LGCool Products Backed by a Powerful Brand

LG is one of those two-letter brand names that consumers immediately recognize: from cell phones to kitchen appliances to flat-screen televisions. Today, consumers increasingly recognize LG for its air-conditioning products as the North American market becomes more comfortable with duct-free conditioning systems and energy efficiency emerges as an important selling point.

LG has been in the HVACR business since 1958, when the South Korean company began manufacturing air-conditioners, washing machines, refrigerators and televisions. In fact, LG is known globally for its duct-free air-conditioning systems and is the world's leading manufacturer of air-conditioners. The company was absent from the United States, which had been a traditionally ducted market. That changed about five years ago.

Kelly Cutchins

“This was the last market for LG to enter of what has been a traditionally ducted market,” says Kelly Cutchins, vice president of commercial air conditioning for LG Electronics USA Commercial Air Conditioning division. “We felt that there was enough technical advancement with duct-free systems to enter the U.S. market and this segment is growing significantly every year in the U.S.” Duct-free continues to become known among consumers and within the HVACR industry as a technology that, he says, is “innovative, space saving and flexible and there are a lot of features that come easier with duct-free versus ducted.”

Despite a growing awareness of ductless technology in the U.S. market, LG recognized that it would have to aggressively market itself throughout the supply chain. LG started with enormous brand recognition and a reputation for quality products with sleek designs.

They've built on this brand awareness by going to the key influencers: contractors, engineers and wholesale distributors through training programs and a marketing approach that focuses on what makes ductless so popular around the world: easy to use, easy to install and easy on energy.

Training has been an important component of LG's approach and, its 16,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art LG Training Academy demonstrates this. Opened last December near its Atlanta headquarters, the academy has already trained more than 1,000 contractors, engineers, end users and distributors on its ductless systems. In addition to this impressive facility, LG representatives have worked with more than 1,000 others around the country. “We want to make sure that we have well-informed and well-trained potential customers,” Cutchins says.

With LG one of the world's leading producers of flat-screen televisions, mobile phones and appliances, its commercial air-conditioner division can harness this brand awareness by partnering with these brands through other ways. “LG has a great brand name, and we're doing everything that we can to take advantage of that,” Cutchins says. This includes working closely with the other divisions on marketing opportunities and trade shows as diverse as HARDI, ComfortTech, ASHRAE and trade shows for the hotel and motel industries.

For example, LG is the leading brand of hotel televisions, so LG representatives at shows can talk to customers about LG air conditioners. Synergies like these abound. LG also recently announced its corporate sponsorship of NCAA football. If college football fans are true to their respective schools, LG is hoping that they will be true to LG products as well.

Marketing only takes a company so far, however, and LG is proud of its extensive product line that combines comfort, quality and style. “We've won a lot of awards in the last year, and that is something that has gained a lot of attention,” Cutchins says. From ceiling-mounted to floor-standing systems and from outdoor units to those that hang on the wall as pieces of art, LG boasts an extensive product line. LG also offers high-efficiency, mini-split systems with simultaneous heating and cooling.