A strategic approach to building brand awareness

Combining global strength and local engagement in a competitive market

Midea Group, a global manufacturing leader with over 56 years of innovation, faced the challenge of introducing its brand to the Canadian market, where it was largely unknown. Despite its global success, Midea needed a tailored strategy to create brand awareness and connect with Canadian consumers in a competitive appliance market. Our goal was to position Midea as a trusted brand while highlighting the unique features of its products in a meaningful way.

The "Who"

Midea Canada, a subsidiary of Midea Group, is a global leader in the production of home appliances. Based in Canada, the company offers a wide range of products including air conditioners, dishwashers, and laundry units. Midea is recognized for providing affordable yet reliable home appliances to customers across the country. However, despite its global success, Midea faced significant challenges in penetrating the Canadian market and needed strategic support to build a stronger online presence.

The "Why"

Midea initially reached out to Insurgency to support a digital marketing campaign for their air conditioners, with the goal of increasing retail sales. However, during our discussions, we identified key issues: the products were already sold out at major retailers, there were issues reporting sales back to the Global Head Office and the pandemic had made it challenging to reach consumers through traditional channels. The client lacked a clear digital presence and hadn’t fully explored the power of SEO or website optimization. Our role evolved from simply supporting a campaign to helping Midea re-evaluate its digital strategy for long-term growth nationally.

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The "What"

The key challenges included:

Product Availability: Midea’s air conditioners were out of stock in many Canadian retailers, limiting the scope of the digital campaign.
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Lack of Online Presence: Despite offering quality products, Midea lacked an optimized online presence, limiting their visibility and searchability.‍
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Retailer Challenges: Products were not being displayed effectively online or in physical stores, making it difficult to build consumer trust.

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Our goal was to pivot the campaign to focus on brand building with a long-term digital strategy, including an SEO and website overhaul, that would position Midea as a go-to brand for home appliances in Canada.

The "How"

Our strategy evolved after conducting thorough research into Midea’s products and their presence in Canadian retail locations. We discovered that many Midea products were sold out, confirming the need for a shift in focus.Instead of a paid media campaign for air conditioners, we proposed a more sustainable approach, including:

SEO Implementation: We suggested an SEO audit and website improvements to increase organic search visibility for Midea products.
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Website Accessibility & User Experience: We advised on a website accessibility audit to ensure Midea’s website was user-friendly and search engine optimized.‍
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Reallocation of Budget: With the inventory situation in mind, we recommended shifting the digital budget away from paid media to digital capital projects that would have a lasting impact.

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This strategy aimed to improve Midea's long-term presence in Canada and address immediate challenges like product visibility and accessibility.

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The "It"

The solution involved multiple key components:

SEO & Website Optimization: We completed an SEO audit and implemented a strategy that improved Midea’s website search ranking. This involved fixing on-page issues, creating better content structures, and focusing on user experience (UX).
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Website Rebuild: We led two website rebuild projects: the first focused on optimizing the site structure, moving from product listings to a more intuitive, category-based format. The second rebuild involved migrating Midea Canada’s site from WordPress to Adobe Experience Manager (AEM), providing a more robust and scalable platform for future growth.
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Ongoing Media Campaigns: Insurgency continued to manage Midea’s monthly media campaigns, optimizing spend on Google Search and Meta platforms (Facebook and Instagram)to target key seasonal products.

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These combined efforts helped Midea build a more accessible, search-friendly platform while positioning their brand as an industry leader in home appliances.

The "Results"

The outcome of our collaboration with Midea was significant:

SEO Improvements: Organic traffic increased due to the enhanced SEO strategy and website changes, allowing Midea to rank higher in search results.
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Website Success: The website rebuild resulted in a more user-friendly experience and increased conversions. The second migration to Adobe Experience Manager positioned Midea for long-term digital success.
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Effective Media Spend: Our strategic media campaigns drove visibility and sales, even with limited budget, by focusing on highly-targeted Google Search and Meta campaigns.
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Continued Growth: Insurgency’s work with Midea extended beyond the air conditioner campaign, leading to future collaborations on new product categories like dishwashers and laundry units.

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Midea’s investment in a robust digital strategy has provided them with a strong foundation for ongoing growth in the Canadian market, with measurable results from SEO, website optimization, and paid media campaigns.

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