LG Debuts 1080p Ad Push

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J. — LG Electronics has kicked off its global integrated marketing campaign for "Full HD 1080p" flat-panel TVs, which will carry the "Don't Just Watch It, Live It" tag line.

The company's first fully integrated marketing campaign began last week in the United States and will extend through the Christmas selling season. The effort will also roll out to more than 70 countries over the next month, the company said.

LG Electronics will invest about $25 million in the United States and substantially more globally to highlight its 1080p LCD and plasma HDTVs.

"Last year's campaign was considerably smaller from a dollars position and it was more of a branding campaign," Allan Jason, LGE USA consumer electronics marketing VP, told TWICE. "Our spending this year is more than double the previous year, and there will be a number of components including online, retail and merchandising, which we will be developing further as the year goes on."

Key elements of the campaign include a series of broadcast, print, outdoor and online advertisements in three creative concepts all featuring an LG Red Couch, which "serves as a symbol of the consumers' all-encompassing high-definition viewing experience," according to a statement announcing the effort.

The campaign also incorporates LG's corporate sponsorship of the Cannes Film Festival and targeted public relations activities centered on LG's 1080p flat-panel lines.

"The Red Couch campaign is a key initiative that addresses the growing high-definition market and the expansion of our HDTV product line," stated Allan Jason, LGE USA consumer electronics marketing VP. "LG is a global leader in flat-panel HDTV technologies, and no company is better positioned to deliver the Full HD 1080p high-definition viewing experience."

The U.S. broadcast spots will reach "all of the major networks," and will include many of the leading cable networks including ESPN, CNN, TBS, TNT, The History Channel, National Geographic and others, said Jason.

The ads will focus on two sports, leading off with golf and later adding a bobsledding spot in the fourth quarter. In both spots, consumers sitting on a Red Couch are placed in the middle of the action, capturing the realistic viewing experience of LG 1080p HDTVs, LG said.

The television commercials will run globally throughout the summer and fall on primetime network and cable television, complemented by print ads in major consumer publications.

LG also will be launching a Red Couch online component where visitors can experience exclusive content and learn more about 1080p HDTV and LG's Red Couch campaign.

"The Web is becoming increasingly important," Jason told TWICE. "We will be developing a viral campaign, posting semi-exclusive content, placing information in a number of different places, all with the intent of engaging the consumer, and ultimately driving them back to our micro site."

The micro site, which will launch in the next 10 days, features a room where visitors can view a host of rotating content, in addition to the LG ad spots, and an educational area featuring a "product configurator" that will help guide a consumer to the appropriate TV for their living conditions.

The viral campaign will be added to LG's "traditional online media campaign," which will also involve variations on the TV ads, Jason said.

(For more details on the campaign, see www.TWICE.com.)