THE FORMER UK boss of Ariston and Indesit - and the brains behindthe ubiquitous advertising slogan "Ariston... and on... and on..." -has set up a dot com venture selling cheap washing machines.
Giuliano Gnagnatti hopes to clean up with WhiteBox, a virtualwhite goods retailer launched this week. The website will initiallyoffer customers a range of washing machines at a 10 per cent discountto high street prices. In two months Mr Gnagnatti hopes to extend theproduct range to refrigerators, freezers and dishwashers.
As well as selling around 85 per cent of high street brands, hewill also sell his own-brand WhiteBox goods. He's signed an agreementwith a Slovenian factory to make the products.
But Mr Gnagnatti has taken a whiter-than-white approach tomarketing on the website. He says: "You'll notice our site has no onebrand highlighted. Our brands will win customers on their ownmerits." WhiteBox differs from other white goods e-tailers such asValue Direct: "You won't find any `unbeatable prices' or `buy, buy,buy' signs all over our website. We want to offer customers thechance to make a considered choice."
In two to three years Mr Gnagnatti hopes to corner 20 to 25 percent of the online white goods market, currently populated by 20sites.
He says 80 per cent of WhiteBox's expenditure will be onadvertising. To finance this spend, he hopes to float WhiteBox -possibly on the Alternative Investment Market - in 18 months to raisepounds 10m to pounds 18m to help WhiteBox break even in three years.
Mr Gnagnatti will run WhiteBox through his internet companyLiberation Ventures, which he founded in 1997.
He was previously UK managing director of Merloni DomesticAppliances, which makes the Ariston and Indesit brands. He claimsthat "big corporates stifle talent and creativity and dampen downinnovation" - which is why he launched his own venture.
Liberation also runs Paradise Possible, an online overseasproperty marketing site.
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