustainability in the Design of Residential Towers, she had an enlightening talk that referred to the Philippine scenario when it comes to urban living, population density, the high cost of land, vertical real estate, work proximity, convenience, and the maximization of real estate.
During the media preview of the rebrand launch, if you want to talk Pinoy pride, Satoshi Konagai and Antoine Besseyre des Horts were joined by Liz Rachel Cancio, Leader Brand Marketing LWT APAC; and Liz has a wonderful story, as she started with LIXIL Philippines, and was invited to move to the Singapore regional office six years ago, moving up from Marketing Director for Branding and Communications to her present position. And hosting the Bangkok regional launch and the forums was our own Issa Litton, who did such a masterful job, that the representatives from Vietnam and Indonesia were all congratulating her.
American Standard was proud to reiterate its brand values of being Dependable, Inviting, and Pioneering. It’s all about being passionate, authentic, and progressive, while coupling this with comfort, caring, trustworthy, rational and simple. It’s what has worked since 1875, and you can be certain they’ll still be global leaders in their category come 2025, when they celebrate 150 years of constant change, while remaining true to these core values.