New or emerging technologies can be difficult to explain and sell to a broad swath of consumers. Early adopters may vie to be the first to have the big new breakthrough, but the vast majority of people have to develop a comfort level before they’re willing to invest in and use it.

And that’s where brands can enter the picture, giving a mainstream consumer the confidence to take the plunge into something new. A current example is the onset of the “connected home” (also known as home automation or Smart Home), where names such as GE, Westinghouse, Honeywell and Energizer are being licensed to manufacturers who are relying on those labels to get consumers to make the leap.

The term “connected home” can be applied to anything from a product as relatively simple as a light switch or thermostat that can be controlled remotely via a smartphone app to a full-fledged system capable of interconnecting a home’s electrical, HVAC, security and other systems, along with individual appliances.

It’s a world replete with technology platform buzzwords – Zigbee, Z-Wave, WiFi and Bluetooth – that may be familiar to professional installers, but not to most of the general population.

But there’s no doubt that it’s a growth market. Research firm Research and Markets forecasts that revenue from home automation products will increase 12.5% annually through 2022, reaching $78.2 billion, up from $39.9 billion in 2016. The increases are being driven by the Internet having become a household staple along with lower costs of installation and interest in the category from companies large and small. North America will dominate the connected home sector through 2022 with a 40% of share of the market; entertainment control is the most popular installation, Research and Markets said.

Consumer-friendly brands will play a key role. “You will always have the early adopters and innovators who find the technology more compelling, but as you get beyond those people, there will those who want a certain sense of security in terms of what they are dealing with,” says Gene Kelsey of Jem Accessories. “If you are in a store and you see a brand that you can relate to, you might default to it because you feel comfortable and recognize it.”

At the same time, the connected home at this point is still primarily an installer market that doesn’t face an “unbranded dilemma” where there is a “screaming need” for a well-known name to help sell the technology, says LMCA’s Allan Feldman, whose company represents Westinghouse and Hewlett-Packard in the connected home. But as it broadens and consumers become increasingly aware of do-it-yourself options, “an installer might want to go with a brand that the consumer is familiar with, says Feldman.

Among the brands jockeying for position in the home automation space:

• The Energizer brand has been licensed by Jem Accessories for WiFi-based security cameras, thermostats, smart plugs (which plug into standard outlets), sensors and WiFi speakers that are expected to arrive late this year. Each of the products will use a plug-and-play system that connects to an Energizer app and works via a standard WiFi router. Some of the devices will be compatible with Amazon’s Alexa, Google Home and Apple Home voice technology. The Energizer products will be positioned as a step up from Jem’s Smart Home line.
• Westinghouse licenses its brand through LMCA for various pieces of a connected home system. Nortek’s Nordyne Division is the licensee for HVAC systems and gas furnaces, but renamed itself Westinghouse Heating and Cooling. Nortek also sells HVAC system under several other brands, including Frigidaire and Maytag. Strattec also adopted the Westinghouse brand for the security systems it sells and renamed its Advanced Logic Division as Westinghouse Security Products Services. Further tying into the connected home, China’s TongFang is the Westinghouse licensee for TVs that earlier this year added Amazon’s Fire TV operating system, which includes the Alexa voice technology.
• Meanwhile Hewlett-Packard, also represented by LMCA, is trying to extend its brand into home automation, largely tied its desire to align its core computing business with the connected home. Hewlett-Packard is seeking to align with licensees having an expertise in the connected home, says Feldman.
• Jasco Products has licensed multiple brands for the connected home.  It markets a range of GE Z-Wave, Zigbee and Bluetooth-enabled connected home products, including in-wall dimmers and fan controls as well as wireless lighting controllers and lamp modules. It also will field Honeywell wireless light and appliance controlers, timers and power products starting later this year.

The latter relationship, announced in January, will extend Honeywell, which has a presence in professionally-installed home security systems into the DIY consumer market. There will be overlap between the GE and Honeywell brands and that will leave it up to retailers to decide how to position them and whether to carry both, says Jasco’s Keith Lashley.

Jasco also struck an agreement with Energizer for household lighting, potentially including desk and under-the-cabinet lights that can become part of a connected home.

“There is a lot of confusion out there right now and many one-off products with little brand recognition,” says Keith Lashley. “GE, Honeywell and other brand names are well known to consumers and will help convince them of the viability of the connected home business.”

For the most part the agreements struck for home automation are fairly broad, giving the licensees room to test new categories as they emerge, say industry executives. It also gives licensees a chance to see which categories have more staying power and are worthy of further investment. At Jasco, the GE brand, well-known for lighting, has given the company entre into lighting control, a category that is among the first that consumers consider for the connected home, says Lashley.

“We have left some of the agreements pretty broad from a strategy level so we can see what transpires,” says Energizer Holdings’ Kathy Spencer. “It seems like every day there is a new part of the home that people are saying is the next wave of connected home.”

It is that next-generation, rapidly changing market that also is proving alluring to licensors. Many brand owners can benefit from the sheen that connected home can give to a brand. And a licensing deal also allows licensors to work with companies they may eventually seek to acquire if they decide to make a concerted push into the category, says Feldman.

“There are a lot of people working on it from a lot of different angles,” says Feldman. “Many companies are interested in participating in this, because it speaks to your brand and vitality and being forward-looking and also is potentially a huge financial opportunity.”

Contacts:

Beanstalk, Linda Morgenstern, VP Brand Management, 567-447-6607, linda.morgenstern@beanstalk.com

Energizer Holdings, Kathy Spencer, Global Licensing Mgr., 314-985-2205, Kathy.spencer@energizer.com

Jasco Products, Keith Lashley, VP Product Development, 405-302-2419, klashley@byjasco.com

Jem Accessories, Gene Kelsey, Chief Marketing Officer, 732-853-8740, genek@xtremecables.com

LMCA, Allan Feldman, CEO, 212-265-7474, afeldman@lmca.net