LG Launches $20M Majap Campaign

By Alan Wolf -- TWICE, 11/5/2007

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J. — LG Electronics kicked off an integrated marketing campaign last week designed to spur consumers to upgrade their aging major appliances.

The company will spend $20 million during the initial two-month phase of the effort, which will include TV and print ads as well as viral and event marketing and related online, public relations and other marketing communications programs.

The campaign, dubbed Upgrade, is expected to extend throughout the fourth quarter and into 2008.

It was sparked by extensive research showing that consumers do not like being tied to the appliances that came with their homes, even if they still work.

LG and its agency, Young & Rubicam's BrandBuzz, are tapping into that sentiment by presenting humorous fantasies showing how far people are willing go to upgrade their white goods to new LG products — including tying an old refrigerator to railroad tracks and shoving an older washing machine off a diving board.

The campaign kicked off last week with a spot that ran during ABC-TV's "Dancing with the Stars."