Thermador is offering $100,000 in prize money and a trip to its design center in Irvine as it ramps up marketing for its newest kitchen appliances.
The company’s Kitchen Design Challenge aims to connect the brand with designers, architects, custom-home builders and other “influencers.”
The high-end brand is part of BSH Home Appliances Corporation, a subsidiary of Bosch and Siemens Home Appliance Group, the world’s third-largest appliance manufacturer.
Bosch’s U.S. headquarters is at 1901 Main St. in Irvine.
Thermador’s latest products include: the Pro Grand Steam Range, a 48-inch stove the company calls an “ultimate culinary center;” the Freedom Induction Cooktop, billed as the industry’s first 36-inch, full-surface induction appliance; and the Freedom Collection portfolio of freezers and refrigerators.
The Kitchen Design Challenge offers participants a chance to win a share of the prize money and trips to Irvine. Their entries must include at least three Thermador appliances and with design and construction fully completed by the end of the year.
“By giving these design professionals an opportunity to showcase their best work with a full fleet of Thermador kitchen appliances with exclusive culinary features at their disposal, it makes for great exposure and reinforces Thermador as a leading cooking brand,” said Zach Elkin, director of brand marketing for Thermador. “At the same time, their work communicates the Thermador brand message of ‘real innovations for real cooks’ in real-world kitchens they’ve designed for their clients.”
Justin Parker of Prestige Mouldings & Construction Inc. in San Juan Capistrano was one of eight regional winners in a prior Kitchen Design Challenge. Parker’s kitchen was entered into the ‘traditional/transitional’ category. He received $5,000 and joined other winners at the company’s design center in Irvine, and his entry is highlighted on Thermador’s website.
This year’s contest will feature 16 regional winners and has been opened to design firms rather than only individual designers, as in years past.
“We expect significant increase (in) the contest’s exposure and entries among the homebuilding and design trade and among audiences who are embracing Thermador as a leader in luxury kitchen appliances,” Elkin said. “One of our goals is to grow the Thermador Kitchen Design Challenge on an annual basis, and we’ve been achieving that.”
Register Goes to College
The Orange County Register will debut sections dedicated to coverage of the University of California, Irvine, Chapman University in Orange and California State University, Fullerton. The six-page stand-alone publications, included in home-delivered copies of the newspaper, will highlight campus life, research, milestones, university leaders, visiting lecturers, art exhibitions and charitable and sporting events.
The sections also will include calendars of campus events, as well as faculty guest columns. The universities will be the sections’ primary advertising sponsors, but editorial decisions will be independent of their control, according to the Register.
The university sections are the latest additions to the Register under Publisher Aaron Kushner, whose 2100 Trust LLC bought the newspaper last year. Other recent additions include OCVarsity Arts, a weekly section focused on theater, dance, music and visual arts at Orange County’s 116 high schools; Show/TV for television coverage; and Go + Do, a section that highlights weekend activities.
The Register also announced the return of Cathy Taylor to oversee a new bureau in Washington, D.C. She had been vice president of opinion and commentary for the Register before leaving to become editor of Human Events magazine in 2011.
“Dollhouse Debut”
Laguna Beach social media marketing agency SoCal Socialite hosted the “Dollhouse Debut” to show off its new office at 1042 N. Pacific Coast Highway. More than 150 people attended the March 22 event, which featured live music and a silent auction benefitting Literacy in Vision.
The gathering was a first in what the agency plans as a series of monthly networking events.
