You could say Gaggenau's latest project is akin to the making of a baby - it began with an idea, more specifically, a desire to extend the family; took nine months to birth; and can now be trotted out around the world to be shown off by its proud parents.

But rather than a new oven, coffee maker or refrigerator from the German maker of premium kitchen appliances, this newborn is the showroom itself.

And not just any showroom. It's a plug-and-play mobile showroom - a new way of selling, partnering and communicating. Something which Gaggenau is so excited about, it held a world premier launch for this new marketing tool at the luxury Anantara Resort & Spa in Phuket last week.

The mobile showroom is the brainchild of Gaggenau's senior vice-president of international sales, Dirk Hoffmann and its international marketing and sales director, Sven Schnee. They were inspired to create it after Gaggenau fitted professional-grade kitchen appliances into a limited space at an exhibition of prefabricated housing in New York's Museum of Modern Art.

'We want to go further, so 'mobile' is the new experience for the brand,' explains Mr Schnee. It is meant to be one of three members of a 'showroom' family - the other two being flagship and online stores.

'Everyone has showrooms but it's very important to bring the brand experience to the developer, architect, designer and media, to give people the opportunity, if they can't come to us, for us to go to them.'

The challenge was to create a fully functioning unit with which to present the brand, fit it into a confined space, in a setting similar to that of a high-end domestic kitchen. This showroom also had to be a flexible, portable exhibition module that could be quickly and easily erected, shipped everywhere and used even in unusual locations.

All this required some thinking out of the box, which, interestingly, led to a solution that literally comes out of a box, that is, a 40-foot high cube container.

In only nine months, Gaggenau has, in partnership with LifetimeHAUS, a German manufacturer of prefabricated housing, created a durable, mobile showroom comprising two exhibition rooms, a service unit and two decks which can be flexibly deployed.

This new unit uses a self-supporting steel framework, into which a variety of prefabricated facades, glass and interior partition walls can be inserted. In the mobile showroom's case, glass is used extensively to give it lightness, openness and modernity. The unit can also be used under extreme conditions such as deserts, water or mountains thanks to its threaded ground screws that can be inserted into the ground to level the unit and anchor it securely.

Its weather-worthiness was put to the test on the night of its launch, when a tropical downpour turned what could have been dinner under the stars, into a dripping wet event where only guests willing to grab a brolly and trudge through the rain were able to view the showroom where it sat on the beach.

Still, it does appear that Gaggenau - which is expected to grow its 2008 turnover of just under 200 million euros (S$409.4 million) by 9 per cent this year - has got itself a simple but rather interesting way of communicating its brand values.

The 44 square metre showroom is 2.36 metres high, can be used indoors or out, and can be installed using a crane, forklift or helicopter in about half a day, depending on the weather. Its three sections are set on rollers, which even a child can pull out. So while showrooms provide product displays and training, the mobile unit offers lifestyle experiences, says Dr Hoffmann.

'It could be the groundbreaking of a new project or a golf event,' he says. 'It's a 360-degree culinary experience - the look, smell, taste, feel and sound at amazing lifestyle locations, and all you need are three things - water, a plug and space.'

The unit's targets are developers, architects, designers, distributors, luxury brand partners and consumers. It can be used with other lifestyle partners, such as makers of luxury cars, high-end furniture and sound systems or expensive wines - essentially all those interested in the same, high-net-worth market.

Besides, the unit makes financial sense. Including the container it comes in, it costs $300,000 and can be used at least 15 to 20 times. 'It works out to about $15,000 per location, compared to the cost of a booth, which is at least 30,000 euros,' Dr Hoffmann points out. 'So we save on costs and can also change the configuration.'

After Phuket, the unit will travel to other countries including Dubai, China, Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia. While it is not travelling, it will likely be based in Singapore, so folks here will have a chance to encounter this new approach to launch events.

As it is, demand appears to already be building up for the unit, which takes three months to make.

Says Dr Hoffmann: 'Looks like I'll have to order the next one very soon!'

This article was first published in The Business Times.