A.O. Smith is a major producer of water heaters in China, and has achieved high awareness for its electric powered models, but with the growing consumer trend towards low carbon energy sources, A.O. Smith have launched a solar powered water heater.

Consumer-generated Weibo postings and an increase in sales of 23% in Shanghai have led A.O. Smith to make plans to roll out the ‘Sun Bathing’ experience into Nanjing and Hangzhou.

In the heart of Shanghai, China’s key market for solar-powered products, we constructed the A.O. Smith ‘Sun Bathing’ consumer experience. It consisted of a self-contained lightproof shower room, complete with shower nozzle fitted into the ceiling. It looked just like any other dark tiled bathroom, except that it was rays of sunlight, not streams of water, that flowed through the showerhead.

In our ideas, the sun is the water column sprayed by the shower, and this is compliant with the features of solar water heater. The activities of this consumer experience, compared to the conventional market promotion are more provocative and more spreading.