The rush is on to win over Gen-Y. According to Mediapost, Whirlpool is giving its tired Amana brand new life by targeting Millennials. Research revealed there is a ‘gap’ in the market — surprise — as no other appliance brand is providing “top design” for “less than top dollar.” Taking a page out of the affordable design experts, Target and Ikea, Amana’s new mantra is, “Affordable Design.”

So far we give Whirlpool an “A” for strategy but “C ” for execution. On the Amana web site, the affordable part is clear, but where is the design? It will take more than Thom Filicia videos, a hip voice and a refrigerator with a dry erase surface to make Amana the Scion, Apple or Herbal Essence of the appliance world. We’ll stay tuned to see if Whirlpool can give Amana a true “millennial makeover”.