Gemini 'Dummies' Kits Designed For CE
By Jeff Malester -- TWICE, 9/2/2002
CLIFTON, N.J.— Gemini Industries is going into the set-up solutions business — filling what it strongly considers a need-niche by sorting out the common, everyday problems of baffled consumers looking to tackle home electronics technology.
To do this, the diversified consumer electronics accessories maker is partnering with publisher John Wiley & Sons to offer a new line of kits that combines Gemini accessories product with printed quick-start guides.
The guides will incorporate Hoboken, N.J-based Wiley's For Dummies icons, graphics and sense of humor, while Gemini will include all CE accessories necessary for home CE connections.
Wiley has granted Gemini the exclusive license for use of its For Dummies trademark and design for CE and computer accessories and kits.
Concern for an under-serviced buying public starts right at the top at Gemini. "I have a strong feeling we are letting consumers down by not dealing with the major challenge of helping them understand the technology, what we are trying to sell," said Michael O'Neal, president/CEO.
Laying the blame for a widespread failure to communicate on the shoulders of the CE industry, in general, O'Neal said consumers know what they want to do with a particular CE product, but don't know what to do to get it going.
Packaging, created to help simplify CE accessories consumer purchasing decisions associated with the complex technology of the digital age, features the recognizable yellow and black For Dummies logo and "bug-eyed" man. Each For Dummies guide inside the kit box provides instructions that virtually guarantee consumer success with set-up implementation, said Gemini.
Initially, Gemini will offer two DVD Hook-Up Kits to be sold through CE and office products stores, as well as mass merchants. Both are designed so consumers can purchase the right accessories, exposing them to jargon-free explanations on the packaging and in the For Dummies guide.
One kit includes all CE materials necessary to hook-up an older, single coaxial input television to a DVD player. The other includes more upscale cable and accessories needed to hook-up a newer television to a DVD player, thus ensuring the best picture and performance possible.
Both kits, with 32-page For Dummies hook-up guide, have a suggested $39.99 retail. Kits will be in stores for fourth-quarter selling, said Gemini.
