Royal Appliance Manufacturing Company: Fred Astaire campaign

Christine Minderovic

Dirt Devil, Inc., a subsidiary of Royal Appliance Manufacturing Company, generated free publicity for itself with its innovative and controversial "Fred Astaire" advertising campaign.

Royal Appliance Manufacturing Company: Fred Astaire campaign

Christine Minderovic

OVERVIEW

NOTE: Royal Appliance Manufacturing Company is the parent company of Dirt Devil. The essay refers to the Dirt Devil division, as that company was responsible for the campaign profiled.

Dirt Devil, Inc., a subsidiary of Royal Appliance Manufacturing Company, generated free publicity for itself with its innovative and controversial "Fred Astaire" advertising campaign. In the mid-1990s Jim Holcomb, vice president of marketing and strategic planning at Royal Appliance, successfully created product awareness and informed the consumer public about Dirt Devil products even before they hit the retail market by using...

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