The way Bob’s positioning evolved perfectly illustrates the tension between commercial pragmatism and industrial idealism. In its early days, in 2017-2018, Bob was presented first and foremost as a practical answer to a concrete problem: a dishwasher suited to small urban spaces. That’s how Daan originally described itself.

“A young industrial company that designs, manufactures and sells innovative household appliances suited to the way we live in the 21st century.”

The main pitch centred on innovation and practicality, with a customer-oriented USP⁵.

“Bob the mini dishwasher, the most compact and fastest dishwasher in the world.”

This pragmatic vision was aimed mainly at people living in small homes, students and young urban couples, although Daan also had in mind the possibility of targeting the mobility market (camper vans, for example).

The pre-order launch price of €199 (then €299) reflected this push for affordability.

But gradually, the message changed. Faced with manufacturing difficulties and the challenges of producing in France, what started as a constraint became a front-line selling point. In 2020, just as Bob is starting to reach its first customers, Made in France takes up more and more space in the company’s communication.

By March 2021, this shift is plain to see in what Damian Py says⁶.

“Ever since we were children, all products have been made in China. For all of us, the old industrial sites of the ’50s and ’60s were something mythical. When people who lived through that era talk about French industry, you hear real pride. Well, we want to re-enchant French production, to rediscover pride in our industry.”

This patriotic rhetoric, absent from the early pitch, becomes central. Bob is no longer just a practical dishwasher; it now embodies the revival of French household appliances. The strategic turn coincides with a favourable national mood, shaped by debates on reindustrialisation and bringing production back home after the pandemic.

In November 2021, the positioning is crowned: Bob officially bills itself as “the only dishwasher made in France”, a status that becomes central to its communication.

And it works… at least in the media, and with officials. Because during Covid, everyone remembered that we no longer made anything in France, that we depended too much on our trading partners, and blah blah blah. But who will actually be willing to pay for that argument?

Still, commercial success follows the new positioning, with a customer base that gradually diversifies, as Damian Py explained at the end of 2021⁷:

“Young working people, single or in couples without children, living in big cities, are our first market. We also make a third of our sales to seniors who don’t fill their big dishwasher every day and use ours as a back-up.”

A fifth of sales went to students, despite a rising price that was becoming an obstacle for that group… but which, paradoxically, started to convince partners, and therefore potentially other customers. Initially sold only online, Bob became available at Boulanger and Darty, two major French electrical retail chains, and in some non-food hypermarkets.

At the same time, Py manages to make international expansion a major growth focus, with exports to Belgium, Germany, Spain, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Japan, South Korea, Canada and the United States are pencilled in for 2022. Except that in Asia, competitors are starting to appear. And while Made in France sometimes struggles to convince at home, it is no selling point at all abroad.

Maybe that’s why the green argument takes up a growing place in Bob’s positioning. Mentioned from the start, the environmental features gradually become a major point of differentiation.

In 2021, Bob is presented as an eco-friendly appliance that “uses only 0.35 kWh per cycle and only 3L of water, five times less than washing by hand.” An argument that borders on greenwashing, since compared with a traditional dishwasher, the number of litres of water per place setting is actually higher.

This increasingly sophisticated positioning marks the shift from a simple answer to a practical need (a compact dishwasher) to the flag-bearer of a lifestyle that is urban, green and patriotic all at once, through a positioning very different from the rest of the industry… but also very restrictive.

• A precise marketing target: singles, young professionals, seniors and students living in small spaces.
• An eco-friendly positioning: water savings, recycled plastic, reduced power consumption.
• French know-how as a mark of quality and innovation.
• An attractive, functional design available in several colours to fit into any home.
• Innovative features such as automatic door opening for drying.
• Communication consistent with a positioning that speaks to emotion more than reason.

However, while this shift in positioning may have won over a certain audience, it has serious limits, which start to show in 2022 when sales begin to fall. Perhaps because of a double paradox.

• The price: Bob costs more than a small 45cm dishwasher, even though it targets people living in small spaces, who are therefore not the wealthiest either (even if the marketing positioning would like to suggest otherwise).
• The footprint: anyone who has lived in a small space knows that permanently giving up 30x30cm of worktop is a big daily commitment!

Proof that these choices weren’t really thought through: while writing this investigation, I learn from a company executive that Bob is perfectly suited… to built-in kitchens. Asked why the company has never communicated about it, he replies:

“Good point, I’ll see to it.”

Because I invite you to try it, and to look on Google Images: Bob is always shown sitting on a kitchen counter. And I don’t think that’s trivial: I think this intense repositioning, hammered home since 2022, is a mistake that Daan, held back by its limited vision, never managed to correct.

• Limited reach of the Made in France argument, especially with the return of inflation and the drop in household spending.
• A narrow potential market. By positioning itself as a premium, eco-friendly, Made in France product, Bob mainly targets urban customers who care about the environment and have comfortable spending power, which considerably limits its potential market. Above all, that market was quickly saturated.
• Missed opportunities. The market for mini dishwashers is actually vast (leisure vehicles, boats, Asian markets where homes are traditionally smaller), but to break into it effectively, Bob would have needed a more functional positioning, a more competitive price and partners.
• A fragile business model. Producing in France, though it adds perceived value for some consumers, generates much higher costs. With thin margins and a potential market limited by its positioning, long-term profitability becomes questionable.

These contradictions start to show up in the company’s financial results. While Daan was profitable in 2021, its ambition to double production in 2022 quickly runs into market reality. The heavy overheads linked to French production, the development team and premium marketing weigh heavily on the finances, while the thin per-unit margins can’t absorb these costs without a significant rise in volumes.

This strained financial situation partly explains the tensions between the founders:

• On one side, an idealistic vision that puts social and environmental impact first, even at the cost of lower profitability;
• On the other, a more pragmatic vision seeking to secure the company’s economic viability.