Hoovering up the competition

Having succeeded in making vacuum cleaners 'sexy', Dyson has built up a fanatical cult following, writes Karlin Lillington

HOUSEHOLD CHORES rarely come in at the top of anyone's "to do" list. So when someone on Amazon writes a review for a product that says, "it makes me want to vacuum every day", you instinctively know something is up.

Either Martha Stewart has starting penning reviews for the website, or you're in the Dyson section. Dysons are quirkily-coloured vacuums with a "cyclone" system of mini tornadoes that suck grunge out of carpets, and they inspire the same sort of devotion in the world of housewares as Macs do in the computer world.

How fanatical? Well, Amazon currently hosts 531 reviews of the Dyson Animal, a model dedicated to the eradication of dust bunnies, furballs and those annoying dog hairs that wedge themselves into carpets and furnishings. Of those, 416 rate the appliance with five stars, and a recurring heading is, "I love my Dyson!".

Isn't this a bit . . . weird?

"It's quite sad, really," laughs Simon Maddock, general manager for Dyson in Ireland, who acknowledges that the machines garner "a cult following".

"But Dyson has made vacuum cleaners very sexy. You can imagine going to a party and saying, 'I sell vacuum cleaners for a living' - no one wants to sit by you. But if you say, 'I sell Dysons', suddenly they want to talk to you all night."

Like Apple's Steve Jobs, Dyson has in James Dyson a charismatic and iconoclastic founder and leader who keeps producing function- and design-led products that cost a premium but have built a dedicated, sometimes fanatical, consumer base.

And like Apple, Dyson has become a highly recognisable brand that often prompts an emotive outpouring of love.

Asked on website Brandtags.net what terms come to mind when they see the Dyson brandname, people's top replies are "design", "cool", "clever" and "innovation" - as well as "expensive" and "overpriced". So far, so Apple.

Maddock says both the performance and design of Dyson vacuum cleaners appeal to buyers.

The performance is, thanks to some truly whiz-bang technology, a geek's delight: in 1993, Dyson famously came up with a vacuum that doesn't lose suction due to a system of cyclones - and no bag.

Dyson also made the bin see-through - so you can see when all the horrors that were lurking on your floor need emptying. It was counter-intuitive, says Dyson principal engineer Ben Morse, and Dyson was initially told no one would want to buy a vacuum that proudly displayed its dirt.

But received opinion was wrong, as this is one of the features people love. Indeed, it is one of the features that has sold 24 million of the machines - 10 million in the past three years - making Dyson the leading vacuum brand in Ireland, Britain, Australia and the US.

Just three years ago, 80 per cent of Dysons went to the British and Irish market - now 80 per cent are sold elsewhere.

The technological coolness and the regular addition of new features have also made the machine attractive to techies - even if it means buying a €400-plus vacuum every couple of years.

"Often our customers are more tech- and gadget-minded," says Maddock. "And you definitely get Dyson addicts - people who buy one and then, two to three years later, buy another. They might keep one upstairs and one downstairs."

But, Maddock insists, though people think more men buy Dysons, they don't - it's a 70/30 split between women and men, "fairly consistent in vacuums".

Morse says the company does not aim to release regular new models. Rather, they evolve out of new developments or - in the case of the new Baby Ball model - a combination of new technology (smaller engine and balls, not wheels) and market demand for a compact, lighter machine.

Morse adds that the Dyson AirBlade - a hand-dryer that blasts air at 644km/h through a gap the width of a knifeblade - was the result of typical Dyson serendipity: someone with wet hands walking up to engineers experimenting with the narrow air column for a digital engine.

Maddock's favourite machine is the new Baby, which he thinks will go down well in Ireland, as we apparently prefer compact canister models.

By contrast, the US and UK are upright markets, probably because they have more carpets and larger houses.

The company - again, like Apple - has reportedly had reliability issues with some models, but Maddock insists they are now among the most reliable machines on the market, with a five-year guarantee and dedicated helpdesk.

And, as with Apple, when people love Dysons, they really love them - but beware when they don't. Still, the copious online reviews are heavily weighted in favour of the yays, not the nays.

As one American woman writes: "If you have the cash, buy one. Thanks Brits."